Woodie Thomas can usually count on getting a call from me this time year.

Today the Central Oregon Junior Golf Association will be holding its season-ending COJGA Cup (renamed this year from the Tournament of Champions) at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond.

As is the case every August, the COJGA Cup marks the final rite of passage for the 250 boys and girls who have competed this year in the summer series of golf tournaments.

Before the young golfers walk onto the first tee of the Ridge Course today, most will have already played a boatload of tournament golf this year on the eight-tournament COJGA schedule.

Thomas, a 71-year-old Sunriver resident who is in his 14th season as tournament director for COJGA, has been on hand for it all and has a unique front-row view of Central Oregon’s budding golf talents.

I always want to know what Thomas has seen over the course of a summer. And apparently this year happened to be a good one.

“This class as a whole, in my 14 years, would rank in the top five,” Thomas concludes.

Why the high praise?

Start with the oldest kids in COJGA. Playing in the varsity boys division, where six different golfers won tournaments (all but one of those by a score under 80) and only Bend’s Declan Watts and Sisters’ Nathan Pajutee won more than one tourney.

Pajutee, a standout golfer at Sisters High School, scored the low round of the season with a 1-under-par 71 at Broken Top Club in Bend. But it is the parity of the division that most impresses Thomas.

“There is any one of eight guys who can shoot under par on a good day,” says Thomas, adding that in most years the varsity division is dominated by just one or two golfers.

For the most part, the girls varsity division has been dominated by the best of the local high schools, including Bend High’s Madeline Rice, Summit’s Alyssa Kerry and Trinity Lutheran’s Victoria Sample. (Two-time Class 5A state champion Madison Odiorne, of Bend’s Summit High, won the only tournament she played.)

But it was 12-year-old Olivia Loberg, of Bend, who made the biggest splash. She was by far the youngest varsity division winner when she won a July tournament at Awbrey Glen with a 6-over 78.

Loberg also notched three second-place finishes — including two narrow losses to Heidi Froelich, a recent Bend High graduate who is headed to Northern New Mexico University to play golf.

“She’s been playing varsity girls for two years, and she’s not eligible for high school for two more years,” Thomas says of Loberg with a laugh. “I mean, it’s ridiculous.”

Roughly 60 of the 250 golfers in COJGA this year are boys and girls ages 14 or 15 (most of the girls play in the varsity division).

And that deep group has plenty of talent, Thomas says.

Among the boys, Bend’s Jack Loberg, Cole Chrisman, Max McGee and brothers Ben and Eric Wasserman all won tournaments with scores lower than 80.

“They are pretty powerful,” Thomas assesses. “There is a lot of them and … a lot of good golfers coming up.

“There are probably eight or 10 of those kids who I can think of who are going to be very, very good golfers.”

Olivia Loberg was not the only 12-year-old to impress. Redmond’s Isaac Buerger won one event at Broken Top Club with a 3-over 75.

Thomas also sees strength in this year’s large group — 35 players — in the 9- to 11-year-olds division.

Bend 9-year-old Sam Renner, for instance, posted the low round of the season in that division with a 4-over-par 40 (for nine holes) from the red tees in a June tournament at Meadow Lakes in Prineville.

But that age group is deep, reminding Thomas of some of COJGA’s best classes ever.

“There are a whole bunch of them who have shot in the 40s this year,” he says of this year’s 9- to 11-year-olds. “And to match (the best groups), they will have to get into the 30s next year or the year after.”

What does it all mean?

By Thomas’ estimation, the future for Central Oregon golf is in good hands.

“There are just so many kids who can shoot a low score,” Thomas says. “There is a lot of depth. It’s going to be good for the high schools in the next three years.”

And seeing how that kind of talent develops is always fun to watch.

COJGA CUP

Where: Eagle Crest Resort’s Ridge Course, Redmond

When: Sunday, August 11, 9 a.m.

* The public is invited and admission is free

* For more information: www.cojga.com