Bluffton’s Shiso Go takes aim once more at Junior Heritage trophy

Shiso Go, twice a top-five finisher at the Sea Pines Junior Heritage but still seeking a trophy, is joined by South Carolina's reigning junior player of the year Trent Phillips atop a strong roster for the 2017 edition that tees off Saturday at Atlantic Dunes.

Go, one of a quintet of IJGA students in the field, finished third at the 2015 Junior Heritage and led after last year’s opening day. A bogey/double bogey finish at Harbour Town, though, dropped him to fifth behind winner Kaito Onishi.

This time, the Japan native will try to build on a 2016 junior season that also included top-10 finishes in a pair of AJGA events. He was 19th at last month’s EaglesDream Junior Championship in Florida.

Phillips finished atop the leaderboard 12 times in 2016, including the SCGA Junior Championship and the prestigious Bobby Chapman Invitational. The Inman native is currently No.24 in the AJGA's Polo Junior Rankings.

The 59-man field also includes 14-year-old Joseph Pagdin, already 53rd in the Polo rankings, along with U.S. Junior qualifier Crosby Guercio and Hilton Head Island teammates Brooks Dyess and Travis Mancill.

Lexington's Gracyn Burgess and Florida’s Claire Hodges headline the girls’ lineup. Burgess was the state’s top junior female in 2016 but will face a strong push from Hodges, who never finished outside the top 20 in a major event last year.

Daniel Island’s Kathleen Sumner is back after finishing third a year ago, while Hilton Head Island’s Anna Lesemann Eddy and Bluffton’s Kayla Kozak will provide strong local competition.

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Bluffton’s Shiso Go takes aim once more at Junior Heritage trophy."