The American Junior Golf Association has announced its Rolex Junior All-America Teams, headlined by Rolex Junior Players of the Year Noah Goodwin of Corinth, Texas, and Paphangkorn Tavatanakit of Bangkok, Thailand.
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 Rolex Junior All-America Teams are comprised of 96 junior golfers ages 13-19, from 19 states, the District of Columbia, Chile, China, Mexico, Thailand and the United Kingdom. These young men and women distinguished themselves through their outstanding play in 132 national junior golf events, 117 of which were conducted by the AJGA. The teams were determined exclusively through the Polo Golf Rankings as of Oct. 12.
The Rolex Junior Player of the Year award recognizes one boy and one girl who had the most outstanding year in junior golf events at the national level. Past recipients have gone on to become some of the most esteemed players on the PGA and LPGA Tours, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Brian Harman, Inbee Park, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
Goodwin, Tavatanakit and their fellow Rolex Junior All-Americans will be honored Nov. 20 during the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The awards ceremony, dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf,” will also celebrate the achievements of the Transamerica Scholastic Junior All-Americans and Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award recipient.
The 12 boys on the 2016 Rolex Junior All-America First Team hail from six states and Chile. All but two of the boys, Joaquin Niemann and Bryan Teoh Wiang, competed at the 2016 Wyndham Cup. Returning to the First Team are Davis Shore, Eugene Hong and Won Jun Lee. Niemann, Wiang, Ricky Castillo and Ryan Gerard are all first-time Rolex Junior All-Americans. Cooper Dossey is the lone 2016 grad on the team, earning honors for the second time and now competing for Baylor.
The 12 girls on the 2016 Rolex Junior All-America First Team are from seven states and Thailand. Among the girls, Kaitlyn Papp and Alyaa Abdulghany are the only returners to the First Team, while Rolex Junior Player of the Year Tavatanakit and RuQing Guan are making their debuts as Rolex Junior All-Americans. Kristen Gillman is the lone 2016 grad on the team, earning honors for the fourth time and now competing for the University of Texas.
Of the 96 Rolex Junior All-Americans, 23 are California natives. Xin (Cindy) Kou and Rose Zhang are the only 13-year-olds, while eight total honorees began their college golf careers this fall. Thirty boys and 24 girls are being honored as Rolex Junior All-Americans for the first time in their AJGA careers.
Golfweek and Golf Digest provided additional coverage of the Rolex Junior Players of the Year announcement on Oct. 20.
About Rolex
Rolex, the leading brand of the Swiss watch industry, is headquartered in Geneva and enjoys an unrivalled reputation for quality and expertise the world over. Its Oyster watches, all certified as Superlative Chronometers for their precision, performance and reliability, are symbols of excellence, elegance and prestige. Founded by Hans Wilsdorf in 1905, the brand pioneered the development of the wristwatch and is at the origin of numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the Oyster, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor self-winding mechanism invented in 1931. Rolex has registered over 400 patents in the course of its history. A truly integrated and independent manufacturing company, Rolex designs, develops and produces all the essential components of its watches in-house, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Rolex is also actively involved in supporting the arts, sports, exploration, the spirit of enterprise, and the environment through a broad palette of sponsoring activities as well as philanthropic programs.
2016 Rolex Junior All-Americans
Boys – First Team
Ricky Castillo, Yorba Linda, Calif.
Cooper Dossey, Austin, Texas
Ryan Gerard, Raleigh, N.C.
Noah Goodwin, Corinth, Texas
Cole Hammer, Houston, Texas
Eugene Hong, Orlando, Fla.
Won Jun Lee, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
Joaquin Niemann, Santiago, Chile
John Pak, Scotch Plains, N.J.
Davis Shore, Knoxville, Tenn.
Bryan Teoh Wiyang, Jupiter, Fla.
Norman Xiong, San Diego, Calif.
Boys – Second Team
Jacob Bergeron, Slidell, La.
Austin Eckroat, Edmond, Okla.
Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss.
Austin Hitt, Longwood, Fla.
S.M. Lee, Buford, Ga.
Kaiwen Liu, San Diego, Calif.
Sean Maruyama, Encino, Calif.
Noah Norton, Chico, Calif.
Travis Vick, Houston, Texas
Karl Vilips, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
Trey Winstead, Baton Rouge, La.
Brandon Yoon, Brambleton, Va.
Boys – Honorable Mention
Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La.
Akshay Bhatia, Wake Forest, N.C.
Devondeep Bling, Ridgecrest, Calif.
Cullan Brown, Eddyville, Ky.
Frankie Capan, North Oaks, Minn.
Nicolas Cassidy, Johns Creek, Ga.
Joseph Chun, Irvine, Calif.
Devin Deogun, Orchard Lake, Mich.
Austin Fulton, Villa Rica, Ga.
Connor Futrell, Tallahassee, Fla.
Brock Goyen, Gilbert, Ariz.
Evan Katz, Washington DC
Andrew Kozan, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Walker Lee, Houston, Texas
Andrew Lewis, Carmel, Ind.
Brandon Mancheno, Jacksonville, Fla.
Nate Menon, Wyomissing, Pa.
Mason Nome, Houston, Texas
Kaito Onishi, Irvine, Calif.
Reese Ramsey, Austin, Texas
Clay Seeber, Newport Beach, Calif.
Spencer Soosman, Westlake Village, Calif.
Robin Williams, Peterborough, United Kingdom
Wocheng (Aden) Ye, Lake Mary, Fla.
Girls – First Team
Alyaa Abdulghany, Newport Beach, Calif.
Jaravee Boonchant, Bradenton, Fla.
Kristen Gillman, Austin, Texas
RuQing Guan, Guangzhou, China
Muni He, Simi Valley, Calif.
Rachel Heck, Memphis, Tenn.
Gina Kim, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Emilia Migliaccio, Cary, N.C.
Kaitlyn Papp, Austin, Texas
Yujeong Son, Norman, Okla.
Paphangkorn Tavatanakit, Bangkok, Thailand
Xinying (Miranda) Wang, Pleasanton, Calif.
Girls – Second Team
Youngin Chun, Gainesville, Fla.
Hailee Cooper, Montgomery, Texas
Isabella Fierro, Merida, Mexico
Allyson Geer, Brighton, Mich.
Emilee Hoffman, Folsom, Calif.
Hailey Jones, Dallas, Texas
Xin (Cindy) Kou, Windermere, Fla.
Grace Ni, Cypress, Texas
Kelly Sim, Edgewater, N.J.
Elizabeth Wang, San Marino, Calif.
Kenzie Wright, McKinney, Texas
Lei (Angelina) Ye, Shanghai, China
Girls – Honorable Mention
Jenny Bae, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Addie Baggarly, Jonesborough, Tenn.
Jennifer Chang, Cary, N.C.
Jayna Choi, Collierville, Tenn.
Megan Furtney, South Elgin, Ill.
Kendall Griffin, Sebring, Fla.
Sabrina Iqbal, San Jose, Calif.
Aubree Jones, Covington, Tenn.
Gurleen Kaur, Houston, Texas
Auston Kim, St. Augustine, Fla.
Alexa Melton, Covina, Calif.
Ashley Menne, Surprise, Ariz.
Michaela Morard, Huntsville, Ala.
Yealimi Noh, Concord, Calif.
Calista Reyes, San Diego, Calif.
Karah Sanford, Escondido, Calif.
Brooke Sansom, Pike Road, Ala.
Rino Sasaki, Bradenton, Fla.
Brooke Seay, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Erica Shepherd, Greenwood, Ind.
Micheala Williams, Athens, Ala.
Kelsey Zeng, Orlando, Fla.
Rose Zhang, Irvine, Calif.
Katherine Zhu, San Jose, Calif.