Charlie Woods, Miles Russell among names to watch in US Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills

Posted by Admin July 21, 2024 Golf

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The 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship is finally here. Who will emerge out of a field of 264 players this week at Oakland Hills Country Club?

The annual six-day tournament to crown the top amateur golfer under the age of 19, including two 13-year-olds begins Monday. The 36-hole stroke play portion will take place on both the North and South courses Monday and Tuesday. The top 64 advance to match play on the restored South Course, where 11 past USGA championships and a Ryder Cup have been held since 1918.

The world’s top teenage golfers will compete for the trophy and gold medal, which will earn the winner exemptions into the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Amateur Championships and the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, so long as they remain an amateur.

The field features players from 36 countries and includes two players from Michigan: 2025 Michigan State commit Connor Fox (Lake Orion) and Ieuan Jones (Ann Arbor). Some have already made a name for themselves in the golf world, such as Miles Russell and Kris Kim debuting on the PGA Tour, and some players had to grind through qualifying tournaments from Mexico to Canada, including Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods, the past two months.

“I think he’s got the capability to win it,” Charlie’s high school coach, Toby Harbeck, told the Free Press on Wednesday.

Last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up in Charleston, South Carolina, Joshua Bai, 18, from New Zealand, is also in the field.

Previous winners of this event have become major champions, notably Johnny Miller (1964), David Duval (1989), Tiger Woods (1991-93), Brian Harman (2003), Jordan Spieth (2009 and 2011) and Scottie Scheffler (2013).

Here is a list of the full field and some names to watch.

U.S. Junior Amateur 2024 playing field

Exempt players:

Rayan Ahmed, Kihei Akina, Reshan Algama, Mohammad Alrawashdeh, Supaporn Amornchaichan, Seonghyeon An, Ajalawich Anantasethakul, Nguyen Anh Minh, Kush Arora, Joshua Bai, Justin Bai, Daniel Bennett, Giovanni Daniele Binaghi, Blades Brown, Vincent Cervantes, Xihuan Chang, Ratchanon Tk Chantananuwat, Frederick Chappell, Benjamin Chavez, Hsuan Yi Chen, Chase Cline, Luke Colton, Owen Coniaris, Oscar Couilleau, Maddox Crowder, Edan Cui, Billy Davis, Samuel Duran, Erich Fortlage, Gerardo Gomez, Samuel Gonzalez Rivera, Lev Grinberg, Nicholas Gross, Liangliang Gu, Henry Guan, Tucker Gutierrez, Jules Haessig, Jorge Siyuan Hao Zhang, Will Hartman, Lapassapon Heras-Gomez, Zenghao Hou, Cheng-Wei Hsieh, Saran Jantratit, Shijun Jing, Wiss Jittathorn, Jonathon Jones, Sean Keeling, Kris Kim, Louis Klein, Hung Le, Hugo LeGoff, Lander Lee, Brayden Lee, Isaac Lee, Jay Leng Jr., Alex Lest, Zonghan Liu, Ziyao Lyu, Bowen Mauss, Michael Mikus Vsquez, Brayden Miller, Taishi Moto, Nilay Naik, Jonathan Oakes, Davis Ovard, Ethan Paschal, Polakrit Pawichai, Evan Pena, Beau Peterson, Tomas Restrepo, Rizq Adam Rohizam, Miles Russell, Martin Sandoval, Parker Sands, Payton Schmitt, Mousa Shana’ah, R.J. Shieh, Kartik Singh, Troy Storm, Bailey Sutter, Shinichi Suzuki, Zackary Swanwick, Harry Takis, Mauricio Tello, Juan Velasquez, Yixiang Wang, Zihao Wang, Tyler Watts, Kaichen Xia, Hristo Yanakiev, Alex Zhang, Ziqin Zhou.

Qualified via tournament:

Athens, Georgia. qualifier: Cole Isbell, Bryant Vail, Billy Abdow, Hamilton Coleman, Brody McQueen, John Daniel Culbreth (alternate), Colby Hutchens (alternate).

Vista, California qualifier: Luke Chang, Matthew Diehl, Kaden Chang, Kayden Wang, Ethan Elleraas (alternate), Zude Xu (alternate).

West Valley City, Utah qualifier: Rex Wilson, Parker Bunn, Carter Gaede, Jackson Shelley, Lincoln Blake (alternate), Andrew Hinson (alternate).

Carencro, Louisiana qualifier: Benxing Shi, Jaxon Bandelier, Dylan Villarreal, William Lisle, Nolan Harper (alternate), Luke Ballintine (alternate).

Mexico City qualifier: Eugenio Martinez Villegas, Lucas Gonzalez, Rodrigo Garcia Tereul (alternate), Tobey Thomas Kim (alternate).

Las Vegas qualifier: Bradley Smolinski, R.J. Arone, Joshua Kim, Kevin Haoran Wang, Rafael Estrada (alternate), Caleb Kim (alternate).

Bloomington, Indiana qualifier: Caleb Schnarr, Cayse Morgan, Brady Smith, Brody Sorrell, Aidan Gutierrez (alternate), Samuel Ottwell (alternate).

Dallas, Pennsylvania qualifier: Nick Werner, Dustin Stocksdale, Patrick Scenna, Michael Lugiano, Austin Perkins (alternate), Jeremiah Walker (alternate).

Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada) qualifier: Brooks Harper, Manny Lalh, Jason Yu, Finley Dober (alternate), Joshua Ince (alternate).

Hamilton, New York qualifier: Hunter Stetson, William Ma, Brody Burgess, Josh Yan, Theo Desroches (alternate), Jayson Ross (alternate).

Coral Springs, Florida qualifier: Charlie Woods, Matthew Marigliano, Neil Kulkarni, Tristan Wieland, Ryan Nicholson (alternate), Alexander Weinberg (alternate).

Lafayette, Colorado qualifier: Jack Brayman, Will Hennessee, Brayden Forte, Caden Mickelson, Landon Houska (alternate), Clark Sonnenberg (alternate).

Riverside, California qualifier: Brady McHenry, Kendrick Tan, Hill Wang, Logan Kim, Ryder Rasmussen (alternate), Will Tanaka (alternate).

Brewster, Massachusetts qualifier: Lucas Politano, Josiah Hakala, Matthew Quinn, C.J. Winchenbaugh, Will Lord (alternate), Will Giaquinto (alternate).

Thomasville, North Carolina qualifier: Thad Whitfield, William Carr, Andrew Neal, Gantt Reasoner, James Doyle (alternate), Jack Lapiana (alternate).

Heathrow, Florida qualifier: Phillip Dunham, Joshua Castellanos, Christian Koehn, Zhengda Li, Shayaan Kim (alternate), Dylan Lewis (alternate).

Wlliamsburg, Virginia qualifier: Hall Chapman, Ethan Evans, Talan Harrison, Jack Lopes, Liam Percy (alternate), Cameron Sharp (alternate).

Stanford, California qualifier: Nathan Lee, Arnold He, James Lee, Cooper Mapes, William Chang (alternate), Keshav Mungali (alternate).

Little Rock, Arkansas qualifier: Shiv Parmar, Edward Lehner, Rich Davis, Brenton Manly, Yi Wen Huang (alternate), Jackson McLaughlin (alternate).

Ardmore, Oklahoma qualifier: Logan Mayo, Austin Mueller, Patrick Babb, Campbell McFadden, Preston Hiller (alternate), Sam Morris (alternate).

Bradenton, Florida qualifier: Ryan Houck, Tingwei Chang, Alex Holder, Cameron Baez, Henry Burbee (alternate), Gates Glanton (alternate).

Eugene, Oregon qualifier: Davis Hartwell, Cooper Woolworth, Nixon Lauritzen, Andy Yang (alternate), Messiah Gilbert (alternate).

Scottsdale, Arizona qualifier: Ajay Morris, Tanner Barra, Henry Dall, Adam Croix, Alex Radevski (alternate), Finn Meister (alternate).

Lansing, Michigan qualifier: Finley Bartlett, Jordan Hwang, Nathaniel Yoo, Will Judd, Rykert Frisinger (alternate), Bradford Lacefield (alternate).

Cottage Grove, Wisconsin qualifier: Winston Knobloch, Dru Devata, Shaoyang Zhang, K.C. Nickel, Sam Carraher (alternate), Mason Haupt (alternate).

Houston qualifier: David Martinez, Jaxon Donaldson, Elijah Galvan, Ben Montreuil, Jaxon Graves, Preston Chabaud (alternate), Alex Long (alternate).

Nampa, Idaho qualifier: Pavel Tsar, Michael Riebe, Beau Sahr (alternate), Jack Bureau (alternate).

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii qualifier: Xander Broderson, Cody Brenner, Mingi Kim (alternate), Bryce Toledo-Lue (alternate).

Granbury, Texas qualifier: Chase Hughes, Alex Huang, Nicholas Logis, Alex Malanga, Owen Prewitt, Max Farber (alternate), Vladimir Parker (alternate).

Sunbury, Ohio qualifier: Cameron Phillips, Braden Herstich, T.J. Kreusch, Colin Richards, Brady Catalano (alternate), Hudson Burkey (alternate).

Beaufort, S.C. qualifier: Carson Bertagnole, Luke Mosley, Bizzell Pate, Jeep Patrick, Isar Joshi (alternate), OT Mitchell (alternate).

Midway, Pa. qualifier: Nicholas Turowski, Rich Wills, Tommy Sharps, Warren Thomis, Luke McGraw (alternate), C.J. Scohy (alternate).

Omaha, Neb. qualifier: Ieuan Jones, Axton Miller, Andrea Birolini, Trevor Gutschewski, Gavin Gerch (alternate), Mash Malone (alternate).

Smithville, Mo. qualifier: Kristoffer Kuvaas, Trigg Lindahl, Harry Satterlee, Tyler Strong, Archer Schnieders (alternate), Brady Rapp (alternate).

Spring Hill, Tenn. qualifier: Jake Albert, Jake Moffitt, Connor Warren, Christian Pardue, Jacob Settles (alternate), Will Sanders (alternate).

Bremerton, Wash. qualifier: Owen Corby, Elliott Huang, Walker Lamb, Brock Maulding, Tyson Arthur (alternate), Matthew Wilson (alternate).

Livingston, N.J. qualifier: Ryan Downes, Lance Hollingshead, Liam Pasternak, Caden Piselli, Jackson Geyer (alternate), Jack St. Ledger (alternate).

Birmingham, Ala. qualifier: Chase Kyes, Bowen Ballis, Brooks Simmons, Mason Howell, David Oliver IV (alternate), Jackson Cook (alternate).

Beach Park, Ill. qualifier: Preston Hage, T.J. Quinn, Devin Swoyer, Patrick Raupp, John Creamean (alternate), Luke Kruger (alternate).

Stockton, Calif. qualifier: Curtis De Silva, Colin Keith, Jacob Burnett, Ayden Fynaut, Adam Anderson (alternate), Brandon Anderson (alternate).

Southampton, N.Y. qualifier: North Cherry, Michael McConie, Owen Jessop, Mack Edwards, Liam Brandt (alternate), Emile Lebrun (alternate).

Medina, Minn. qualifier: Jake Birdwell, Thomas Meader, Joe Honsa, Colton Rich (alternate), Leo Vincelli (alternate).

Names to watch in U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills

Russell, who shot even par and missed the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, is one of the main headliners for the Junior Amateur as the highest-ranked player in the American Junior Golf Association boys’ top 10 rankings. Billy Davis (No. 3), Will Hartman (No. 5), Tyler Watts (No. 7), Blades Brown (No. 8), Giovanni Daniele Binaghi (No. 11) and Gerardo Gomez (No. 12) are also top-ranked AJGA players in the field.

The field is also littered with highly ranked players from the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), including No. 39 Xihuan Chang, No. 58 Ratchanon Chantananuwat, No. 83 Nguyen Anh Minh and No. 92 Ziqin Zhou in the top 100.

And of course, Charlie Woods will be the name to watch to see if he can start collecting his own championship trophies. He’s ranked No. 1,279 in the AJGA and No. 763 in The Universal Golf Rankings for juniors. Advancing to the match play portion of this tournament would be a great USGA debut for the 15-year-old from Florida.

“Charlie can shoot low, he can shoot real low,” his high school coach told the Free Press. “If he gets it going, he can go low, he’s just got to stay away from making consecutive bogeys or doubles or a bogey and double or a bogey and a triple or something like that. He’ll be fine.”

Charlie will tee off at 8:28 a.m. Monday on the North Course off No. 1, and at 1:48 p.m. Tuesday on the historic South Course off No. 10.

Find all tee times on the USGA’s site.

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