The picture in Ponte Vedra Beach, at TPC Sawgrass is clearing up for who, and how, the 12th spot on the inaugural Junior President's Cup Team USA will be filled.  On Sunday afternoon, a new champion will be crowned at the AJGA Junior Players Championship, and we should be able to determine who gets that final spot to play in New Jersey later this month.

I say "should" because the Rolex AJGA rankings do re-access tournament point levels, and that could change things when the final announcement is made on September 6.  However, I feel good about the following scenario's being needed.

Details

Published: 02 September 2017

Last Updated: 02 September 2017

Read more: Junior President's Cup: Final Drive for Team USA

Okay, well...I feel I should start with an apology. I made the mistake of assuming.  I assumed the first 11 members of Team USA were going to be picked *after* the Junior PGA, but it was selected during the final round.  Apparently, they wanted to coincide the team announcement with the International team, which uses WAGR to determine their team - released on Wednesdays. Team USA is based on the Rolex AJGA rankings, which was updated that week on Monday. Mea culpa.

Well, today is the start of the Junior Players, and this time I'm certain the last spot will be determined by the end of play on Sunday. First, let's review who has already earned a spot on Team USA (current rank in parenthesis, followed by school committed to):

Garrett Barber (12, LSU)
Jacob Bridgeman (17, Clemson)
Prescott Butler (16, Alabama)
Canon Claycomb (18, uncommitted)
Noah Goodwin (1, SMU)
Cole Hammer (15, Texas)
Joe Highsmith (21, Pepperdine)
Eugene Hong (26, Florida)
Turner Hosch (22, Oklahoma)
William Mouw (5, UCLA)
Trent Phillips (3, Georgia)

Details

Published: 01 September 2017

Last Updated: 01 September 2017

Read more: AJGA Junior Players: The final piece to Team USA puzzle

The Havemeyer Trophy is up for grabs this week, just outside of Los Angeles at Riviera Country Club.  The champion will be crowned following a 36-hole match play contest next Sunday, August 20 - a day before the Solar Eclipse. The finalists in that match, typically receive an invitation to the next years first major, the Masters Tournament.  This year, 57 "junior golfers" will be in the field of 312.  Many of these are recent high school graduates, but 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes are fairly well represented in the field as well.

The Florida Gators have the most junior golfers that will be teeing it up tomorrow at Riviera and Bel-Air Country Club.  (Bel-Air serves as the second course for the stroke play portion.  All match play will take place at Riviera).  They have incoming freshman John Axelsen and Won Jun Lee, to go with the class of 2018's Eugene Hong.  Both of their 2019 commits, Ricky Castillo and Clay Merchent, also qualified.  Alabama, Florida State, LSU, SMU, Southern Cal and Texas also have multiple commits (or incoming freshman).  Notables in the field, have to include the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, Noah Goodwin, who won last month in Kansas by defeating Matthew Wolff, 1 up, in the 36-hole final. He rallied from 4 down with eight holes to play. Goodwin became the third player to win after being runner-up the previous year and is competing in his seventh USGA championship,  He qualified for match play in the 2015 and 2016 U.S. Amateurs, and is a 2018 commit for SMU.  Wolff is enrolling at Oklahoma State this month, and is back at the U.S. Am a year after making match play last year.

The two Alabama 2017 signees in the field, Davis Shore and Wilson Furr reached the Round of 16 at this year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. They were also teammates at last year's Junior Ryder Cup.  (Goodwin was also a member the winning Team USA in Minnesota last fall).  Not to be out done, Auburn has an incoming freshman in Brandon Mancheno playing his second U.S. Am.  He's been medalist at a U.S. Junior Am (2015), and has represented the US in a team competition earlier this summer in Japan.

Details

Published: 13 August 2017

Last Updated: 13 August 2017

Read more: 2017 U.S. Amateur: Junior Golfers Well Represented

A year ago, sixteen-year-old Eun Jeong Seong, of the Republic of Korea, defeated Duke's Virginia Elena Carta, 1 up, to become the first player to win the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior titles in the same year. A few weeks earlier, Seong had defended her U.S. Girls' Junior title.  Can 2019 Duke commit, Erica Shepherd, become the second player in history to pull off this double-USGA championship a few weeks?  She, along with 155 other competitors, will have the opportunity to win the U.S. Women's Am this week at San Diego Country Club in Southern California.

Shepherd is one of over 60 players in the field that have yet to enroll in college.  There are 47 players in the field that play a lot of junior golf in the United States, below is a list of these players ordered by their WAGR ranking:

Details

Published: 07 August 2017

Last Updated: 07 August 2017

Read more: 2017 U.S. Women's Amateur: Whole Lotta Juniors