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2012 Boys' Rolex Junior All-America Teams unveiled

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Junior golf’s 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 world’s premier junior golfers. This year’s 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.


Matthew NeSmith
of North Augusta, S.C., and Brad Dalke of McKinney, Texas, are the only two boys to return to the Rolex Junior All-America First Team. Two players return to the Rolex Junior All-America First Team after a one-year absence, as Beau Hossler of Mission Viejo, Calif., and Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., each earned first-team honors in 2010.

Andy Shim of Duluth, Ga., defeated Liu in the championship match at the U.S. Junior Amateur, which helped him earn a spot on the Rolex Junior All-America First Team.


The other seven players on the boys’ Rolex Junior All-America First Team are: Cameron Champ of Sacramento, Calif.; Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill.; Tae Wan Lee of Orlando, Fla.; Thomas Lim of Moorpark, Calif.; Lee McCoy of Clarkesville, Ga.; Adam Wood of Zionsville, Ind.; and James Yoon of Bradenton, Fla.
 
First-team Rolex Junior All-Americans
Cameron Champ, Sacramento, Calif.
Champ, 17, is a junior at Rocklin Independent Studies and is a member of a Rolex Junior All-America Team for the first time in his career. He posted runner-up finishes at the Junior PGA Championship and The PING Invitational. He is currently No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to Texas A&M.
 
Brad Dalke, McKinney, Texas
Dalke, 15, is a first-team Rolex Junior All-American for the second year in a row. He posted five top-10 finishes in national tournaments during the 2012 season, including runner-up finishes at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, and a semifinal appearance at the Polo Golf Junior Classic. He is currently No. 7 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to Oklahoma.
 
Doug Ghim, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Ghim, 16, is No. 9 in the Polo Golf Rankings and finished runner-up at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Goodman Networks Junior at Traditions before tallying T9 showings at the FJ Invitational and The PING Invitational. The junior at Buffalo Grove High School has verbally committed to play at the University of Texas and was a second-team Rolex Junior All-American in 2011.
 
Beau Hossler, Mission Viejo, Calif.
Hossler, 17, is a two-time Rolex Junior All-American and finished the season No. 3 in the Polo Golf Rankings. He earned his fourth career AJGA victory in April at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club, where he set the tournament record with a 15-under-par 198. Hossler also finished fourth at the Thunderbird International Junior. The Texas-commit made a memorable appearance at the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club, briefly taking sole possession of the lead during the second round, ultimately finishing in a tie for 29th.
 
Tae Wan Lee, (South Korea) Orlando, Fla.
Lee, 17, is No. 6 in the Polo Golf Rankings and claimed five top-10 finishes in 2012, including a second-place showing at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean O’Hair. He also tied for second at the Western Junior Championship and advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Lee competed for the Wyndham Cup East Team and was the only player to post a 4-0-0 record.
 
Thomas Lim, Moorpark, Calif.
Lim, 17, makes his debut as a first-team Rolex Junior All-American after posting four top-10 finishes in 2012. The Moorpark High School senior opened the season with a second-place finish at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club and closed with his second career AJGA victory at the AJGA Junior at Robinson Ranch. Lim represented the West at the Wyndham Cup and is No. 11 in the Polo Golf Rankings. He has given a verbal commitment to the University of Oregon.
 
Jim Liu, Smithtown, N.Y.
Liu, 17, is a Rolex Junior All-American for the fourth year in a row. He is currently No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings and posted top-10 finishes in all seven of the national competitions he completed in 2012. In addition to runner-up finishes at the Puerto Rico Junior Open and the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, he also recorded a third-place finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Liu has given a verbal commitment to Stanford.
 
Lee McCoy, Clarkesville, Ga.
McCoy, 18, was crowned champion at the Exide Technologies Junior Open presented by Mizuno in April after opening the 2012 season with a runner-up finish at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods in February. The 2012 graduate of Habersham High School tied for sixth at the Thunderbird International Junior and fifth at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. McCoy began his college golf career at the University of Georgia in the fall and was a Rolex Junior All-America honorable mention in 2010 and 2011.
 
Matthew NeSmith, North Augusta, S.C.
In his final junior golf season, NeSmith, 19, won three AJGA Invitationals, competed for the East Team at Wyndham Cup, and earned the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings. A victory at the FJ Invitational secured a sponsor’s exemption to the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship, and with wins at the Polo Golf Junior Classic and Rolex Tournament of Champions, the AJGA’s two oldest tournaments, NeSmith became the first boy to win both in the same season. He closed his junior career at Wyndham Cup, where he helped the East Team claim the Cup for the second year in a row. A 2012 graduate of North Augusta High School, NeSmith is currently a freshman at South Carolina.
 
Andy Shim, (South Korea) Duluth, Ga.
Shim, 17, is No. 10 in the Polo Golf Rankings and makes his debut on the Rolex Junior All-America Team as a first-team selection. His year was highlighted by a win at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship when he defeated a fellow first-team Rolex Junior All-American, Jim Liu, in the championship match. He also finished T5 at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and T6 at the FJ Invitational.
 
Adam Wood, Zionsville, Ind.
Wood, 17, notched four top-five finishes during the 2012 season, including a win at the Western Junior Championship. The Zionsville High School junior made a semifinal appearance at the 2011 Polo Golf Junior Classic and took third at the Junior PGA Championship this season. Wood also was on the Wyndham Cup East Team, where he went 2-2-0 in his first appearance at the event. He is currently No. 4 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to Duke University.
 
James Yoon, Bradenton, Fla.

Yoon, 19, capped off his junior career with three top-20 AJGA finishes before joining the UC-Berkeley golf team in the fall. The first-team Rolex Junior All-American clinched his first AJGA title at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean O’Hair. He also made his second appearance on the East Team at Wyndham Cup, where he helped the team retain the Cup with a 2-2-0 record.

Second Team
Connor Black, Houston, Texas
Derek Castillo, Yorba Linda, Calif.
Branson Davis, McKinney, Texas
Zecheng Dou, Beijing, China
Max Greyserman, Short Hills, N.J.
Jacob Joiner, Albany, Ga.
Peter Kim, Metuchen, N.J.
Jack Maguire, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Joshua Martin, Pinehurst, N.C.
Brandon Pierce, Covington, La.
Scott Scheffler, Dallas, Texas

Davis Womble, High Point, N.C.


Honorable Mention
Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La.
Sam Burns, Shreveport, La.
James Clark, III, Columbus, Ga.
Sean Crocker, Westlake Village, Calif.
Daniel De La Garza, (Mexico) Austin, Texas
Parker Derby, Columbus, Ga.
Noah Edmondson, Davidson, N.C.
Rigel Fernandes, (India) Bradenton, Fla.
Nicolo Galletti, Pleasanton, Calif.
Matt Gilchrest, Southlake, Texas
Franklin Huang, Poway, Calif.
Brendon Jelley, Tulsa, Okla.
Joo-Young Lee, Hilliard, Ohio
Clayton Madey, West Linn, Ore.
Cole Madey, West Linn, Ore.
Luis Medina, Zapopan, Mexico
Chad Merzbacher, Dublin, Ohio
Fred Allen Meyer, Nicholasville, Ky.
Michael Pisciotta, Alpharetta, Ga.
Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss.
Jacob Solomon, Dublin, Calif.
Jimmy Stanger, Tampa, Fla.
Danny Walker, Bradenton, Fla.

Hayden Wood, Edmond, Okla.