Fields of 156 girls and 156 boys will compete for the Patty Berg and Jack Nicklaus Trophies
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BETHESDA, Md. — Two of golf’s major junior championships—the 48th Junior PGA Championships—tee off at storied Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 30-Aug. 2.
The Junior PGA Championships are open to amateurs no older than 18 years of age on August 2, and all contestants must have qualified through a PGA of America Section Championship or have been granted an exemption into the field.
The four-day, 72-hole event will feature 312 players—156 girls, 156 boys—playing concurrently. Each division will have a 36-hole cut on Wednesday, July 31, to the low 60 scorers and ties, and a 54-hole cut Thursday, August 1, to the low 30 scorers and ties. The first two rounds will be played on both the Blue and Gold Courses at Congressional before moving exclusively to the Blue Course for the final two rounds.
The top female junior golfers will compete for the Patty Berg Trophy. The girls division features seven of the top 15 junior players, according to the Rolex American Junior Golf Association Rankings, highlighted by No. 5 Asterisk Talley, No. 6 Aphrodite Deng and No. 9 Elise Lee.
The top male junior golfers competing for the Jack Nicklaus Trophy feature seven of the top 15 junior players, including No. 4 Pennson Badgett, No. 5 Will Hartman and No. 6 Jackson Byrd.
Included in the two fields are 18 players from the host Middle Atlantic PGA Section. More than 100 college coaches are expected to be in attendance for the final two rounds.
The Junior PGA Championships are where the best in the world get their start. Among previous participants are Tiger Woods, Rose Zhang, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Lexi Thompson, Yuka Saso, Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia and Inbee Park.
The 2023 Junior PGA Championships were held at Hot Springs Country Club, where 15-year-old Gianna Clemente won the Girls Division by three strokes and 14-year-old Miles Russell cruised to a seven-shot victory in the Boys Division. The two champions were both members of the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team in Rome. Clemente’s stellar year included making her first LPGA Tour cut to finish T-47 earlier this summer at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, while Russell made history in April as the youngest player to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour, ultimately finishing T-20 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic.
Players to Watch at the 2024 Junior PGA Championships
Girls Division:
Asterisk Talley – Chowchilla, California
The No. 5-ranked golfer on the AJGA Rankings, Talley is a two-time Junior All-American, earning First Team honors in 2023. She won the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley after posting three wins in 2023 at the C.T. Pan Foundation Championship and Rolex Girls Junior Championship. The 15-year-old was the runner-up at the 75th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship earlier in July and made the cut to finish as the co-low amateur at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open.
Aphrodite Deng – Short Hills, New Jersey
One of the youngest players in the field at 14, Deng is currently ranked No. 6 on the AJGA Rankings and was a 2023 Honorable Mention Rolex Junior All-American. Deng’s strong season has included wins at the 2023 Rolex Tournament of Champions, the inaugural The Nelly Invitational in May and the New Jersey State Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship in June.
Elise Lee – Irvine, California
Currently No. 9 on the AJGA Rankings, Lee boasts top 10 finishes in her last three AJGA events: Mizuho Americas Open (5th), The Nelly Invitational (T-6) and Fortinet Girls Invitational at Stanford (T-2). The 2022 Junior All-American will be playing at Northwestern University starting in the fall.
Boys Division:
Pennson Badgett – Pilot Mountain, North Carolina
The No. 4-ranked golfer on the AJGA Rankings, Badgett has had a strong 2024 with wins at the RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic, UNIQLO / Adam Scott Junior Championship and Visit Goldsboro NC Junior Championship. The 16-year-old also finished T-5 at the 2024 Wyndham Invitational presented by Odyssey.
Will Hartman – Marvin, North Carolina
Currently No. 5 on the AJGA Rankings, Hartman returns to the Junior PGA Championship after finishing T-5 in 2023. A member of the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team, he won the 29th Annual Bobby Chapman in October and finished T-5 at the 2024 RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic. Hartman, who turned 18 over the weekend, was a 2023 First Team Junior All-America and is verbally committed to play golf at Vanderbilt University.
Jackson Byrd – Saint Simons Island, Georgia
The son of five-time PGA TOUR winner Jonathan Byrd, Jackson Byrd returns to the Junior PGA Championship following a runner-up finish in 2023. The No. 6-ranked AJGA golfer was a member of the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team and is a two-time Honorable Mention Junior All-American. Byrd, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on the opening day of the 2024 Junior PGA Championships, finished T-3 at the 2024 RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic and T-6 at the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
Players From the Middle Atlantic PGA Section in the Fields (18):
- Abigail Avallone, Bethesda, Maryland
- Zoe Cusack, Potomac, Maryland
- Talon Dingledine, North Chesterfield, Virginia
- Clark Xander Goboy, Chesapeake, Virginia
- Kathryn Ha, Roanoke, Virginia
- Samuel Han, Ashburn, Virginia
- Alina Ho, Great Falls, Virginia
- Irene Kim, Columbia, Maryland
- Carson Looney, Bethesda, Maryland
- Elsie MacCleery, Crozet, Virginia
- Keya Naik, Ashburn, Virginia
- Macie Rasmussen, Chesapeake, Virginia
- Logan Reilly, Lovettsville, Virginia
- Madison Rizzo, Leesburg, Virginia
- Brandon Sipe, Yorktown, Virginia
- Ashika Vuradi, Brambleton, Virginia
- Helen Yeung, Clarksville, Maryland
- Timothy Yi, Centreville, Virginia
For more information about the Junior PGA Championships, visit JuniorPGAChampionship.com and follow on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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Media Contact: Alan Cox, PGA of America, 972-214-8274, acox@pgahq.com
