FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Salesmanship Club of Dallas announced recently that Spain Park High School senior Michael Johnson, along with Denny McCarthy of Rockville, Md., and Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., will receive the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards.

Three of the nation’s highest ranked junior golfers will be honored at the 2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Johnson, who is currently ranked No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, won both the 2010 Junior Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and the Duetsche Bank Partners for Charity Junior Shootout.

McCarthy is ranked No. 4 in the Polo Golf Rankings and won the 2010 Junior PGA Championship. Thomas is currently ranked No. 9 in the Polo Golf Rankings and finished runner-up at the 2010 USGA Junior Amateur Championship.

The recipients were selected not only for their superior athletic abilities demonstrated in junior golf, but for their honorable community involvement and academic pursuits.

“These young men truly encompass the ambition and moral values that Byron strived to instill in the youth around him,” said Bill Wilshusen, chairman of Salesmanship Club Charitable Golf of Dallas. “We are proud to offer them recognition for their achievements both on and off the golf course.”

The 2011 award recipients will attend the HP Byron Nelson Championship. The reception dinner will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, May 23 at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas. The recipients will be recognized at the Championship’s Opening Ceremony at noon on Tuesday, May 24, and will participate in the Youth Golf Clinic later that day at 5 p.m. on the TPC Four Seasons Practice Range.

Last year, the Salesmanship Club bestowed the third annual Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards to three golfers from Alabama, New York and Dallas, Texas. The Awards were created in 2008 to honor Byron Nelson and his renowned mentoring and support of young golfers