A year of improvising continued for the American Junior Golf Association on Friday night as the junior golf organization took its annual end-of-year banquet virtual. The banquet, dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf,” generally takes place during the season finale, the Rolex Tournament of Champions at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

This year, the show aired a week later on Facebook Live. The hour-long presentation included taped segments with the nation’s top juniors, AJGA leadership and a few cameos from AJGA alumni – including at the start of the show. Justin Thomas started things off with a welcome message. Jordan Spieth and Lexi Thompson appeared later.

“It would have been easy not to do this evening,” AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin said at the start of the show.

Add it to the list of things the AJGA salvaged in a year challenged by a global pandemic. Like many golf organizations, the AJGA shut down mid-spring, relaunching its schedule in June and completing more than 100 events from that point to last week’s finale at PGA National.

The program played out much as the live version of the banquet typically does. Ali Kantor and Jackson Van Paris were recognized at the start of the program for winning the Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award, annually presented since 1978 to a junior golfer who best promotes integrity and sportsmanship.

Kantor and Van Paris, who both spoke during the program, to date have raised nearly $40,000 for charity. Kantor, who was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 13, has raised money for other kids facing that diagnosis. Van Paris took over the Carolina Cup in 2017, an event that has raised $250,000 in four years on behalf of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and the ACE Grant. Van Paris alone has raised more than $32,000 during his involvement in the event.

As is tradition at the Greatest Night in Junior Golf, the AJGA’s Scholastic Junior All-Americans were recognized. Each player who received AJGA Rolex All-America honors also was named. Golf Channel’s Lisa Cornwell and Fox broadcaster Joe Buck emceed that portion of the show.

With outgoing AJGA player representatives Van Paris and Amanda Sambach acting as hosts – both guided the program sitting on camera in a pair of director’s chairs – Rolex Players of the Year Kelly Chinn and Rose Zhang also spoke about their seasons.

The banquet told the story of 2020, from honoring players’ on-course achievements to recognizing scholarship efforts through the ACE Grant to social-media presence to a focus on inclusion. It was played out similarly to previous banquets while also being nothing like previous banquets – a fitting end to 2020.