It isn’t unusual for teenage phenomenon Michelle Wie’s name to pop up in conversations about women’s junior golf. The success and media attention that Wie has achieved since exploding onto the scene has created a widespread shadow, one that other talented players are finding it hard to emerge from. But that’s not to say that Wie is the only junior in the nation to show incredible potential.
      All around the country, young women are shooting scores that are better suited to LPGA touring pros than to teenagers barely old enough to drive. The increased popularity of golf in recent years has spawned a talent pool of junior golfers never before seen in the nation—and Idaho is no stranger to this trend.
      Boise junior golfers Lauren Archer and Marie Wetherell are poised to make a name for themselves and for Idaho in competitive golf. With impressive records and talent, the girls continue to distinguish themselves in junior golf, and show promise to move on to the next level—college and beyond.
      Seventeen-year-old Lauren Archer had a busy summer in 2004. She qualified for the USGA Girls’ Junior Championship held in Fort Worth, Texas, and traveled to San Diego’s Torrey Pines for the Junior World—two of the top tournaments for juniors. Archer admits she had a rough time at the tournaments.
      “The last month of summer I didn’t play well at all,” she says. “I was in a slump when I went to Fort Worth, and Torrey Pines is where it all started.”
      Slump or not, Archer carded her first-ever hole-in-one at Torrey Pines—not too surprising for a girl who carries a handicap under five, and whose best round is a five-under 67. Her impressive play also secured her one of four spots on Idaho’s Junior America’s Cup team, a prestigious junior tournament similar to the Ryder Cup of professional golf.
      However, her accomplishments haven’t come without effort. Archer’s father got her started on the game at age six. Since then she has worked with area pros, including Kevin Burton. She currently trains with Jim Empey from Quail Hollow in Boise, who started her on a “golf-targeted” weight-training program that has added strength and distance to her game.
      All of her hard work has really paid off. As a freshman at Borah High School in Boise, Archer placed fourth in the state, and last year, as a sophomore, she became state champion in her school’s division.
      Her standout play has not gone unnoticed by collegiate golf coaches. And although college coaches are not allowed to recruit Archer until the summer before her senior year, a few big-name schools have shown interest in the young Idahoan. Lauren’s mother, Chris Archer, explains that Colorado State University, Notre Dame, Stanford, and the University of Washington all have a “piqued interest” in her daughter.
      “She’s had a great summer, and we’re looking forward to another year of great golf . . . [not to mention] watching her play in college,” she says.
      Archer’s teammate on the Borah High golf team, Marie Wetherell, is also catching the attention of college coaches—and for good reason. The seventeen-year-old was named PGA Rocky Mountain Section Golfer of the Year in 2004 for girls.
      The Rocky Mountain Section covers parts of five states, including southern Idaho. The award is based on a point system for play in tournaments, and Wetherell beat out competitors in the 16-to-17-year-old age group to receive the honor.
      “[Winning the award] was pretty special,” she says. “It gives me some confidence in my play.”
      Wetherell’s play in 2004 also took her to Victoria, British Columbia, for The Junior America’s Cup. Idaho’s distinguished America’s Cup team consists of four of the best girl golfers in the state—representing Idaho against fifteen other U.S. teams, two Canadian provinces, and Mexico.
      It didn’t take Wetherell long to prove her talent. Starting competitive play at age eleven, she won the Idaho Junior Golf Association State Championship in 2002 for her age group. As if that weren’t enough, Wetherell followed up the next year by winning the championship again.
      Her track record speaks for itself, but what it doesn’t show is her level of dedication. The single-digit handicapper works with Boise swing coach Dave Collins, and practices up to three hours a day during the golf season. She says Collins has helped her add distance, fine-tune her accuracy, and develop the most important part of golf—the mental game. Wetherell hopes the dedication will pay off in the form of a college scholarship.
      The University of Idaho, Idaho State University, and Notre Dame de Namur University in California have shown interest in her play, she says. Qualifying and playing well in this year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship could help Wetherell receive a scholarship. And there’s nothing her parents would like more than to see their daughter use her talent to go to college.
Adds her mother, Debbie Wetherell: “I’m very proud of her . . . the way she continues to improve, the friendships she’s made, the places she’s visited, and the opportunities she’s had.”


Kyle Gorham is a freelance writer and senior journalism student at Boise State University. He has played and worked at golf courses all across the state of Idaho for over twelve years. Yet amazingly, he has never hit a hole-in-one.