Junior golf’s top honorees were announced Thursday, Oct. 30, 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 world’s premier junior golfers. This year’s selections distinguished themselves through their outstanding play in 123 national events, 108 of which were conducted by the AJGA. The Rolex Junior All-America Teams were determined exclusively through the Polo Golf Rankings as of Oct. 14.
The teams are comprised of 96 junior golfers, ages 14-19, from 18 states, Mexico and nine foreign countries (Bolivia, China, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Venezuela). These standouts will be honored at the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet, Nov. 23, at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Five 2013 first-team Rolex Junior All-Americans return to the Boys Division First Team in 2014, including Zachary Bauchou of Forest, Virginia, Austin Connelly of Irving, Texas, Jorge Garcia of Miami, Andy Zhang of Reunion, Florida, and four-time, first-team honoree Brad Dalke of Hobart, Oklahoma.
Dalke earned his spot on the First Team after five top-five performances in national competition. He opened the season with a quarterfinals appearance at the 2013 Polo Golf Junior Classic against eventual champion Cameron Young. He posted third-place finishes at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club and the Junior PGA Championship, and closed the season with consecutive runner-up showings at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf and The PING Invitational. At No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Dalke was a member of the victorious squads at the Wyndham Cup and Junior Ryder Cup. Dalke will continue his career at Oklahoma in fall 2015.
Also a four-time Rolex Junior All-American, Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Illinois, earned first-team honors in his final junior season. The Texas freshman captured his signature win at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, where he finished at 12-under-par 204 to break Jordan Spieth’s 54-hole tournament record. Ghim, who achieved the No. 8 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings, finished 11th at the Thunderbird International Junior, represented the East at the Wyndham Cup and closed his junior career with a fourth-place showing at the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, Sam Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana, makes his debut on the First Team. Burns claimed the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings after a record-shattering performance at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, setting a new 72-hole tournament record of 21-under-par 267 at the AJGA’s flagship event. He went on to win the Junior PGA Championship and was a member of the victorious squads at the Wyndham Cup and Junior Ryder Cup.
Gordon Neale of Dove Canyon, California, and Donnie Trosper of Canton, Michigan, earned first-team accolades in their Rolex Junior All-America debut. At No. 11 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Neale finished second at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club, placed third at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships and was runner-up at the Junior PGA Championship. Trosper climbed to the No. 7 spot after he tied Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods for second-most individual wins in one season with four titles in 2014.
The other three players on the Boys Division Rolex Junior All-America First Team are: Nick Hardy of Northbrook, Illinois, KK Limbhasut of Loma Linda, California, and Davis Riley of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
First-team Rolex Junior All-Americans
Zachary Bauchou, Forest, Va.
Bauchou, 18, amassed three top-10 finishes at AJGA Invitationals in 2014 to earn first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors for the second consecutive year. His season-best finish was a runner-up showing at the Thunderbird International Junior in May followed by a T5 finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Bauchou also placed third at the Scott Robertson Memorial and 10th at the Junior PGA Championship. The Timberlake Christian School senior and Oklahoma State University verbal commit is currently No. 10 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Sam Burns, Shreveport, La.
Burns recorded six top-10 finishes and two victories in national competition en route to first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors. The Calvary Baptist Academy senior won the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the Junior PGA Championship. He closed the 2014 season with T5 showings at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf and The PING Invitational. At No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Burns has verbally committed to LSU.
Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas
Connelly, a senior at Red Oak Academy, collected his first AJGA Invitational victory at the FJ Invitational and snagged five top-10 showings in six AJGA Invitational starts this season. After opening his 2014 campaign with a trip to the quarterfinals at the Polo Golf Junior Classic and successful outings at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, Thunderbird International Junior and Rolex Tournament of Champions, Connelly rose to No. 4 in the Polo Golf Rankings and earned first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors for the second year. In addition to his AJGA success, the 18-year-old competed for the Wyndham Cup’s West Team and the Junior Ryder Cup’s United States squad – both victorious in 2014.
Brad Dalke, Hobart, Okla.
Dalke, 17, earned first-team Rolex Junior All-America accolades for the fourth year-in-a-row. The 2015 Hobart High School grad posted five top-five performances, including two AJGA runner-up finishes at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf and The PING Invitational. Additionally, Dalke played on both the winning Junior Ryder Cup’s United States and Wyndham Cup’s West teams. At No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Dalke has verbally committed to the University of Oklahoma.
Jorge Garcia, Miami, Fla.
Garcia, 18, earned his second consecutive Rolex Junior All-America first-team honors. The American Heritage School senior is No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has not finished outside the top 10 in any 2014 national junior golf competitions. Garcia won his third career AJGA title in April at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean O’Hair, played at the PGA TOUR venue Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course. The University of Florida verbal commit has made two appearances for the Wyndham Cup East Team.
Doug Ghim, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Ghim, 18, is a first-team Rolex Junior All-American and a four-time honoree. The Buffalo Grove High School grad’s 2014 season was highlighted with his first AJGA Invitational win at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, where he broke the tournament scoring record at 12-under-par 204, a record previously held by Jordan Spieth. Ghim recorded another top-five finish at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the AJGA’s flagship event, with a tournament-total 16-under-par 272. Ghim, who finished his AJGA career at No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, now plays as a freshman at the University of Texas.
Nick Hardy, Northbrook, Ill.
Finishing his junior career at No. 10 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Hardy finished his AJGA career at the Rolex Tournament of Champions in June before beginning his college career at the University of Illinois. The Glenbrook North High School graduate is a first-team Rolex Junior All-American and a two-time honoree. Hardy’s 2014 campaign included a T3 finish at the FJ Invitational and top-15 finishes at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
KK Limbhasut, Loma Linda, Calif.
Limbhasut, 18, finished within the top 20 in all 2014 starts en route to First Team accolades. He posted top-15 performances at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Thunderbird International Junior, and was runner-up at the FJ Invitational. The 2014 Wyndham Cup West Team member captured two victories in his final junior season at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club and the Western Junior Championship, propelling him to No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings. A 2014 graduate of Redlands High School, Limbhasut is currently in his freshman season at University of California, Berkeley.
Gordon Neale, Dove Canyon, Calif.
A senior at Tesoro High School, Neale makes his debut as a Rolex Junior All-American on the First Team. He opened the year finishing in the top 20 at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, then posted a career-best runner-up performance at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club. He earned the No. 11 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings after third- and second-place showings at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships and the Junior PGA Championship. Neale, 17, has verbally committed to SMU.
Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss.
In 2014, Riley recorded four top-10 finishes in national competition en route to his third consecutive Rolex Junior All-America honors. The Presbytarian Christian School senior finished T6 at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and most notably finished runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. At No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Riley has verbally committed to the University of Alabama.
Donnie Trosper, Canton, Mich.
Trosper, 17, joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in AJGA history by winning four events in one season en route to his first Rolex Junior All-America team selection on the First Team. He started the season with back-to-back wins at the Coca-Cola Junior Championship at Boyne Highlands and the Memorial Junior before going on to win the Randy Wise Junior Open in August. His most recent victory at The PING Invitational was his first AJGA Invitational appearance. The Canton High School senior is currently No. 7 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Andy Zhang, Reunion, Fla.
Zhang, 16, has amassed three top 2014 national junior golf finishes and is No. 6 in the Polo Golf Rankings. The Halstrom Academy junior opened the year in February with a runner-up performance at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and won his first AJGA Invitational in May at the Thunderbird International Junior. After an appearance on the Wyndham Cup’s East Team, Zhang tied for fifth in July at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and earned Rolex Junior All-America first-team honors for a second consecutive year.
Second Team
Kristian Caparros, Hollywood, Fla.
Benjamin Griffin, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Andreas Halvorsen, St. Augustine, Fla.
Theo Humphrey, Greenwich, Conn.
Nathan Jeansonne, Keithville, La.
Cheng Jin, Beijing, China
Kaiwen Liu, San Diego, Calif.
Joshua Seiple, Castle Rock, Colo.
Kyle Sterbinsky, Yardley, Pa.
Qi Wen Wong, Bradenton, Fla.
Norman Xiong, Canyon Lake, Calif.
Hidetoshi Yoshihara, Irvine, Calif.
Honorable Mention
Dawson Armstrong, Brentwood, Tenn.
Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La.
Garrett Barber, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Riley Casey, Abilene, Texas
Will Chandler, Atlanta, Ga.
Timothy Colanta, Reunion, Fla.
Sean Crocker, Westlake Village, Calif.
Cooper Dossey, Austin, Texas
Chandler Eaton, Alpharetta, Ga.
Triston Fisher, Southlake, Texas
Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss.
Luis Gagne, Orlando, Fla.
Luis Gerardo Garza, Leon, Mexico
Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio
Brent Ito, Ardsley, N.Y.
Charles Kim, Cedar Park, Texas
Jose Montano, Bradenton, Fla.
Tyler Moore, Escondido, Calif.
Collin Morikawa, La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Caleb Proveaux, Lexington, S.C.
Spencer Soosman, Westlake Village, Calif.
Kyler Tate, Winter Garden, Fla.
Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss.
Yechun (Carl) Yuan, Lake Mary, Fla.
Dalke earned his spot on the First Team after five top-five performances in national competition. He opened the season with a quarterfinals appearance at the 2013 Polo Golf Junior Classic against eventual champion Cameron Young. He posted third-place finishes at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club and the Junior PGA Championship, and closed the season with consecutive runner-up showings at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf and The PING Invitational. At No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Dalke was a member of the victorious squads at the Wyndham Cup and Junior Ryder Cup. Dalke will continue his career at Oklahoma in fall 2015.
Also a four-time Rolex Junior All-American, Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Illinois, earned first-team honors in his final junior season. The Texas freshman captured his signature win at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, where he finished at 12-under-par 204 to break Jordan Spieth’s 54-hole tournament record. Ghim, who achieved the No. 8 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings, finished 11th at the Thunderbird International Junior, represented the East at the Wyndham Cup and closed his junior career with a fourth-place showing at the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, Sam Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana, makes his debut on the First Team. Burns claimed the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings after a record-shattering performance at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, setting a new 72-hole tournament record of 21-under-par 267 at the AJGA’s flagship event. He went on to win the Junior PGA Championship and was a member of the victorious squads at the Wyndham Cup and Junior Ryder Cup.
Gordon Neale of Dove Canyon, California, and Donnie Trosper of Canton, Michigan, earned first-team accolades in their Rolex Junior All-America debut. At No. 11 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Neale finished second at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club, placed third at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships and was runner-up at the Junior PGA Championship. Trosper climbed to the No. 7 spot after he tied Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods for second-most individual wins in one season with four titles in 2014.
The other three players on the Boys Division Rolex Junior All-America First Team are: Nick Hardy of Northbrook, Illinois, KK Limbhasut of Loma Linda, California, and Davis Riley of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
First-team Rolex Junior All-Americans
Zachary Bauchou, Forest, Va.
Bauchou, 18, amassed three top-10 finishes at AJGA Invitationals in 2014 to earn first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors for the second consecutive year. His season-best finish was a runner-up showing at the Thunderbird International Junior in May followed by a T5 finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Bauchou also placed third at the Scott Robertson Memorial and 10th at the Junior PGA Championship. The Timberlake Christian School senior and Oklahoma State University verbal commit is currently No. 10 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Sam Burns, Shreveport, La.
Burns recorded six top-10 finishes and two victories in national competition en route to first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors. The Calvary Baptist Academy senior won the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the Junior PGA Championship. He closed the 2014 season with T5 showings at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf and The PING Invitational. At No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Burns has verbally committed to LSU.
Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas
Connelly, a senior at Red Oak Academy, collected his first AJGA Invitational victory at the FJ Invitational and snagged five top-10 showings in six AJGA Invitational starts this season. After opening his 2014 campaign with a trip to the quarterfinals at the Polo Golf Junior Classic and successful outings at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, Thunderbird International Junior and Rolex Tournament of Champions, Connelly rose to No. 4 in the Polo Golf Rankings and earned first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors for the second year. In addition to his AJGA success, the 18-year-old competed for the Wyndham Cup’s West Team and the Junior Ryder Cup’s United States squad – both victorious in 2014.
Brad Dalke, Hobart, Okla.
Dalke, 17, earned first-team Rolex Junior All-America accolades for the fourth year-in-a-row. The 2015 Hobart High School grad posted five top-five performances, including two AJGA runner-up finishes at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf and The PING Invitational. Additionally, Dalke played on both the winning Junior Ryder Cup’s United States and Wyndham Cup’s West teams. At No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Dalke has verbally committed to the University of Oklahoma.
Jorge Garcia, Miami, Fla.
Garcia, 18, earned his second consecutive Rolex Junior All-America first-team honors. The American Heritage School senior is No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has not finished outside the top 10 in any 2014 national junior golf competitions. Garcia won his third career AJGA title in April at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean O’Hair, played at the PGA TOUR venue Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course. The University of Florida verbal commit has made two appearances for the Wyndham Cup East Team.
Doug Ghim, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Ghim, 18, is a first-team Rolex Junior All-American and a four-time honoree. The Buffalo Grove High School grad’s 2014 season was highlighted with his first AJGA Invitational win at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, where he broke the tournament scoring record at 12-under-par 204, a record previously held by Jordan Spieth. Ghim recorded another top-five finish at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the AJGA’s flagship event, with a tournament-total 16-under-par 272. Ghim, who finished his AJGA career at No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, now plays as a freshman at the University of Texas.
Nick Hardy, Northbrook, Ill.
Finishing his junior career at No. 10 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Hardy finished his AJGA career at the Rolex Tournament of Champions in June before beginning his college career at the University of Illinois. The Glenbrook North High School graduate is a first-team Rolex Junior All-American and a two-time honoree. Hardy’s 2014 campaign included a T3 finish at the FJ Invitational and top-15 finishes at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
KK Limbhasut, Loma Linda, Calif.
Limbhasut, 18, finished within the top 20 in all 2014 starts en route to First Team accolades. He posted top-15 performances at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Thunderbird International Junior, and was runner-up at the FJ Invitational. The 2014 Wyndham Cup West Team member captured two victories in his final junior season at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club and the Western Junior Championship, propelling him to No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings. A 2014 graduate of Redlands High School, Limbhasut is currently in his freshman season at University of California, Berkeley.
Gordon Neale, Dove Canyon, Calif.
A senior at Tesoro High School, Neale makes his debut as a Rolex Junior All-American on the First Team. He opened the year finishing in the top 20 at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, then posted a career-best runner-up performance at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club. He earned the No. 11 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings after third- and second-place showings at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships and the Junior PGA Championship. Neale, 17, has verbally committed to SMU.
Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss.
In 2014, Riley recorded four top-10 finishes in national competition en route to his third consecutive Rolex Junior All-America honors. The Presbytarian Christian School senior finished T6 at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and most notably finished runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. At No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Riley has verbally committed to the University of Alabama.
Donnie Trosper, Canton, Mich.
Trosper, 17, joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in AJGA history by winning four events in one season en route to his first Rolex Junior All-America team selection on the First Team. He started the season with back-to-back wins at the Coca-Cola Junior Championship at Boyne Highlands and the Memorial Junior before going on to win the Randy Wise Junior Open in August. His most recent victory at The PING Invitational was his first AJGA Invitational appearance. The Canton High School senior is currently No. 7 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Andy Zhang, Reunion, Fla.
Zhang, 16, has amassed three top 2014 national junior golf finishes and is No. 6 in the Polo Golf Rankings. The Halstrom Academy junior opened the year in February with a runner-up performance at the AJGA Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and won his first AJGA Invitational in May at the Thunderbird International Junior. After an appearance on the Wyndham Cup’s East Team, Zhang tied for fifth in July at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and earned Rolex Junior All-America first-team honors for a second consecutive year.
Second Team
Kristian Caparros, Hollywood, Fla.
Benjamin Griffin, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Andreas Halvorsen, St. Augustine, Fla.
Theo Humphrey, Greenwich, Conn.
Nathan Jeansonne, Keithville, La.
Cheng Jin, Beijing, China
Kaiwen Liu, San Diego, Calif.
Joshua Seiple, Castle Rock, Colo.
Kyle Sterbinsky, Yardley, Pa.
Qi Wen Wong, Bradenton, Fla.
Norman Xiong, Canyon Lake, Calif.
Hidetoshi Yoshihara, Irvine, Calif.
Honorable Mention
Dawson Armstrong, Brentwood, Tenn.
Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La.
Garrett Barber, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Riley Casey, Abilene, Texas
Will Chandler, Atlanta, Ga.
Timothy Colanta, Reunion, Fla.
Sean Crocker, Westlake Village, Calif.
Cooper Dossey, Austin, Texas
Chandler Eaton, Alpharetta, Ga.
Triston Fisher, Southlake, Texas
Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss.
Luis Gagne, Orlando, Fla.
Luis Gerardo Garza, Leon, Mexico
Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio
Brent Ito, Ardsley, N.Y.
Charles Kim, Cedar Park, Texas
Jose Montano, Bradenton, Fla.
Tyler Moore, Escondido, Calif.
Collin Morikawa, La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Caleb Proveaux, Lexington, S.C.
Spencer Soosman, Westlake Village, Calif.
Kyler Tate, Winter Garden, Fla.
Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss.
Yechun (Carl) Yuan, Lake Mary, Fla.