Charlotte, N.C. - The third edition of the Junior Presidents Cup kicks off this weekend at Myers Park Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. All 24 players are making their first appearance in the prestigious event.
The United States team includes juniors from nine states. While the International team of 12 includes juniors nine countries and five continents.
The Junior Presidents Cup is a two-day, team match-play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top junior boys 19 years old and younger – 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe – that takes place just days before the start of the biennial Presidents Cup. The Junior Presidents Cup was developed to give the world’s best non-European juniors a unique playing opportunity to compete in an international team match-play competition and showcase the global reach of junior golf.
Set in the historic Myers Park neighborhood south of Charlotte, Myers Park Country Club opened in 1921 and debuted its Donald-Ross designed layout in 1944. In 1945, Byron Nelson began his record 11-tournament winning streak at Myers Park Country Club, with his victory at the Charlotte Open giving the club significant national notoriety. Ten years later, Myers Park Country Club added to its championship golf resume by hosting the 1955 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The biennial event has the United States up 2-0-0 all-time. The United States took home the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup title in 2017 with a final score of 14 – 10 at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. The 2017 teams were captained by Captain Trevor Immelman and Honorary Captain Gary Player on the International side and Captain David Toms and Honorary Captain Jack Nicklaus for the United States.
The United States Team defeated the International Team by a score of 13 - 11 in the second edition of the Junior Presidents Cup in 2019 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, where Justin Leonard captained the U.S. Team and Australia’s Stuart Appleby led the International Team.
Eric Lee of Fullerton, California, headlines the United States team. He is currently No. 2 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Following the rankings update on September 20th, Lee will move to No. 1 with the removal of University of Virginia Freshman, Benjamin James. Lee won the season-opening Rolex Tournament of Champions in November of 2021. He then opened 2022 with a T3 finish at the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. His strong play continued into the summer where he was a Semifinalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur and helped the West Team secure their 17th Wyndham Cup title.
Jeffrey Guan of Australia, headlines the International Team. He is currently No. 80 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and No. 4 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Guan opened 2022 with a win at the inaugural UNIQLO / Adam Scott Junior Championship. This summer he was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur and recently won The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by Rolex at TPC Sawgrass.
For highlights of each member of the United States and International team read on below.
United States Team
Johnnie Clark
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 17
Hometown: Mesa, Arizona
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- Won, PING Heather Farr Classic
- Round of 16, U.S. Junior Amateur
Ethan Gao
College Commitment: Stanford University
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 7
Hometown: Alpharetta, Georgia
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- Won, Rome Junior Classic presented by Piedmont Bank
- Runner-up, Boys Junior PGA Championship
- Runner-up, Jack Burke Jr. Invitational
- Two-time, Rolex Junior All-American
Nicholas Gross
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 5
Hometown: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Graduation Year: 2024
2022 Highlights -
- Runner-up, AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
- Semifinalist, Polo Golf Junior Classic (match play)
- Third, Boys Junior PGA Championship
- 2021 Rolex Junior All-American
Henry Guan
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 15
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Graduation Year: 2026
2022 Highlights -
- Third, K.J. Choi Foundation Texas Junior Championship presented by Mediheal
- Won, Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist
Bryan Kim
College Commitment: Duke University
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 11
Hometown: Brookeville, Maryland
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- T5, AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
- Third, Team TaylorMade Invitational
- Third, Western Junior Championship
- 2021 Rolex Junior All-American
Carson Kim
College Commitment: University of Southern California
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 10
Hometown: Yorba Linda, California
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- Third, Sergio and Angela Garcia Foundation Junior Championship
- Fourth, Team TaylorMade Invitational
- T5, Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist
- Fourth, Jack Burke Jr. Invitational
- Fourth, The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by Rolex
- 3-1-0 record at Wyndham Cup
Jackson Koivun
College Commitment: Auburn University
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 3
Hometown: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- Runner-up, The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by Rolex
- Fourth, Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist
- T9, Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club
- 2021 Rolex Junior All-American
Eric Lee
College Commitment: University of California, BerkeleyRolex AJGA Ranking: 2
Hometown: Fullerton, California
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights –
- T3, AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
- 2021 Rolex Junior All-American
- Semifinalist, U.S. Junior Amateur
- 2021 Champion, Rolex Tournament of Champions
PJ Maybank
College Commitment: University of Oklahoma
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 24
Hometown: Cheboygan, Michigan
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- Fifth, Team TaylorMade Invitational
- T10, AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
Matt Moloney
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 22
Hometown: Daniel Island, S.C.
Graduation Year: 2024
2022 Highlights -
- Won, Sung Hyun Park Junior Championship
- Won, Dye Junior Invitational
Aaron Pounds
College Commitment: Texas A&M University
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 12
Hometown: The Woodlands, Texas
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- T5, Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club
- Third, The PING Invitational
- 2021 Rolex Junior All-American
- 4 - 0 record at Wyndham Cup
Preston Stout
College Commitment: Oklahoma State University
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 21
Hometown: Richardson, Texas
Graduation Year: 2023
2022 Highlights -
- Won, C.T. Pan Junior Championship
- Fourth, Boys Junior PGA Championship
- Quarterfinalist, U.S. Junior Amateur
International Team
Joshua Bai
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 311
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 180
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Graduation Year: 2024
Top golf career highlights –
- Fifth, 2022 The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by Rolex
- New Zealand Boys Champion
- Australian Boys U16 champ
- IMG Junior world champ
Wenyi Ding
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 18
Hometown: China
Graduation Year: 2023
Top golf career highlights –
- Champion, 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur
- Champion, 2019 China Amateur Open Final
- Champion, 2021 BOAO Classic (China Tour)
Jayden Ford
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 384
Hometown: New Zealand
Graduation Year: 2023
Top golf career highlights –
- Champion, The Avondale Amateur
- Asia Pacific Amateur Team
- 12 top-10 WAGR recognized finishes
Jeffrey Guan
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 80
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 4
Hometown: Australia
Graduation Year: 2023
Top golf career highlights –
- Champion, 2021 & 2022 Australian Junior Champion
- Champion, 2022 The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by Rolex
- Champion, 2022 UNIQLO / Adam Scott Junior Championship
- Australian All-School Champion
- Quarterfinalist, U.S. Junior Amateur
Jonathan Xavier Hartono
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 272
Hometown: Indonesia
Graduation Year: 2022
Top golf career highlights –
- Youngest to make the cut at the 2021 Asia Pacific-Am
- Won WAGR status at age 14 in a National Amateur event
- Eight WAGR wins with scoring average 71.7 since March 2022
- “I have to mention that I caddied for Lydia Ko at the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in August 2022”
Pongsapak Laopakdee
College Commitment: Arizona State University
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 225
Rolex AJGA Ranking: 108
Hometown: Thailand
Graduation Year: 2023
Top golf career highlights –
- Won back-to-back 2022 AJGA tournaments (Coca Cola at the Highlands/Future Legends)
- Won back-to-back Thailand Amateur Open (2020 & 2021)
- Youngest ever player to qualified for Thailand National Team (13 years and 9 months)
Rayhan Abdul Latief
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 196
Hometown: Indonesia
Graduation Year: 2024
Top golf career highlights –
- Winner, Asia Pacific Junior Golf Association (2019)
- 1st runner-up, Pondok Indah International Junior Championship (2019)
- Winner, Indonesia Elite Amateur Series 1 (2022)
- 12 WAGR recognized wins
- 19 top-10 WAGR recognized finishes
Aldrich Potgieter
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 47
Hometown: South Africa
Graduation Year: 2023
Top golf career highlights –
- 2022 British Amateur champion
- 2022 under 19 South African match play and stroke-play champion
- 2020 Western Australian Amateur Open Champion
Yurav Premlall
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 213
Hometown: South Africa
Graduation Year: 2022
Top golf career highlights –
- Currently Number 1 Ranked Open Amateur in South Africa
- Youngest Player to ever make the cut at the 2018 South African Open (15 years old)
- Won the Low Amateur at the 2021 South African Open
- Five WAGR recognized wins
- 20 top-10 WAGR recognized finishes
Christopher Richards Jr.
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 276
Hometown: Trinidad & Tobago
Graduation Year: 2022
Top golf career highlights –
- Champion, 2021 Trinidad & Tobago Open
- 3-time Republic Bank Junior Open winner (2019, 2021, 2022)
- Champion, 2022 Trinidad & Tobago Open
Juan Carlos Velasquez
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 256
Hometown: Colombia
Graduation Year: 2024
Top golf career highlights –
- Top 300 WAGR - Best ranked Juvenile in Colombia and South America
- Won five national junior tournaments in 2022
- Member of Colombia´s National Team
Anson Yeo
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 222
Hometown: Malaysia
Graduation Year: 2024
Top golf career highlights –
- Won a state amateur open
- Hole-in-one in Australia
- Recorded a 67 in tournament state open
- Five WAGR recognized wins
- 11 top-10 WAGR recognized finishes