Hamilton Coleman, 17, of Augusta, Ga., and 18-year-old Nguyen Anh Minh, of Vietnam, will square off in Saturday’s 36-hole championship match of the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest Golf Club.
Coleman, a rising high school senior who has committed to play for the University of Georgia in 2026, eliminated a pair of left-handers on Friday, including local favorite and U.S. National Junior Team member Luke Colton, 5 and 4, in the semifinals. In the quarterfinals earlier in the day, he took out Sohan Patel, of Weston, Fla., 2 and 1. This came on the heels of defeating another southpaw and 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up Tyler Watts, of Huntsville, Ala., in the Round of 16 on Wednesday afternoon, a match in which he rallied from 3 down after 11 holes to advance.
Anh Minh, bidding to become the first from his country to claim any USGA championship, rolled to a 4-and-3 win over Qiwou Wu, of the People’s Republic of China, in the semifinals after knocking out University of Alabama rising sophomore and 2022 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Nicholas Gross, of Downingtown, Pa., 3 and 1 earlier in the day.
Both finalists have managed to win five matches in searing north Texas heat. Temperatures once again hit the high 90s for a fifth consecutive day with the Heat Index reaching triple digits.
Coleman, who got into this year’s championship based off winning the 2024 Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in a playoff over 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur medalist Blades Brown, certainly hasn’t’ looked like the No. 625 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®. In fact, he has eliminated two of the three highest-ranked players over the last two days; Watts, the winner of this year’s Sunnehanna Amateur, is currently No. 42 and Colton, the 2025 Terra Cotta Invitational champion from nearby Frisco, Texas, is No. 26.
A 2022 Drive, Chip & Putt national finalist at Augusta National Golf Club, just a short drive from his residence, Coleman showed tremendous touch on the greens.
“Honestly, I have not had the best summer coming into this, but I started to hit it better and then the putter is finally starting to warm up,” said Coleman, the first future Georgia Bulldog to make a U.S. Junior Amateur final since Brian Harman won the title in 2003. “So I knew I had a good chance coming in, and now to see it coming to fruition is pretty cool.
“I know that my ranking doesn't really show how good I am and I know I can compete with anybody out here.”
Coleman wasted no time jumping out quickly against Colton, who had not trailed in a match over his first 64 holes. He won the par-5 2nd with a 5 when Colton injured his left wrist playing his second shot from high rough. Another winning par on No. 4 gave Coleman a 2-up lead. Colton, who received medical treatment for his wrist, did get a hole back on the par-5 5th when Coleman missed a 6-foot par putt.
But Colton, a 2026 Vanderbilt University commit, just couldn’t get what had been a sizzling putter up to this point going.
“It just hurt a lot,” said Colton of the wrist injury. “It was hard playing the rest [of the match]. It was manageable… I played really good in the morning [quarterfinal win] and that kind of threw me off a little bit. It's all right. [Coleman] played really good.”
Anh Minh, the fourth-highest-ranked player in the field at No. 52 in the WAGR and an incoming Oregon State freshman, improved his showing from last year at Oakland Hills when he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Taking advantage of a player who had been extended to 18 and/or beyond in three of his first four matches, Anh Minh won five of the first six holes against Wu and cruised from there. Wu cut the deficit to 4 with a birdie on No. 8, but the two tied the next seven holes.
“I really wanted redemption,” said Anh Minh. “That's what I was aiming for this year. I was very grateful that I got this far.”
Twelve hours behind Central Daylight Time, the folks in Vietnam likely weren’t quite up yet when Anh Minh completed his victory. But the news should spread throughout a nation that is starting to wake up to the game.
“It's definitely special,” said Anh Minh of his accomplishment. “To say I'm the first one to make it to the final of a USGA event, it's remarkable and really special.”
In a matchup of the two highest-ranked players in the field – according to WAGR – Colton made seven birdies, including three over his final four holes, to defeat world No. 18 and fellow left-hander Miles Russell, 4 and 3. Russell, the 2023 American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year and 2025 champion of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, tied the match with a par on No. 10, but the 2027 Florida State University verbal commit couldn’t match Colton’s birdie barrage over the next five holes.
Colton took the par-3 11th with a par, then birdied 12, 14 and 15 to put the match away in front of an appreciative group of local fans.
The previous U.S. Junior match between the two highest-ranked players came in the 2022 final at Bandon Dunes when world No. 19 Wenyi Ding defeated No. 20 Caleb Surratt.
The other quarterfinal matchups saw Coleman eliminate left-hander Sohan Patel, of Weston, Fla., 2 and 1, while Wu eliminated No. 2 seed Ben Bolton, of England, 1 up, and Minh defeated University of Alabama rising sophomore Nicholas Gross, of Downingtown, Pa., 3 and 1. Bolton had a chance to force Wu to his third extra-hole match of the week, but lipped out a 7-foot birdie attempt on the 18th green.
WHAT'S NEXT
Saturday’s 36-hole championship match will commence at 8 a.m. CDT and continue after the lunch break at a time to be determined. Golf Channel will have live coverage from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.
NOTABLE
- Saturday’s champion will receive an exemption into the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
- Both finalists are exempt into next month’s U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club. Nguyen Anh Minh was already in the field based on being among the top 100 in WAGR, but Hamilton Coleman was not.
- The two finalists were invited as pre-game guests of the Texas Rangers before their game Friday night at Globe Life Field. The team’s opponent happened to be the Atlanta Braves, the team Coleman grew up rooting for. Anh Minh, who still has a couple of high school finals to take before heading to Oregon State next month, eschewed the invite to study for his exams.
- Both semifinal losers received bronze medals and a two-year exemption into the U.S. Junior Amateur, provided they are age eligible. The 2026 championship is scheduled for Saucon Valley Country Club, in Bethlehem, Pa. The 2027 event will be staged at Chambers Bay, in University Place, Wash.
- Three Trinity Forest caddies and one from stroke-play co-host Brook Hollow Golf Club were involved in the quarterfinals. The Trinity Forest caddies were Nate Berrey (Miles Russell), Phil Jones (Ben Bolton) andJohn McKinney (Qiyou Wu). Brook Hollow caddie Hogan Civello carried for Nicholas Gross. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based instructor Bobby Jackson caddied for Sohan Patel. Luke Colton employed family friend Joseph Kay, PGA Frisco caddie Mitch Blackburn was on the bag for Hamilton Coleman, and Brook Hollow member and former Washington & Lee University golfer An Shelmire carried for Nguyen Anh Minh.
- Anh Minh found his caddie just after his first practice round at Brook Hollow. His original choice decided not to come and Shelmire, who is part Vietnamese, offered to carry for him. It has turned into a great partnership.
- This will be the 14th time overall – and 13th since 1994 – that an international player has made the championship match with a record of 5-8. Wenyi Ding, of the People’s Republic of China, is the last winner (2022 at Bandon Dunes). The others are Min Woo Lee (Australia, 2016), Andy Hyeon Bo Shim (Republic of Korea, 2012), Sihwan Kim (Korea, 2004) and Terry Noe (Korea, 1994). Enrique Sterling Jr., of Mexico, was the first international finalist in 1964, losing to Johnny Miller at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.
- Nicholas Gross’ parents are both college professors. His father, Shawn, teaches civile engineering at Villanova University, and his mom, Jennifer, teaches structural engineering at Lehigh University.
QUOTABLE
“I'm trying not to think about it too much. That's not what I'm playing it for. It is a nice bonus but I'm just here to play for the love of the game. Show my gifts.” – Hamilton Coleman when asked if the U.S. Open exemption will weigh on his mind
“They're very similar to what my home course (Westlake Country Club). Same bermuda [grass] and similar speed. The main thing is just getting my speed right and then taking advantage of those putts that are inside 15, 20 feet. I got a feel that I have working right now.” – Coleman on his adjustment to the fast putting surfaces at Trinity Forest
“It's growing really good right now. We got a lot of juniors coming up which is great to hear and great to see as well. Hopefully they (younger generation of players) can grow up and come here to the States and play some USGA events.” – Nguyen Anh Minh on golf’s growing popularity in Vietnam
“The heat is just insane, but stay rested, stay hydrated, and just have resilience.” – Anh Minh when asked about playing a third consecutive 36-hole day
“I feel like my fitness is not coming really good. Like [my] driver, it goes anywhere. It [wasn’t] a good start. He was 5 up [after six holes]. But the back nine was a little bit better… Next year I'm going to play this again, so I want to do some fitness and get stronger and prepare for the next stage.” – Qiyou Wu on semifinal defeat and looking to improve his stamina for the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur
“It was a great week. Last year as a junior [golfer] so good I was able to play well. Pretty happy with my game. Just unfortunate [to fall short of the final]. It is what it is.” – Luke Colton
“Really [I was] just trying to make birdies because that's all he was doing. He was making … a lot of putts. It's hard to beat somebody when they make a bunch of putts. That means you have to make just as many and more…It was a great week. Hit a lot of good golf shots and hit a lot of bad ones, but kind of only remember the good ones now.” – Miles Russell
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