Optimist Junior Golf recently announced the junior golfers of the 2020 Hugh Cranford All-Scholastic Team. Those making the team exemplified an impressive balance of academics, golf and community service. After reviewing the qualifications of a record number of impressive applicants, the Optimist Junior Golf Committee selected the following exceptional student athletes for the team:
Cody "CJ" Krause: Sylvan Lake, Michigan
John "Jack" Sonne: Maineville, Ohio
Caroline Wales: LaQuinta, California
Michelle Zhou: Keller, Texas
Community Service Award Winner
Eleanor Hudepohl: Cincinnati, Ohio
This team exemplified an impressive balance of academics, golf and community service. The All-Scholastic Team is named for Hugh Cranford, who served as executive director of Optimist International from 1967 to 1986.He was instrumental in starting the Optimist Junior Golf program and in 1978 led the efforts to co-sponsor the Optimist Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego, the forerunner to today's Optimist International Junior Golf Championships. Cranford passed away in August 2014.
Cody "CJ" Krause will be graduating next year from Cranbrook Kingswood High School in Sylvan Lake, Michigan and carries a 4.25 grade point average. Krause has made the Dean’s list each year. He has also received the Strickland Award, which recognizes excellence in writing and the pursuit of excellence in and out of school, president of the Global Issues Club and a member of the French/Model UN club. He placed second in Crane Tank a year-long business club entrepreneurship competition. He plays on the Junior varsity soccer, basketball and varsity golf teams in school. He works at The Links at Crystal Lake in Pontiac, Michigan as cart staff and in the Proshop. In 2014, he self-started and manages a lawncare/snow removal with 30 + client. Last year, he went on a 12-day wilderness expedition school trip in the mountains of Tennessee. Each Saturday morning during the summer, Krause offers a free childcare summer-camp setting for kids of the neighborhood giving parents a few free hours to get a few chores done. Three months of the year, he participates in the Unite 3-on-3 basketball program. He also donates his time helping patients with dementia at the Sunrise Nursing Home.

John "Jack" Sonne was named Salutatorian for his class and graduated from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. As a sophomore, he had a perfect score on his ACT, high school awards he has received include Presidential Service Award, Commended National Merit Scholar, Latin Student of the year, Cum Laude Merit Scholarship. Sonne played varsity golf, varsity basketball (2017-2019) and junior varsity basketball in 2016. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, service leader, school Ambassador and math tutor. In his spare time he is a teacher’s assistant at underprivileged schools and conceived and leads the school carnival at the Stewart Elementary School.

Caroline Wales is a rising senior at Palm Desert High School in Palm Desert, California and scored high on her SAT, PSAT and ACT. She received Summa Cum Laude and had an award-winning essay for National Society of Colonial Dames Congressional Essay Contest. Wales was a competitive gymnast for 10 years, team captain of the Xcel Gymnastics team from 2016-2018. In 2017, gymnast of the year for Aftershock Gymnastics and ranked top 100 nationally. She was a three-time California state and two-time four-state regional champion. She was a Co-captain of the high school golf team. She is also an ambassador, public speaker, mentor for younger players, assisting and coaching classes, clinics and fundraising events for the First Tee of the Coachella Valley. She is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Michelle Zhou graduated this year from Southlake Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, Texas with a 4.0 grade point average. Zhou received Advance Placement Scholar with Distinction in 2019. She works at Kung Fu Tea and is the captain of the Varsity Golf Team. Community service involvement includes NEISD Swing for a Cure, Carroll Golf Summer Camp, US Pain Foundation (making goodie bags for sick children) and the Dragon Event (school event giving back to community by building, scraping and painting houses). Zhou is an avid golfer and highly ranked with Golfweek and Junior Golf Scoreboard.

The Community Service Award goes to:

Eleanor Hudepohl will be a senior next year at Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio. She carries a 4.5 cumulative grade point average with an outstanding record in community service. Hudepohl is a club officer with the National Honor Society. Honors received include the First Honors Honor Roll, National Junior Classical League Honor Society and Honorable Merit Cum Laude. Extracurricular activities include Varsity Golfer receiving Southwest Ohio First Team and GGCL Player of the Year recognitions, contributing writer and staff editor with school newspaper (Lion's Roar), club leader with Model United Nations, retreat leader and mentor for Peers As Leaders, ambassador through Ursuline Academy United and working at O'Bannon Creek Golf Club. In her spare time, she is a Project Linus Leader making blankets for hospitalized children, co-leader for Ursuline Academy's Christmas Project which helps provide Christmas to those in need, is a Eucharistic minister for school masses, and volunteers at Brookdale Senior Living.