Anderson, Team Idaho Make History at Eddie Hogan Cup

Left to right: Captain Chris Carew, Aiden Szentanai, Justin Anderson, camera boy Matt Cerio, Korben Kowitz, Andy Metzler and Co-Captain Jeff Davies.

Team Idaho put the Western U.S. junior golf community on notice last weekend with a three-stroke victory at the Eddie Hogan Cup for the first time in 58 years. Idaho Fall’s Justin Anderson became just the second player from Idaho to win the individual title, joining Joe Panzeri — Idaho’s U.S. National Development Team captain — who won the event in 2002.  

“I messaged him right after and said congrats, keep up the good work, and let him know that it’s a big win,” Panzeri said. “I’m hopeful that this just solidifies that he knows he’s a really good player and he’s going to use this win to catapult him into doing even bigger things.” 

The Eddie Hogan Cup, hosted by the Oregon Golf Association at Riverside Golf & Country Club since 1969, celebrates the life and legacy of Mr. Hogan with a 36-hole team competition featuring top juniors from across the West. Past individual champions include the likes of Bryson DeChambeau (2011), Patrick Cantlay (2008), and Tiger Woods (1990).  

Justin Anderson during the final round of the 58th Eddie Hogan Cup.

“It’s crazy,” Anderson told Idaho Fall’s ABC affiliate KIFI. “It’ll be something I can tell my kids when I'm older. Now I get to say that I’m a champion with them for the rest of my life.”  

The win marks a storybook end to Anderson’s junior career. Since qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur and finishing in the top half of the field at 15 years old in 2023, Anderson has continued keep himself in the mix at almost every event he plays. In 2024, he was named to Idaho’s Junior America’s Cup and Eddie Hogan Cup teams, finishing inside the top 15 in each. This year, he won the Dropping Junior Championship (another PGA-Tour-player studded winners list) and earned Play of the Year honors on the Idaho Junior Tour.     

His father, Jeff Anderson, who won the Idaho State Amateur in 2022, says Justin made Team Idaho a priority this year. Before the season, they sat down and mapped out a tournament schedule to maximize his ability to be a leader for Team Idaho at cup events like Eddie Hogan. He says they spent almost half of May and June in hotel rooms. Heading into the final round last Sunday, all that hard work and intention had him right where he wanted to be. And back-to-back rounds of 70 made him the only player under par, delivering a win in his final event as a junior.  

“I took the team out to dinner Saturday night before the final round, and Captains Chris Carew and Jeff Davies told the boys just compete like you’re playing for yourself, beat each guy you’re playing with, and you will win it,” Jeff recalled. “And that’s what nearly every player did. To win both as an individual and as a team at your last event — speechless. I was so happy for Team Idaho and for Justin.” 

From a team perspective, the win feels like a seminal moment for junior golf in Idaho. Chris Carew, Team Idaho’s Captain and IGA Manager of Junior Golf, notes that it’s easy for Idaho to feel like the underdog when they roll up to cup events featuring teams stacked with nationally ranked talent from major metropolitan areas. The demographic and seasonal advantages of states like California and Arizona, he says, are real. But Carew had as much faith in this year’s team as any Idaho squad to date. 

Behind Anderson (graduation year 2026), Team Idaho featured Aiden Szentanai (2027), Korben Kowitz (2028) and Andy Metzler (2029). Szentanai, who is verbally committed to Boise State University, was the 2024 Idaho Junior Amateur Champion and the 2025 PNGA Junior Amateur Champion. Kowitz, playing on his first cup team, won twice on the Idaho Junior Tour this season and rarely found himself outside the top 5 in big events. But it was Metzler who may have headlined the team, winning the Eagle Amateur, Idaho Jr. Classic and the Idaho Junior Amateur all in runaway fashion.  

“Looking at the boys we had, they all had big tournament experience,” Carew said. “I knew they could go out there and make some noise if they played to their abilities.” 

Metzler opened his Hogan Cup with one of just two rounds in the 60’s posted all week, sitting alone in second place. As he struggled through the back nine Sunday, Carew recalls Metzler being unbothered by the fact that his own name was slipping away from the lead. Instead, he asked where the team was standing.  

Chris Carew and Andy Metzler during the final round.

“We looking at top three?” Metzler asked as he slipped his club back in the bag. 

“Yeah,” Carew said. “We’re gonna win; I wanna win.”  

Metzler reached out for a fit bump with his captain and smiled. “I wanna win.”  

Panzeri, who had a breakout season at 15 years old much like Metzler, said he can’t relate with how hard and straight he hits the ball so young. But he’s struck by the positivity he carries. He’s just happy to be out there competing, Panzeri said. Good days and bad days, his mind stays fixed on what’s ahead of him.  

With the pressure mounting, all four players fought hard to keep their heads above water, holing key putts and keeping balls in play on a tight, tree lined golf course with trouble lurking around every corner. 

“It was pretty cool to go see them perform and lean on each other,” Carew said. “The grind at the end is what I found most impressive. No one gave up.”  

Anderson, Metzler and Szentanai represent three of the four players on Team USA Idaho — the Idaho satellite of the USGA’s National Development Program (USNDP). Panzeri, who is dripping with knowledge from his years of elite junior, college and professional golf, leads the program which launched this spring. Much of what he tries to convey to his players is all about shaving shots on the margins. Getting better at the little things, the composure and intention that allows great players to separate from their peers, one shot at a time. Carew wonders if that’s part of what he witnessed.  

“I do believe that, you know, we’re talking about three shots here,” Carew said. “And I think that some of the coaching and training that those kids have gotten to be a part of this year and then utilize... I can absolutely see a world where that saved each of them a couple of shots out there, and that’s all it took. Four shots higher and we aren’t coming home with that trophy — four shots over 426 shots total for the team score.”   

While it’s hard to say how much the launch of USNDP in Idaho helped push Idaho over the line, it’s fair to say that junior golf in Idaho has never been in a better position to capitalize on its potential.  

“There is some good golf from the state of Idaho on the junior elite level, and it’s exciting to see them start believing in themselves and getting it done,” Panzeri said. “I’m hoping that this win will help future teams think, hey, we belong here. We can beat these teams. And hopefully it’s the start of something really cool for all the teams from Idaho.”