40th Junior PGA Championship Draws Elite Field to Miramont Country Club
Brad Dalke (above) was a member of the victorious 2014 United States Junior Ryder Cup and is returning to Miramont for a second straight summer.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. July 28, 2015 – For a second consecutive year, an elite field of 156 players – 78 boys and 78 girls – will convene at Miramont Country Club in Bryan, Texas, Aug. 3-6, for the 40th Junior PGA Championship presented by Under Armour and Genesis Networks.
The 2015 field includes nine PGA Junior Series event champions, players from all 41 PGA Sections, many of the top players from the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and Polo Golf Rankings, as well as select national junior tournament winners.
The Junior PGA Championship, one of the premier events in junior golf, had never been held in the state of Texas before Miramont set out its welcome mat each of the last two years. Accordingly, 26 juniors (15 girls, 11 boys) playing at Miramont hail from the Lone Star State.
The boys’ field is headlined by Philip Barbaree of Shreveport, La., who finished off a historic 37-hole win in the U.S. Junior Amateur on July 25. During Barbaree’s dramatic victory, he matched the largest comeback in U.S. Junior Amateur history, as he was down five holes with only eight remaining to play.
Joining Barbaree in the boys’ division will be Brad Dalke of Hobart, Okla., and Cameron Young of Scarborogh, N.Y. Last fall in Scotland, both Dalke and Young helped Team USA win its fourth straight Junior Ryder Cup over their European counterparts.
Dalke (tied third), Barbaree (fifth) and Young (sixth) are the top three finishers that will return to Miramont for a second straight summer.
Angel Yin of Arcadia, Calif., leads the 78-player girls’ division. Yin, the top ranked girls’ player according to the Polo Golf Rankings, is fresh off a runner-up finish at the 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in Tulsa, where she earned an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Yin is making her Junior PGA Championship debut.
Yin will be challenged by Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii. A three-time state high school golf champion, the 17-year-old Galdiano has qualified for three U.S. Women’s Open Championships (2011, ‘13, ‘15). This year, she made the cut for the first time and finished in a tie for 42nd place at Lancaster Country Club.
Galdiano is one of six players to return to Miramont that registered top-25 finishes last year. She is joined on the list by Kaitlyn Papp of Austin, Texas; Binny Lee of Frisco, Texas; Kelly Whaley of Farmington, Conn.; Courtney Dow of Frisco, Texas; and Elizabeth Wang of San Marino, Calif.
Kristen Gillman and Sam Burns won last year’s Junior PGA Championship at Miramont and both are slated to begin their collegiate golf careers this fall in the Southeastern Conference. Gillman and Burns will study and play at the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University, respectively.
The complete field, as of Tuesday, July 28:
| GIRLS’ DIVISION | BOYS’ DIVISION |
| Alyaa Abdulghany, Newport Beach, Calif. | Ashwin Arasu, San Diego, Calif. |
| Evelyn Arguelles, MEXICO | Zhenkai (Bobby) Bai, CHINA |
| Morgan Baxendale, Windermere, Fla. | Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. |
| Jillian Bourdage, Tamarac, Fla. | Garrett Barber, Stuart, Fla. |
| Madison Braman, Loudonville, N.Y. | Alec Bard, New Hartford, N.Y. |
| Jennifer Chang, Cary, N.C. | Carson Barry, Eagle, Idaho |
| Youngin Chun, Austin, Texas | Ryan Bender, Overland Park, Kan. |
| Kristin Dahee, Chung Buena Park, Calif. | Brandon Berry, Great Falls, Va. |
| Hailee Cooper, Montgomery, Texas | Michael Biata, Owasso, Okla. |
| Grace Do, Coppell, Texas | Alec Brunelle, Salem, N.H. |
| Courtney Dow, Frisco, Texas | William Buhl, Fairhope, Ala. |
| Sadie Englemann, Austin, Texas | Frankie Capan, North Oaks, Minn. |
| Julia Ford, Shrewsbury, Mass. | Sean Carlon, Albuquerque, N.M. |
| Mariel Galdiano, Pearl City, Hawaii | Tyler Church, Onalaska, Wis. |
| Angela Garvin, Feeding Hills, Mass. | Zach Crawford, Vandalia, Ohio |
| Morgan Goldstein, Las Vegas, Nev. | Brad Dalke, Hobart, Okla. |
| Shannon Gould, O’Fallon, Mo. | Ryan Davis, Berkeley Heights, N.J. |
| Virginia Green, Point Clear, Ala. | Cameron Dawson, Hodgenville, Ky. |
| Kendall Griffin, Sebring, Fla. | Will Dickson, Providence, R.I. |
| Sarah Harrison, Martinez, Ga. | Austin Eckroat, Edmond, Okla. |
| Lauren Hartlage, Elizabethtown, Ky. | Walter Egloff, Chevy Chase, Md. |
| Anni Heck, Eagan, Minn. | Jordan Even, Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
| Victoria Huskey, Greenville, S.C. | Ethan Farnam, Crystal Lake, Ill. |
| Sabrina Iqbal, San Jose, Calif. | Austin Fox, Delmar, N.Y. |
| Julia Johnson, St. Gabriel, La. | Jackson Franchville, Coatesville, Ind. |
| Hailey Jones, Dallas, Texas | Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss. |
| Caroline Jordaan, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. | Joshua Gliege, Eagle, Idaho |
| Rina Jung Briarcliff, Manor, N.Y. | Grant Glorioso, Metairie, La. |
| Chaithra Katamneni, Coppell, Texas | Mark Goetz, Irwin, Pa. |
| Madison Kerley, Scottsdale, Ariz. | Noah Goodwin, Corinth, Texas |
| Chakansim (Fai) Khamborn, Cincinnati, Ohio | Ryan Grider, Lewisville, Texas |
| Gina Kim, Chapel Hill, N.C. | Ashkaan Hakim, San Ramon, Calif. |
| Mia Kness, Venetia, Pa. | Cole Hammer, Houston, Texas |
| Binny Lee, Frisco, Texas | Nathan Han, Somers, N.Y. |
| Lucy Li, Redwood Shores, Calif. | Kyosuke Hara, Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Mika Liu, Beverly Hills, Calif. | Kendel Hodges, Temecula, Calif. |
| Kaho Monica Matsubara, San Diego, Calif. | Kyle Hogan, Cypress, Texas |
| Lindsay May, Auburn, N.Y. | William Holcomb V, Crockett, Texas |
| Rachele Miller, Bettendorf, Iowa | Jackson Howes, McKinney, Texas |
| Natalie Mullins, Eagle, Idaho | Nathan Jeansonne, Keithville, La. |
| Malia Nam, Kailua, Hawaii | Thomas Johnson, Norman, Okla. |
| Kasey Nielsen, Kent, Ohio | Andrew Kozan, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. |
| Kaitlyn Papp, Austin, Texas | Cole Krantz, Windsor, Colo. |
| Victoria Parker, Lewiston, N.Y. | Will Kurtz, Hudson, Ohio |
| Madasyn Pettersen, Rockford, Ill. | Walker Lee, Houston, Texas |
| Chandler Rosholt, Cedar Park, Texas | Jason Liu, Windsor, Conn. |
| Ariana Saenz, Porter, Texas | Kaiwen Liu, San Diego, Calif. |
| Karah Sanford, Escondito, Calif. | Viraj Madappa, INDIA |
| Ellen Secor, Portland, Ore. | Joshua Madarang, Chester Springs, Pa. |
| Delaney Shah, North Potomac, Md. | Garrett Martin, San Antonio, Texas |
| Erica Shepherd, Greenwood, Ind. | Nate Menon, Wyomissing, Pa. |
| Sarah Shipley, Hastings, Mich. | William Nottingham, Kingsport, Tenn. |
| Rachel Silverman, Belle Isle, Fla. | John Pak Scotch, Plains, N.J. |
| Kelly Sim, Edgewater, N.J. | Reese Ramsey, Austin, Texas |
| Loren Skibba, Verona, Wis. | Garett Reband, Fort Worth, Texas |
| Ellie Slama, South Salem, Ore. | Alex Schaake, Omaha, Neb. |
| Jessica Sloot, Fruit Heights, Utah | Luke Schniederjans, Kennesaw, Ga. |
| Katherine Smith, Detroit Lakes, Minn. | Mitchell Schow, Ogden, Utah |
| Alisa Snyder, Phoenix, Ariz. | Anton Serafini, Lake Mary, Fla. |
| Yujeong Son, Norman, Okla. | Davis Shore, Knoxville, Tenn. |
| Rachael Stewart, Franklin, Ky. | Walker Simas, Charlotte, N.C. |
| Malia Stovall, Winchester, Tenn. | Noel Sims, Phoenix, Ariz. |
| Kennedy Swann, Austin, Texas | Davis Smith, Johns Creek, Ga. |
| Ellie Szeryk, Allen, Texas | Jack Snyder, Phoenix, Ariz. |
| Hannah Thiele, Wahoo, Neb. | Sean Song, Omaha, Neb. |
| Lauren Tibbets, Converse, Ind. | Blake Taylor, Atkinson, N.C. |
| Kasey Torres, Los Angeles, Calif. | Zack Taylor, Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Jean Tyrrell, Leawood, Kan. | Troy Taylor II, Westerville, Ohio |
| Kailie Vongsaga, Walnut, Calif. | Frankie Thomas, St. Louis, Mo. |
| Lilia Khatu Vu, Fountain Valley, Calif. | Justin Thompson, Dallas, Texas |
| Brynn Walker, St. Davids, Pa. | Will Thomson, Pittsford, N.Y. |
| Lauren Waller, Canonsburg, Pa. | Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss. |
| Maya Walton, Austin, Texas | Spencer Tibbits, Vancouver, Wash. |
| Amber Wang, Sugar Land, Texas | Carter Toms, Shreveport, La. |
| Elizabeth Wang, San Marino, Calif. | Austin van Sytzama, Delano, Minn. |
| Kelly Whaley, Farmington, Conn. | Andrew Walker, Battle Creek, Mich. |
| Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif. | Trey Winstead, Baton Rouge, La. |
| Darian Zachek, Deming, N.M. | Cameron Young, Scarborough, N.Y. |
SOURCE: PGA