FREEPORT — Cranberry Township resident Brent Rodgers made his first appearance on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour count last weekend.

Rodgers carded a 2-over-par 146 to win the boys age 15-18 division of the 36-hole Pittsburgh Junior Challenge held at Birdsfoot Golf Club.

He won by six strokes over runner up Alec Stopperich of Venetia. There were 32 golfers in the field.

Nick Cuny of Cranberry Township tied for third with a 153, seven strokes off the pace. Other area golfers in the field were Evan Hangliter of Seven Fields, J.P. Beall of Cranberry Township, Collin McCune of Butler and Marcus Fry of Petrolia.

“Maybe the scores don’t show it, but there were a lot of good players out there,” Rodgers said. “The course played long and the windy conditions made it tough.”

A senior at Central Catholic, Rodgers had six birdies on the first day of the tournament. He had an eagle on the par-5 No. 16 hole on the second day.

Eagles aren’t exactly an odd occurence for the heavy-hitting Rodgers.

“My ability to drive the ball far (340-350 yards) sets me up for those opportunities,” he said.

Rodgers won the WPIAL individual championship as a high school junior in 2012 and became the youngest golfer to qualify for the Remax Long Drive World Championship that same year.

He won the West Penn Junior Golf championship in 2011 and again in 2013.

Rodgers said he played in the HJGT event — the tour’s first-ever stop in Pennsylvania — to gain points to play in American Junior Golf Association events down the road.

“It was worth a lot of points that way and I want to be able to play in some of those (AJGA) tournaments,” he said.

The HJGT features golf tournaments for boys and girls ages 11-18 throughout the east coast. The tour began Jan. 4 and runs through Aug. 24, with the HJGT March Play Championship slated for Aug. 30-Sept. 1 in Orlando, Fla.

By winning at Birdsfoot, Rodgers has qualified for the season-ending event. The HJGT will have a tournament at Nemacolin Woodlands July 12-13 and has one scheduled for State College as well.

Tour stops are in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina. Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Indiana and Connecticut.

“Because of the travel and expense, nobody plays in all of these tournaments,” Dan Crouther, the tour’s director of marketing, said. “But we have more than 2,000 members and 30 percent of them will play in multiple events.

“Those who play in Pennsylvania may join us again when we’re back in the state, or maybe they’ll come down to Virginia or Maryland.”

The mission of the HJGT is “to accommodate the ladies and gentlemen of junior golf with an extraordinary experience in a competitive environment.”

Besides playing in as many West Penn Golf Association events as he can this summer, along with some Junior PGA tournaments, Rodgers is preparing to spend a year at the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C.

There, he will hone his game, take some college classes and expose his game to more college recruiters.

“I’m excited about it,” Rodgers said. “They work on your physical fitness, too, to help prepare you for the rigors of college golf.

“I’ll be able to practice five or six times a week, play in a few tournaments and experience being on my own for the first time. It’s a great way to prepare for college life.”

Rodgers said his immediate goal is to land a college scholarship for golf.

“I’m not thinking beyond that right now in terms of my goals,” he said. “The IJGA sets you up with college recruiters. It’s a no-brainer for me to take that route.”