AJGA etc

[golferdad8]

Is it my imagination or has AJGA's prestige been diluted recently?
It seems there are a lot more AJGA tournaments than there used to be, which is great for access.
However, it seems the fields are not as strong as they used to be.

 

The recent AJGA Wyndham is a case in point. 

Compared with last few years, it seems the big names of top 50 players (for juniors and seniors) are no longer playing in it.

The best 2025 and 2026 players seems to have skipped it, so it's easier to get in but missing many of the top names going to top golf schools?!

Could juniors be more focused on doing amateur events and also placing less value to AJGA?

https://www.ajga.org/tournaments/2025/wyndham-invitational-presented-by-odyssey/leaderboard

[LawGenius305]

College coaches are putting less emphasis on it. AJGA has gradually gone down hill since 2014.

Edited June 16 by LawGenius305

[leezer99]

Because you can lap the field shooting 15 under and only get 40 Rolex points. 

[wegobomber31]

Seems more or less consistent with prior years. Most top graduating seniors would’ve moved on to amateur tournaments. 

 

This seems to get brought up with every tournament, but maybe it is that we don’t fully know who the top 2027’s and 2028’s are yet. Maybe in a couple years this year’s field will look really strong. 
 

 

2023

Six of the Top-30 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings 

No. 8 Henry Guan of Dallas, Texas
No. 10 Jay Leng Jr. of San Diego, California
No. 15 Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida
No. 19 Will Hartman of Marvin, North Carolina
No. 21 Smith Summerlin of Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 25 William Jennings of Greenville, South Carolina

 

2024

10 of the Top 35 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
No. 7 Henry Guan of Dallas, Texas 
No. 14 Carson Bertagnole of Pinehurst, North Carolina 
No. 16 Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 
No. 18 Michael Riebe of Encinitas, California 
No. 20 Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Florida 
No. 26 Clark Van Gaalen of Turlock, California
No. 27 Brady Catalano of Upper Arlington, Ohio
No. 28 Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, California 
No. 30 Jake Albert of Blacksburg, Virginia 
No. 33 John Daniel Culbreth of Thomasville, Georgia

 

2025

Seven of the Top 30 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings

No. 4 Asher Vargas of Spring, Texas

No. 13 Jessy Huebner of Port St. Louie, Florida

No. 20 Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, Florida

No. 21 Phillip Dunham of Ponte Verda Beach, Florida

No. 22 Chase Hughes of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

No. 26 Cole Stockard of Dalton, Georgia

No. 28 Brooks Simmons of Dallas, Texas

 

[TroyB123]

32 minutes ago, wegobomber31 said:

Seems more or less consistent with prior years. Most top graduating seniors would’ve moved on to amateur tournaments. 

 

This seems to get brought up with every tournament, but maybe it is that we don’t fully know who the top 2027’s and 2028’s are yet. Maybe in a couple years this year’s field will look really strong. 
 

 

 

2023

Six of the Top-30 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings 

No. 8 Henry Guan of Dallas, Texas
No. 10 Jay Leng Jr. of San Diego, California
No. 15 Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida
No. 19 Will Hartman of Marvin, North Carolina
No. 21 Smith Summerlin of Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 25 William Jennings of Greenville, South Carolina

 

2024

10 of the Top 35 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
No. 7 Henry Guan of Dallas, Texas 
No. 14 Carson Bertagnole of Pinehurst, North Carolina 
No. 16 Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 
No. 18 Michael Riebe of Encinitas, California 
No. 20 Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Florida 
No. 26 Clark Van Gaalen of Turlock, California
No. 27 Brady Catalano of Upper Arlington, Ohio
No. 28 Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, California 
No. 30 Jake Albert of Blacksburg, Virginia 
No. 33 John Daniel Culbreth of Thomasville, Georgia

 

2025

Seven of the Top 30 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings

No. 4 Asher Vargas of Spring, Texas

No. 13 Jessy Huebner of Port St. Louie, Florida

No. 20 Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, Florida

No. 21 Phillip Dunham of Ponte Verda Beach, Florida

No. 22 Chase Hughes of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

No. 26 Cole Stockard of Dalton, Georgia

No. 28 Brooks Simmons of Dallas, Texas

 

Great points.   If you look at the 2024 leaderboard now, names like MH and PB jump out and going by your list, they weren't even in the top 35 last year.   Exactly as you are saying, that field probably looks a whole lot better now than it would have at this time last year.

[TroyB123]

5 hours ago, leezer99 said:

Because you can lap the field shooting 15 under and only get 40 Rolex points. 

Not sure what you are saying here.   This was a 225 point invitational.

[leezer99]

4 minutes ago, TroyB123 said:

Not sure what you are saying here.   This was a 225 point invitational.

I was talking about the overall state of the AJGA not the specific event. 

[golfdad1]

Wyndham is never one of the top invitationals. The top juniors are doing Elite Am events, some solid juniors do the Southern Junior, and it's only a few weeks after the Team Taylormade, a big one. Can't do them all, & with the calendar  this is good one to skip

[golferdad8]

On 6/13/2025 at 4:53 PM, wegobomber31 said:

Seems more or less consistent with prior years. Most top graduating seniors would’ve moved on to amateur tournaments. 

 

This seems to get brought up with every tournament, but maybe it is that we don’t fully know who the top 2027’s and 2028’s are yet. Maybe in a couple years this year’s field will look really strong. 
 

 

 

2023

Six of the Top-30 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings 

No. 8 Henry Guan of Dallas, Texas
No. 10 Jay Leng Jr. of San Diego, California
No. 15 Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida
No. 19 Will Hartman of Marvin, North Carolina
No. 21 Smith Summerlin of Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 25 William Jennings of Greenville, South Carolina

 

2024

10 of the Top 35 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
No. 7 Henry Guan of Dallas, Texas 
No. 14 Carson Bertagnole of Pinehurst, North Carolina 
No. 16 Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 
No. 18 Michael Riebe of Encinitas, California 
No. 20 Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Florida 
No. 26 Clark Van Gaalen of Turlock, California
No. 27 Brady Catalano of Upper Arlington, Ohio
No. 28 Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, California 
No. 30 Jake Albert of Blacksburg, Virginia 
No. 33 John Daniel Culbreth of Thomasville, Georgia

 

2025

Seven of the Top 30 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings

No. 4 Asher Vargas of Spring, Texas

No. 13 Jessy Huebner of Port St. Louie, Florida

No. 20 Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, Florida

No. 21 Phillip Dunham of Ponte Verda Beach, Florida

No. 22 Chase Hughes of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

No. 26 Cole Stockard of Dalton, Georgia

No. 28 Brooks Simmons of Dallas, Texas

 

 

Actually if you look at the top AJGA players in bigger events, you can only see that most of the top juniors/seniors stopped caring about AJGA or JGS rankings - this is happening more & more. Heck, many of them going to P4 don’t even care to pay the annual dues. 

[wegobomber31]

6 minutes ago, golferdad8 said:

 

Actually if you look at the top AJGA players in bigger events, you can only see that most of the top juniors/seniors stopped caring about AJGA or JGS rankings - this is happening more & more. Heck, many of them going to P4 don’t even care to pay the annual dues. 

I don't disagree with any of this, especially the JGS part.  General sentiment was a lot of the top guys were at the TTM just to fulfill the minimum 2 events to be eligible for the Wyndham Cup.  I just don't think this is a terribly new phenomenon with respect to the Wyndham Invitational.  Its WAGR Power was only 86 last year, about the same as the CT Pan AJGA Open event.

[DArnie]

Not sure about other Coaches, but our son's Coach told him no more Junior events when he signed. Told him only qualifiers and Men's events, but he still had to finish HS golf though. Which is understandable imo. And it was pretty satisfying unsubscribing from all the different tours emails after two boys five years apart playing for the last 10 years. Saved me quite a bit of $ too with no more entry fees and hotels etc.

[golfortennis]

10 hours ago, DArnie said:

Not sure about other Coaches, but our son's Coach told him no more Junior events when he signed. Told him only qualifiers and Men's events, but he still had to finish HS golf though. Which is understandable imo. And it was pretty satisfying unsubscribing from all the different tours emails after two boys five years apart playing for the last 10 years. Saved me quite a bit of $ too with no more entry fees and hotels etc.

 

Genuine question, but why?  I'm not saying the coach is wrong, I would just love to know the rationale behind the thought process.

[golferdad8]

1 hour ago, golfortennis said:

 

Genuine question, but why?  I'm not saying the coach is wrong, I would just love to know the rationale behind the thought process.

Agree on this same question, perhaps can share what level coach he’s at & his pedigree as people from all backgrounds. Some coaches are great while others think they’re great coaches but are not.  
 

IMHO, competition is good - especially before college. Whether it’s against friends for a few bucks or in junior or amateur tournaments, it’s all good. In addition, I think it’s important to compete in different scenarios - some where the junior gets whooped, sometimes in the middle of the pack & has a chance to win, and some where he’s expected to win. Depending on the players’ goals & the school, if can’t win any junior tournaments, it will be tough to juggle school trying to be in the lineups while trying to win college tournaments & help the team. A decent coach should know that - perhaps that’s why more coaches from top golf schools now are taking transfers more than before. 

[LawGenius305]

1 hour ago, golfortennis said:

 

Genuine question, but why?  I'm not saying the coach is wrong, I would just love to know the rationale behind the thought process.

 

37 minutes ago, golferdad8 said:

Agree on this same question, perhaps can share what level coach he’s at & his pedigree as people from all backgrounds. Some coaches are great while others think they’re great coaches but are not.  
 

IMHO, competition is good - especially before college. Whether it’s against friends for a few bucks or in junior or amateur tournaments, it’s all good. In addition, I think it’s important to compete in different scenarios - some where the junior gets whooped, sometimes in the middle of the pack & has a chance to win, and some where he’s expected to win. Depending on the players’ goals & the school, if can’t win any junior tournaments, it will be tough to juggle school trying to be in the lineups while trying to win college tournaments & help the team. A decent coach should know that - perhaps that’s why more coaches from top golf schools now are taking transfers more than before. 

 Agree with both of these. Competition is competition. There are only so many Am events a junior can get into. The players that go to college and struggle are generally the players that take on a weak summer schedule before college.

 

I was speaking with a D1 coach a few weeks ago. He told me that top schools priorities were in this order, transfers and the Top 50ish Juniors. The better D1 schools have stopped watching 9th to 11th graders and are concentrating on middle school kids. 

[MB19]

3 hours ago, LawGenius305 said:

 

  was speaking with a D1 coach a few weeks ago. He told me that top schools priorities were in this order, transfers and the Top 50ish Juniors. The better D1 schools have stopped watching 9th to 11th graders and are concentrating on middle school kids. 

I guess I always assumed the good D1 schools always paid loose attention to the elite middle school kids, but to hear these coaches are concentrating on them is a little unsettling.  Shame on me for not seeing NCAA Golf going the way of NCAA Gymnastics, but here we are.

[golferdad8]

D1 coaches concentrating on elite middle school kids are a waste of time, imho.

We've followed junior golf for the past 10+ years.

Most of these "elite" kids will peak too early or burn out by 11th grade so it's tough to find a kid who can stay at that elite level. 

 

If a D1 coach can correctly identify a top 25 player super early, the likelihood of that player choosing that coach is probably low/zero.

 

Lastly, even if the early recruit can make it all the way to the early D1 Coach's recruiting efforts, this is like finding marrying a girl/guy from dating in 8th grade/early high school - there's a good chance of the kid hitting the portal. We've met many kids who committed early only to get cut and/or asked to transfer once they get to college.

[LawGenius305]

8 minutes ago, golferdad8 said:

D1 coaches concentrating on elite middle school kids are a waste of time, imho.

We've followed junior golf for the past 10+ years.

Most of these "elite" kids will peak too early or burn out by 11th grade so it's tough to find a kid who can stay at that elite level. 

 

If a D1 coach can correctly identify a top 25 player super early, the likelihood of that player choosing that coach is probably low/zero.

 

Lastly, even if the early recruit can make it all the way to the early D1 Coach's recruiting efforts, this is like finding marrying a girl/guy from dating in 8th grade/early high school - there's a good chance of the kid hitting the portal. We've met many kids who committed early only to get cut and/or asked to transfer once they get to college.

I don't disagree.

[Golfquant]

2 hours ago, golferdad8 said:

D1 coaches concentrating on elite middle school kids are a waste of time, imho.

We've followed junior golf for the past 10+ years.

Most of these "elite" kids will peak too early or burn out by 11th grade so it's tough to find a kid who can stay at that elite level. 

 

If a D1 coach can correctly identify a top 25 player super early, the likelihood of that player choosing that coach is probably low/zero.

 

Lastly, even if the early recruit can make it all the way to the early D1 Coach's recruiting efforts, this is like finding marrying a girl/guy from dating in 8th grade/early high school - there's a good chance of the kid hitting the portal. We've met many kids who committed early only to get cut and/or asked to transfer once they get to college.

 

6 hours ago, LawGenius305 said:

 

 Agree with both of these. Competition is competition. There are only so many Am events a junior can get into. The players that go to college and struggle are generally the players that take on a weak summer schedule before college.

 

I was speaking with a D1 coach a few weeks ago. He told me that top schools priorities were in this order, transfers and the Top 50ish Juniors. The better D1 schools have stopped watching 9th to 11th graders and are concentrating on middle school kids. 

If you look at history, the best 12yo's almost always end up being elite 17-18yo's

 

That doesn't mean other kids who weren't elite at 12 don't develop into top players - I'm just saying the best at 12 end up still being elite upon hs graduation

 

So I have to disagree - targeting middle schoolers among elite D1 programs is not a waste of time and is probably wise; these coaches are not as dumb as ppl think

[LawGenius305]

33 minutes ago, Golfquant said:

 

If you look at history, the best 12yo's almost always end up being elite 17-18yo's

 

That doesn't mean other kids who weren't elite at 12 don't develop into top players - I'm just saying the best at 12 end up still being elite upon hs graduation

 

So I have to disagree - targeting middle schoolers among elite D1 programs is not a waste of time and is probably wise; these coaches are not as dumb as ppl think

I would rephrase this. There is a correlation between kids that play at the World Championships at 12 and go on to play collegiately. Those that win and finish high are hit or miss. Carter Dalili, Allen Kournakova and others have struggled to break 80 by their senior years of high school and never played in college.

[jigsaw1011]

53 minutes ago, Golfquant said:

 

If you look at history, the best 12yo's almost always end up being elite 17-18yo's

 

That doesn't mean other kids who weren't elite at 12 don't develop into top players - I'm just saying the best at 12 end up still being elite upon hs graduation

 

So I have to disagree - targeting middle schoolers among elite D1 programs is not a waste of time and is probably wise; these coaches are not as dumb as ppl think

How do you identify “elite” 12 year olds? What is the criteria? A win at USK Worlds? JGS? 
 

On the boys side of things,  physically boys are all over the place at that age.(and up until 16) One has hit a growth spurt and looks like a man some boys look like they are still in fourth grade. 

[Golfquant]

2 minutes ago, jigsaw1011 said:

How do you identify “elite” 12 year olds? What is the criteria? A win at USK Worlds? JGS? 
 

On the boys side of things,  physically boys are all over the place at that age.(and up until 16) One has hit a growth spurt and looks like a man some boys look like they are still in fourth grade. 

 

11 minutes ago, LawGenius305 said:

I would rephrase this. There is a correlation between kids that play at the World Championships at 12 and go on to play collegiately. Those that win and finish high are hit or miss. Carter Dalili, Allen Kournakova and others have struggled to break 80 by their senior years of high school and never played in college.

As I said earlier, the top Boys 12yo's (let's define it as top 10 finishers in US Kids World Championships for Boys 12) have a very high correlation of success the rest of the way leading up to hs graduation and in college

 

I'm not saying random boys who weren't competing at that time but weren't a top finisher don't end up being successful

 

People on this forum complain about rankings all the time (incorrectly imvho), but the reality is rankings (almost ANY rankings with an objective process) are a better predictor of future success than almost any other measure that those ppl can come up with

 

So if you have a problem with the hypothesis, come back with facts/data and perhaps an alternative better predictor of success

[LawGenius305]

I agree. Rankings values are generally speaking rather relative to what they are. I know I complain, but it is nitpicking about the process.

 

JGS CCA is about the dumbest thing in rankings that has ever been inserted. Everyone uses an adjustment, but how they use it is stupid. ScoreboardLive touts using Strokes Gained, but it really isn't strokes gained. It is just another algorithm that isn't transparent that college coaches, players, and fans dislike.

[wegobomber31]

7 hours ago, LawGenius305 said:

The better D1 schools have stopped watching 9th to 11th graders

This has not been my observation at all.

[golfdad1]

6 hours ago, wegobomber31 said:

This has not been my observation at all.

Correct. Has the poster who said that been to elite junior tournaments?

[jigsaw1011]

12 hours ago, Golfquant said:

As I said earlier, the top Boys 12yo's (let's define it as top 10 finishers in US Kids World Championships for Boys 12) have a very high correlation of success the rest of the way leading up to hs graduation and in college

I can’t remember who but someone on here about 5 years ago actually went through the data from USK worlds. If I remember correctly the data showed it wasn’t the kids who placed in the top ten that had the best success in college but kids who were more top 30-40.  Does anyone else remember this?

[wegobomber31]

8 hours ago, golfdad1 said:

Correct. Has the poster who said that been to elite junior tournaments?

Somewhat timely given that Western Junior is in the middle of Iowa today and there are usually 40+ coaches there and 156 kids from the 9th-12th grade. A lot of top schools too. 
 

 

[golfdad1]

52 minutes ago, wegobomber31 said:

Somewhat timely given that Western Junior is in the middle of Iowa today and there are usually 40+ coaches there and 156 kids from the 9th-12th grade. A lot of top schools too. 
 

 

Our coaches at a top D1 school never look at kids in middle school, because they don't care what they do until they hit puberty and their growth first. They might know their names, but that's it.

[Golfquant]

3 hours ago, jigsaw1011 said:

I can’t remember who but someone on here about 5 years ago actually went through the data from USK worlds. If I remember correctly the data showed it wasn’t the kids who placed in the top ten that had the best success in college but kids who were more top 30-40.  Does anyone else remember this?

 

This was during COVID

 

12 out of the 14 below are committed to P4 golf programs, including some perennial contenders for national championships

 

1 is ranked ~#500 for 2026

 

1 reclassed to 2027

 

Edited June 17 by Golfquant

[Golfquant]

6 minutes ago, Golfquant said:

 

This was during COVID

 

12 out of the 14 below are committed to P4 golf programs, including some perennial contenders for national championships

 

1 is ranked ~#500 for 2026

 

1 reclassed to 2027

 

Above are mostly in the class of 2026 (rising hs seniors)

 

Their intended destinations (current commitments), in order:

Alabama

Vanderbilt

TBD 2026 (ranked #502)

Georgia Tech

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech

Clemson

Michigan

Duke

UNC

Oklahoma State

Duke

TBD 2027 (ranked #23 for class)

Georgia

 

[LawGenius305]

4 hours ago, jigsaw1011 said:

I can’t remember who but someone on here about 5 years ago actually went through the data from USK worlds. If I remember correctly the data showed it wasn’t the kids who placed in the top ten that had the best success in college but kids who were more top 30-40.  Does anyone else remember this?

It was the legend, heavy_hitter.