The inaugural Junior Presidents Cup, to be played at Plainfield Country Club on Sept. 25-26 in Edison, New Jersey, is a hot topic among the top players entering the heat of the summer competition. This week, 200 points are up for grabs at the AJGA Haas Family Invitational at Sedgefield CC in Greensboro, NC. The PGA TOUR has partnered with the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) to start the new international competition between junior golfers from around the world. Teams will be led by Honorary Captains Jack Nicklaus (Team USA) and Gary Player (International Team). The U.S. Team will be captained by David Toms, while the International Team will be led by Trevor Immelman. The US team will be made up from the top ranked players in the AJGA rankings.
Here's how the top 30 currently looks. As a reminder, when I compile my list (which you will notice differs from the AJGA Priority List), I am removing points earned from tournaments that will not be counted as of August 3, 2017, when the first 11 members are determined).
| Standing | Player | State | Year | Avg Pts** | Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah Goodwin | TX | 2018 | 64.18 | SMU |
| 2 | Garrett Barber | FL | 2018 | 38.82 | LSU |
| 3 | Canon Claycomb* | KY | 2020 | 32.8 | |
| 4 | Cole Hammer | TX | 2018 | 31.74 | Texas |
| 5 | William Moll* | TX | 2019 | 29.68 | |
| 6 | Michael Sanders* | NC | 2018 | 26.95 | LSU |
| 7 | Turner Hosch | TX | 2019 | 26.92 | Oklahoma |
| 8 | Ricky Castillo | CA | 2019 | 25.89 | USC |
| 9 | Clay Seeber | CA | 2019 | 25.61 | UCLA |
| 10 | Akshay Bhatia* | NC | 2020 | 24.44 | |
| 11 | Frankie Capan | MN | 2018 | 24.16 | Alabama |
| 12 | Mason Nome* | TX | 2019 | 23.2 | Texas |
| 13 | William Mouw | CA | 2019 | 21.82 | Pepperdine |
| 14 | Trent Phillips* | SC | 2018 | 21.52 | Georgia |
| 15 | Patrick Welch | RI | 2018 | 21.11 | Oklahoma |
| 16 | Parker Coody | TX | 2018 | 19.84 | Texas |
| 17 | Noah Gillard | IN | 2018 | 19.32 | Illinois |
| 18 | Eugene Hong* | FL | 2018 | 19.11 | Florida |
| 19 | Ryan Burnett* | CA | 2018 | 19 | North Carolina |
| 20 | Cullan Brown* | KY | 2018 | 17.83 | Kentucky |
| 21 | Andrew Lewis | IN | 2018 | 17.52 | Purdue |
| 22 | Alexander Yang* | CA | 2021 | 16.91 | |
| 23 | Ryan Hall* | TN | 2018 | 16.34 | South Carolina |
| 24 | Jacob Bridgeman* | SC | 2018 | 16.28 | Clemson |
| 25 | Jake Beber-Frankel* | FL | 2020 | 15.98 | |
| 26 | Charlie Reiter | CA | 2018 | 15.3 | USC |
| 27 | Preston Topper* | GA | 2019 | 14.63 | Georgia |
| 28 | Travis Vick | TX | 2019 | 14.35 | |
| 29 | Reid Davenport* | TX | 2018 | 14 | Vanderbilt |
| 30 | Nic Cassidy* | GA | 2019 | 13.49 | Georgia |
* - Entered in the Haas Family International
** - Average Points are based on the AJGA dividing total points by the number of tournaments played. If a player has less than 6 AJGA qualified tournaments, then 6 will be used.
Note that a top 5 finish this week could potentially vault the 30th player on the list (Nic Cassidy), into the top 12. With so many big point events to be played over he next 8 weeks, there is ample time for players to move up and down this list.
The Haas Family International marks the first AJGA tournament start for Jacob Bridgeman. Jacob has made the top 30 with top finishes in two tournaments the AJGA counts toward their rankings, the Trust Choice Big "I" National Championship, and the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational.
Eugene Hong is the defending champion at the Haas.
(Note: Earlier versions of this article had Joe Pagdin listed at #16. Joe is not eligible for Team USA).
