Blades Brown, Gianna Clemente named AJGA 2024 Rolex Junior Players of the Year

What a year for the talented duo.

Blades Brown and Gianna Clemente were named Tuesday as the American Junior Golf Association’s 2024 Rolex Junior Players of the Year.

The Rolex Junior All-America Teams annually recognize the world’s premier junior golfers. The 2024 class includes 48 boys and girls, ages 13-19, from 19 states and three countries.

Brown, a 17-year-old from Nashville, Tennesssee, finished third at the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship in a field that included 18 of the top-20 players, highlighted by 2023 Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Miles Russell. He also made his PGA Tour debut this spring at the Myrtle Beach Classic. He also won medalist honors at the U.S. Junior Amateur, becoming only the third person to do so at the Junior and U.S. Amateur. He then placed second at the Junior Players.

Gianna Clemente of the United States plays her shot from the fourth tee during the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club on May 19, 2024, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Clemente, 16, is now a five-time Rolex Junior All-American. She began the year with a top-10 finish at the Fortinet Girls Invitational and then tied for 11th at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. She also placed fifth at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur before winning the Mizuho Americas Open. Clemente was a semifinalist at the U.S. Girls’ Junior and made the Round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Brown, Clemente and the 2024 Rolex Junior All-America Teams will be honored at the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.

Nicholas Dunlap, reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, collects AJGA Rolex Player of the Year honors

At the biggest junior events in 2021, Nicholas Dunlap was always a factor.

At the biggest junior events in 2021, Nicholas Dunlap was always a factor. Perhaps nothing demonstrates that better than the U.S. Junior Amateur trophy Dunlap carted off from the Country Club of North Carolina in July.

Now, Dunlap, who is verbally committed to play for Alabama, has been named the AJGA’s Rolex Player of the Year, which is the organization’s highest honor for a player.

While the U.S. Junior trophy might have scored him the biggest headlines – and also earned him a spot in the 2022 U.S. Open – the rest of Dunlap’s season was equally impressive. Early in the year, he won the Dustin Johnson World Junior and early in the summer, he won the Polo Golf Junior Classic at Liberty National. The latter, like the U.S. Junior, was a match-play event.

In AJGA competition, the high school senior played in 11 events recognized by the Rolex AJGA Rankings and finished outside the top five just twice. Even when Dunlap wasn’t winning, he was in the mix. He tied for second at the Wyndham Invitational, tied for fifth at the Western Junior and was runner-up in both the Boys Junior PGA Championship and Junior Players Championship late in the summer.

Dunlap, No. 1 in Golfweek’s Junior Rankings, and the rest of the 2021 Rolex Junior All-America Teams listed below will be honored virtually through a Rolex Junior All-America Awards celebration on Friday, Dec. 3 dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf.”

First Team

Luke Clanton of Miami Lakes, Florida
Nicholas Dunlap of Huntsville, Alabama
Maxwell Ford of Peachtree Corners, Georgia
Zach Heffernan of Boerne, Texas
J. Holland Humphries of Austin, Texas
Benjamin James of Milford, Connecticut
Jackson Koivun of San Jose, California
Eric Lee of Fullerton, California
Bryan Lee of Fairfax, Virginia
Jacob Sosa of Austin, Texas
Jase Summy of Keller, Texas
Caleb Surratt of Indian Trail, North Carolina

Second Team

Sihao Cong of Irvine, California
John Daly II of Dardanelle, Arkansas
Ethan Gao of Alpharetta, Georgia
Jonathan Griz of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Bryan Kim of Brookeville, Maryland
Bruce Murphy of Johns Creek, Georgia
Anawin Pikulthong of Gilbert, Arizona
Aaron Pounds of The Woodlands, Texas
Nicholas Prieto of Miami, Florida
Mason Snyder of Las Vegas, Nevada
Matthew Troutman of Louisville, Kentucky
Wells Williams of West Point, Mississippi

Honorable Mention

Kyle An of Aliso Viejo, California
Jonas Appel of Encinitas, California
Gavin Aurilia of Phoenix, Arizona
Carson Brewer of Jacksonville, Florida
Ryder Cowan of Edmond, Oklahoma
Matthew Doyle of Madison, Connecticut
Nicholas Gross of Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Will Hartman of Marvin, North Carolina
Scotty Kennon of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Shawn Lalmoni of Orlando, Florida
Carter Loflin of Duluth, Georgia
Kyo Morishita of (Japan) Bradenton, Florida
Will Morlan of Alpharetta, Georgia
Sebastian Moss of Houston, Texas
Chase Nevins of Great Falls, Virginia
Calder Overfelt of Newport Beach, California
Alex Papayoanou of The Woodlands, Texas
Deven Patel of Johns Creek, Georgia
Solomon Petrie of Akron, Ohio
Sihan Sandhu of Pinehurst, North Carolina
William Sides of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Brendan Valdes of Orlando, Florida
Keaton Vo of Austin, Texas
Rylan Wotherspoon of Florence, Kentucky

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From contending at U.S. Women’s Open to top junior honors: Megha Ganne named AJGA Rolex Player of the Year

Every time Ganne teed it up in an American Junior Golf Association event in 2021, she contended. Now she’s the AJGA’s top player.

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Every time Megha Ganne teed it up in an American Junior Golf Association event in 2021, she contended. For those in the know, it came as no surprise that she also contended in one of women’s golf biggest events – the U.S. Women’s Open.

Ganne was hardly an unknown entering the year, having qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals four times and advanced to the semifinals at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur. But she took her game to a new level this season, especially on the junior circuit. She played in five events recognized by the Rolex AJGA Rankings without ever finishing outside the top four and has been named the AJGA’s Rolex Player of the Year. It’s the junior golf association’s highest honor for players.

Ganne finished T3 at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and T3 at the ANNIKA Invitational early in the AJGA season. She won the Scott Robertson Memorial, a long-running junior golf event in Virginia, before making big headlines as the 17-year-old contending at the U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club.

Ultimately, Ganne finished T14 that week for low-amateur honors.

The back half of her year was a whirlwind of team events. She represented the U.S. as an alternate on the victorious Curtis Cup team and was a playing member of the Ping Junior Solheim Cup team and Junior Ryder Cup team.

Ganne, who is verbally committed to Stanford, ended the year ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek Junior Rankings and No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Ganne and the rest of the 2021 Rolex Junior All-America Teams listed below will be honored virtually through a Rolex Junior All-America Awards celebration on Friday, Dec. 3 dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf.”

First Team

Brooke Biermann of Wildwood, Missouri
Gianna Clemente of Warren, Ohio 
Anna Davis of Spring Valley, California
Megha Ganne of Holmdel, New Jersey 
Mackenzie Lee of North Little Rock, Arkansas
Michelle Liu of Vancouver, British Columbia
Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Florida
Bailey Shoemaker of Dade City, Florida
Kendall Todd of Goodyear, Arizona 
Karen Tsuru of Carlsbad, California
Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada
Avery Zweig of McKinney, Texas

Second Team

Sara Im of Duluth, Georgia
Xin (Cindy) Kou of (China) Valencia, California
Jaclyn LaHa of Pleasanton, California
Erica Lee of Arcadia, California
Katie Li of Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Gloria Nip of (Hong Kong) Port St Lucie, Florida
Jacqueline Putrino of Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Kiara Romero of San Jose, California
Kaitlyn Schroeder of Jacksonville, Florida
Kelly Xu of Claremont, California
Lucy Yuan of San Diego, California
Yunxuan (Michelle) Zhang of (China) Plano, Texas

Honorable Mention

Kynadie Adams of Nashville, Tennessee
Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto, Ontario
Leigh Chien of Irvine, California
Kylee Choi of Murrieta, California
Kylie Chong of Torrance, California
Kary Hollenbaugh of New Albany, Ohio
Thienna Huynh of Lilburn, Georgia
Grace Kilcrease of Springdale, Arkansas
Lauren Kim of Surrey, British Columbia
Sophie Linder of Carthage, Tennessee
Angela (Yilin) Liu of Irvine, California
Bridget Ma of Orlando, Florida
McKenzie Mages of Marietta, Georgia
Ava Merrill of Johns Creek, Georgia
Julia Misemer of Overland Park, Kansan
Catherine Park of Irvine, California
Catherine Rao of Camarillo, California
Brooke Rivers of Brampton, Ontario
Alexia Siehl of Fort Mill, South Carolina
Suzie Tran of Poulsbo, Washington
Lily Zhang of Buffalo, New York
Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Washington
Sophie Zhang-Murphy of Saratoga, California
Alice Ziyi Zhao of (China) Irvine, California

AJGA ends a non-traditional 2020 by taking ‘Greatest Night in Junior Golf’ virtual

The Greatest Night in Junior Golf was broadcast on Facebook live on Friday evening to end the 2020 junior golf season.

A year of improvising continued for the American Junior Golf Association on Friday night as the junior golf organization took its annual end-of-year banquet virtual. The banquet, dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf,” generally takes place during the season finale, the Rolex Tournament of Champions at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

This year, the show aired a week later on Facebook Live. The hour-long presentation included taped segments with the nation’s top juniors, AJGA leadership and a few cameos from AJGA alumni – including at the start of the show. Justin Thomas started things off with a welcome message. Jordan Spieth and Lexi Thompson appeared later.

“It would have been easy not to do this evening,” AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin said at the start of the show.

Add it to the list of things the AJGA salvaged in a year challenged by a global pandemic. Like many golf organizations, the AJGA shut down mid-spring, relaunching its schedule in June and completing more than 100 events from that point to last week’s finale at PGA National.

The program played out much as the live version of the banquet typically does. Allie Kantor and Jackson Van Paris were recognized at the start of the program for winning the Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award, annually presented since 1978 to a junior golfer who best promotes integrity and sportsmanship.

Kantor and Van Paris, who both spoke during the program, to date have raised nearly $40,000 for charity. Kantor, who was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 13, has raised money for other kids facing that diagnosis. Van Paris took over the Carolina Cup in 2017, an event that has raised $250,000 in four years on behalf of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and the ACE Grant. Van Paris alone has raised more than $32,000 during his involvement in the event.

As is tradition at the Greatest Night in Junior Golf, the AJGA’s Scholastic Junior All-Americans were recognized. Each player who received AJGA Rolex All-America honors also was named. Golf Channel’s Lisa Cornwell and Fox broadcaster Joe Buck emceed that portion of the show.

With outgoing AJGA player representatives Van Paris and Amanda Sambach acting as hosts – both guided the program sitting on camera in a pair of director’s chairs – Rolex Players of the Year Kelly Chinn and Rose Zhang also spoke about their seasons.

The banquet told the story of 2020, from honoring players’ on-course achievements to recognizing scholarship efforts through the ACE Grant to social-media presence to a focus on inclusion. It was played out similarly to previous banquets while also being nothing like previous banquets – a fitting end to 2020.

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