Willard Wood, 16, of Lake Charles, La., played superbly to win both the qualifying medal and the Championship over the Scarlet Course of the Ohio State University Golf Course, in Columbus, Ohio. Wood led the qualifying round by six strokes, with a 36-hole score of 141, and scored six birdies as he defeated David Games, of Bellflower, Calif., 4 and 3, in the final.

Wood was only the second player to become both medalist and Junior Amateur Champion. John Miller, later the Open Champion, was the first. Wood's 68 in the second round of qualifying equalled Miller's record for a single round, set in 1964, when Miller won. Wood, who was only 5-foot-5 and weighed 120 pounds, defeated Corey Pavin, of Oxnard, Calif., 1 up, in one semi-final, and Games defeated Eric Evans, of Canoga Park, Calif., 1 up, in the other.

California once again dominated the Championship, winning 13 of the 64 qualifying places and three of the four places in the final round. Madden Hatcher, III, the 1976 Champion, lost in the second round. The entry of 2,046 was the second highest since 1963 when there was no handicap limit. In 1977 an entrant must have had a USGA handicap of not more than eight strokes.