Junior golfs top honors were announced Tuesday, Oct.
16, as 48 boys and 48 girls were named Rolex Junior All-Americans
by Rolex and
the American Junior Golf Association.
Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex Junior
All-America Teams annually recognize players who have proven to be the worlds
premier junior golfers. This years selections distinguished themselves through
their outstanding play in 88 national events, 72 of which were conducted by the
AJGA. The Rolex Junior All-America Teams were determined exclusively through
the Polo Golf Rankings as of Oct. 9.
The teams are comprised of 96 junior golfers, ages
13-19, from 22 states, Puerto Rico and nine foreign countries (China, Colombia,
France, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden and Thailand). These
standouts will be honored at the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet, Nov.
18, at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Five girls from the 2011 Rolex Junior All-America
First Team return in 2012, including reigning Rolex Junior Player of the Year Ariya Jutanugarn of Bangkok, Thailand,
who has held the No. 1 ranking in the Polo Golf Rankings since July 2, 2011.
Alison Lee
of Valencia, Calif., prevailed at two AJGA Invitationals en route to her fifth
straight selection to the Rolex Junior All-America First Team, while Shannon Aubert of Reunion, Fla., posted
five top-five finishes during the 2012 season and earned first-team honors for
the third year in a row.
Karen
Chung of Livingston, N.J., returned
to the First Team after she recorded top-five finishes at three AJGA
Invitationals, while a win at the Sea Pines Junior Heritage helped Ashlan Ramsey of Milledgeville, Ga., earn
a spot back on the Rolex Junior All-America First Team.
The seven remaining First Team selections are: Casey Danielson of Osceola, Wis.; Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, Calif.; Esther Lee of Los Alamitos, Calif.; Nicole Morales of South Salem, N.Y.; Sierra Sims of Austin, Texas; Samantha Wagner of Windermere, Fla.;
and Lindsey Weaver of Scottsdale,
Ariz.
First-team Rolex Junior All-Americans
Shannon Aubert, (France) Reunion, Fla.
Aubert, 16, posted five
top-five finishes during the 2012 season and earned first-team Rolex Junior
All-America honors for the third year in a row. In addition to winning the
Kathy Whitworth Invitational, she finished second at the ANNIKA Invitational
and tied for third at the Thunderbird International Junior. Aubert finished the
season ranked No. 4 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Karen Chung, Livingston, N.J.
Chung, 17, has been named to
the Rolex Junior All-America First Team three times (2008, 2011, 2012) and to
the Second Team twice (2009, 2010). She posted three top-five finishes during
the 2012 season, including a semifinal appearance at the Polo Golf Junior
Classic and a runner-up showing at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. She is
No. 11 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to Southern Cal.
Casey Danielson, Osceola, Wis.
Danielson, 17, competed in seven
national events during the 2012 season, finishing among the top 10 in six of
them. Her highest finish of the year was a third-place showing at the Rolex
Tournament of Champions. The senior at Osceola High School placed T7 at the Thunderbird
International Junior, as well as T8 at both the ANNIKA Invitational and Rolex
Girls Junior Championship. At No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Danielson has
given a verbal commitment to play collegiate golf at Stanford and was a
second-team Rolex Junior All-American in 2011.
Ariya Jutanugarn, Bangkok, Thailand
Jutanugarn, 16, has held the
No. 1 ranking in the Polo Golf Rankings since July 2, 2011. In June, she defended
her title at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, winning by 18 shots and
breaking the AJGA girls scoring record with an 18-under-par performance. The
reigning Rolex Junior Player of the Year also won the Thunderbird International
Junior and Junior PGA Championship, which gives her seven national junior golf
victories since she began competing in the United States in 2009.
Alison Lee, Valencia, Calif.
Alison Lee, 17, used bookend
victories at AJGA Invitationals to highlight her fifth straight selection to
the Rolex Junior All-America First Team. In January, she claimed victory at the
ANNIKA Invitational, and then in October she won The PING Invitational. Three
more top-three finishes during 2012 helped her move to No. 2 in the Polo Golf
Rankings. Lee has six career AJGA victories and has verbally committed to play
golf at UCLA.
Andrea Lee, Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Andrea Lee, 14, earned a spot
on the First Team after a number of top finishes in 2012. She opened the season
with a semifinal appearance at the Polo Golf Junior Classic and followed with a
T3 finish at the ANNIKA Invitational. Lee closed with a tie for fourth at The
PING Invitational. Her record includes 10 top-10 performances and she sits at
No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings. In 2011, Lee was named a second-team Rolex
Junior All-American.
Esther Lee, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Esther Lee, 17, a senior at
Los Alamitos High School, has been named a Rolex Junior All-American for the
third consecutive year, and is making her debut on the First Team. With three
AJGA victories on her record, Lee added six top-10 finishes this season,
highlighted by a fifth-place finish at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. She
represented the West at the Wyndham Cup for the second year in a row and
finished T8 at the Junior PGA Championship. Lee is No. 12 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has
given a verbal commitment to Duke University.
Nicole Morales, South Salem, N.Y.
Morales, 16, is a junior at
John Jay High School and earned Rolex Junior All-America honors for the first
time in her career. In addition to victories at the Polo Golf Junior Classic
and the Genesis Junior Open, she notched a T2 finish at the TaylorMade-adidas
Golf Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean OHair and T6 showing at the Rolex
Tournament of Champions. She is currently No. 6 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Ashlan Ramsey, Milledgeville, Ga.
Ramsey, 16, returns to the
Rolex Junior All-America First Team after a season that included a win at the
Sea Pines Junior Heritage and five top-10 finishes, including a runner-up
finish at the AJGA Girls Championship and a T3 showing at the ANNIKA
Invitational. A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, she is currently No. 7 in
the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to Clemson.
Sierra Sims, Austin, Texas
Sims, 16, is a senior at
Austin Westlake High School and is a Rolex Junior All-American for the second
year in a row. She notched victories in 2012 at the Goodman Networks Junior at
Traditions and the Under Armour® / Hunter Mahan Championship and was a member
of the Wyndham Cup West Team. She is currently No. 10 in the Polo Golf Rankings
and has verbally committed to Wake Forest.
Samantha Wagner, Windermere, Fla.
Wagner, 16, claimed four
top-10 finishes this season, including a victory at the Exide Technologies
Junior Open presented by Mizuno. She is No. 9 in the Polo Golf Rankings and also
finished second at the Junior PGA Championship and the Kathy Whitworth Invitational.
A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, she has verbally committed to the
University of Florida.
Lindsey Weaver, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Weaver, 19, a freshman at the
University of Notre Dame, has earned Rolex Junior All-America honors for the
fifth year in a row. Weaver set the AJGA girls record for most consecutive
years with at least one win, having won titles in each of her seven years with
the AJGA. This past season she added four victories to her record, giving her a
total of 11 wins, which is the fourth most in AJGA history. She won two AJGA
tournaments held in the Phoenix area, the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic
hosted by Longbow Golf Club in April, and the PING Phoenix Junior at ASU
Karsten in June. In July, the Cactus Shadows High School graduate made her
third and final appearance representing the West at the Wyndham Cup.
Second Team
Karen Arimoto, (Japan) Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
Erin Choi, Torrance, Calif.
Simin Feng, (China) Orlando, Fla.
Cheyenne Knight, The Woodlands, Texas
Amy Lee, Brea, Calif.
Mika Liu, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Marijosse Navarro, (Mexico) San Antonio, Texas
Annie Park, Levittown, N.Y.
Summar Roachell, Conway, Ark.
Maria Torres, San Juan, P.R.
Jessica Vasilic, (Sweden) Anaheim Hills, Calif.
Bethany Wu, Diamond Bar, Calif.
Honorable Mention
Elisabeth Bernabe, Anaheim Hills, Calif.
Sierra Brooks, Sorrento, Fla.
Sarah Cho, San Diego, Calif.
Hee Wook Choi, (South Korea) San Diego, Calif.
Allisen Corpuz, Honolulu, Hawaii
Rachel Dai, Milton, Ga.
Dree Fausnaugh, Maitland, Fla.
Anne Freman, Las Vegas, Nev.
Cindy Ha, Demarest, N.J.
Alexandra Harkins, Crystal Lake, Ill.
Alexandra Kaui, Las Vegas, Nev.
Danielle Lee, La Mirada, Calif.
Paige Lee, Folsom, Calif.
Christine Lin, Austin, Texas
Yu Liu, (China) Aventura, Fla.
Brooke McDougald, The Woodlands, Texas
Anna Newell, Tampa, Fla.
Hannah O'Sullivan, Phoenix, Ariz.
Jessica Porvasnik, Hinckley, Ohio
Sophia Schubert, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Laura Sojo, (Colombia) Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
Lauren Stephenson, Lexington, S.C.
Kuriko Tsukiyama, West New York, N.J.
Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif.
