Win a marathon opening-round match, knock off a couple of top-rated foes and walk home with the U.S. Junior Amateur Trophy as an unheralded champion at week’s end.
Where has this script been followed before?
Some 365 days ago at Oakland Hills Country Club outside of Detroit, Trevor Gutschewski surprised many – he came into the week as the No. 3570 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® -- by surviving a 23-hole match and rolling to the title, defeating medalist Blades Brown in the Round of 32, two heralded players from the People’s Republic of China, and then U.S. National Junior Team member Tyler Watts in the 36-hole finale.
Hamilton Coleman, currently No. 625 in the WAGR, took a similar path to the 77th edition of this championship at Trinity Forest Golf Club.
The 17-year-old from Augusta, Ga., needed 25 holes – the longest U.S. Junior Amateur match in 23 years – to oust his Round-of-64 foe, then defeat three consecutive lefties with remarkable résumés, and hold on to out-duel world No. 52 Minh Nguyen in Saturday’s 36-hole final, 2 and 1.
Coleman, who built as much as a 5-up lead through 12 holes on yet another extremely hot day (temperatures in the mid-90s and Heat Index in the low triple digits) in north Texas, closed out a grueling week of golf by converting a 10-foot birdie putt on the 99-yard 35th hole.
The future University of Georgia Bulldog – he will matriculate at the Athens campus in 2026 – now joins a list of illustrious U.S. Junior Amateur champions that includes Tiger Woods, current world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Johnny Miller, Jordan Spieth, David Duval, Will Zalatoris and Nick Dunlap. He is also the fourth future Georgia golfer to win this title along with Madden Hatcher (1976), Jack Larkin Sr. (1979) and major champion Brian Harman (2003).
The victory earns Coleman, a member of the U.S. National Development Program’s Georgia State Team, a spot in the 2026 U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, as well as exemptions into next month’s U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club, and the 2026 championship at Merion Golf Club. He’ll also get a chance to defend his Junior Amateur title next July at Saucon Valey Country Club.
“It's really cool just seeing the names that are also on that trophy,” said Coleman. “Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods, all the great players of the game have come through this tournament. Just to be on that level with them is a great feeling.
“I know I haven't had the best season coming into this [championship], but I know that my game can stack up to those quality of golfers if I just keep hitting quality shots and putting pressure on. And I mean, it also helps that I do hit it slightly shorter than most because I'm hitting most of the [approach] shots first, so just being able to put that pressure on [my opponents] and then just hitting quality shots.”
Many who follow junior golf could see this possibly coming for Coleman. Last August, he edged Brown, now a fledgling professional, in a two-hole playoff to win The Junior Players Championship, a prestigious event held at TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He also was selected to represent the East Team in the Wyndham Cup at Forest Highlands, in Flagstaff, Ariz., the American Junior Golf Association’s Ryder Cup-style competition. In 2022, Coleman advanced to the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club, just a short drive from his residence.
He qualified for last year’s U.S. Junior but had to concede his opening-round match to Miles Russell after 10 holes due to a back injury (he was 5 down at the time).
At full health and in a much different physical and mental state, Coleman used the momentum from his 25-hole victory over Texan Isaiah Igo to knock off several decorated players, including 2024 runner-up Tyler Watts (No. 42 in WAGR), 2024 U.S. Amateur match-play qualifier Sohan Patel and then Colton, No. 26 in the WAGR, in the semis on Friday afternoon.
Making a slight adjustment to his putting alignment and receiving positive reinforcement from caddie Mitch Blackburn, a math teacher at Dowell Middle School in McKinney, Texas who caddies part-time at PGA Frisco some 45 minutes from Trinity Forest, Coleman kept getting more and more comfortable on the slick greens. Against Nguyen, an 18-year-old who was the first player from Vietnam to ever advance to a USGA final and an incoming freshman at Oregon State University, Coleman was the equivalent of 7 under par, with the usual match-play concessions.
Even though he was 5-up after 12 holes, he knew someone of Nguyen’s talent was not going to go down without a fight. Nguyen has won four low-level professional events in Vietnam, represented the International Team in the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup, claimed the national amateurs of Taiwan and Malaysia, and has competed in The Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A, losing out in a playoff in June for a spot in the match-play draw at Royal St. George’s, in England.
Nguyen, who played 6-under golf, trimmed the deficit to 3 down at the lunch break and then kept chipping away at Coleman’s advantage in the afternoon round. But Nguyen’s putter let him down in several key moments, including chances to win the 28th and 34th holes. In the morning 18, he bogeyed Nos. 1, 8 and 11 to give away holes.
“For some reason, like I was picking my lines, I felt good about my lines, and just going nowhere near that [with my putts],” said Nguyen. “My speed was okay for most of the day. Yeah, definitely got to work on the putting.”
Despite the pressure being applied by Nguyen, Coleman never lost his composure. It was the same intestinal fortitude he showcased in his comeback win over Watts in the Round of 16 on Wednesday when he was 3 down with seven to play and prevailed, 2 and 1.
Before his match-clinching putt on No. 35, he had not won a hole since converting a 5-footer for birdie on the par-4 25th hole. Nguyen claimed Nos. 26, 29 and 30 to tighten the screws until Coleman ended the festivities by calmly converting the 10-footer on the penultimate hole, a putt that just snuck in the left portion of the hole.
Then the celebration was on. His parents, Chili and Sara, were joined by 15-year-old brother Jackson, 12-year-old sister Caroline and his Charlotte, and N.C.-based instructor, Doug Spencer, who flew to Dallas on Friday night. He then received the trophy from USGA Executive Committee member Bryan Lewis on the 17th green after being introduced by USGA president and Trinity Forest founding member Fred Perpall.
“I just was trying to stay focused on the task I have at hand, not what this could mean for me or anything,” said Coleman of the final putt. “Just played a ball out right…and made a firm stroke at it.”
What Champion Receives
- A gold medal and custody of the U.S. Junior Amateur Trophy for one year
- Exemption into the 2026 U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, in Southampton, N.Y. (must be an amateur)
- Exemptions into the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Amateur Championships at The Olympic Club, in San Francisco, Calif., and Merion Golf Club, in Ardmore, Pa., respectively
- Exemptions into all future U.S. Junior Amateur Championships, if age eligible
- Name inscribed on 2025 USGA champions’ plaque that resides in the Hall of Champions at the USGA Museum & Library, in Liberty Corner, N.J.
Notable
- Runner-up Minh Nguyen received a silver medal and an exemption into next month’s U.S. Amateur, which he had already secured by his position among the top 100 in the WAGR.
- Jim Moriarty served as the referee for the morning portion of the 36-hole final. Phil Miller was the referee for the afternoon round. John Reis, working his 31st consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur, served as the first-tee starter for the entire championship. USGA president and Trinity Forest founding member Fred Perpall announced the players for the afternoon 18.
- Each of the finalists had the opportunity to order something special for lunch. Hamilton Coleman opted for grilled salmon with vegetables. Minh Nguyen chose a Trinity Forest cheeseburger.
- The tees were moved up on the par-3 17th hole to make it play just 99 yards.
- Coleman threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Friday night’s Texas Rangers-Atlanta Braves game at Globe Life Field. Coleman was given a Rangers jersey by the club but is a lifelong fan of the Braves.
- Coleman was going to play in next week’s PGA Junior Championship, in West Lafayette, Ind., but has withdrawn because his U.S. Junior Amateur win guarantees him a spot on the Junior Ryder Cup team that will face Europe at Nassau Country Club and Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in September.
- Nguyen was the 14th different international player to reach a U.S. Junior Amateur final. That record now stands at 5-9 after his defeat.
- Dallas-area native Matthew Rosenfeld, the 2000 U.S. Junior Amateur champion at Pumpkin Ridge, attended the final. A semifinalist in 1999, the future Texas Longhorn defeated future PGA Tour winner Ryan Moore in the 18-hole final. Moore would win three USGA titles, the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Amateur Public Links and 2004 U.S. Amateur, becoming one of five males to win multiple USGA titles in the same year.
Quotable
“That's not the reason I'm playing this [championship], but it is a nice bonus.” – Hamilton Coleman when asked about all the perks he’s about to receive for winning the U.S. Junior Amateur
“I would love to play with some of the [University of Georgia] Dawgs on Tour. Just any of them really, yeah. I'm just excited to get the opportunity to play in that.” – Coleman when asked about who he might seek out for a practice round at next year’s U.S. Open
“It's really cool to continue that legacy. I'm excited for the future with the Bulldogs.” – Coleman on being the fourth future University of Georgia golfer to win the U.S. Junior Amateur
“Yeah, it's been growing a lot. It's really good to see all the kids playing golf now back at home, to see them working and hopefully can see them one day here at the U.S. Junior or in any USGA event. Pretty excited for the future for our country. Hopefully this will motivate them. Hopefully they can look back and see, hey, we have a chance.” – Minh Nguyen on being inspirational for the future of golf in Vietnam
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