Flashback, to 2017, Noah Goodwin had been ranked the top junior golfer for just over a year, and after 2 rounds of the AJGA CB&I/Simplify Boys Championship trailed his good friend (and future teammate at SMU), Ben Wong. Ben shot an impressive 65-67 to lead by 3 following the second round. However, in the final round, Noah Goodwin closed with a 67 to beat Ben by a stroke. Noah was coming off a good year in 2016, having had four top 10 finishes in AJGA Invitationals, and a runner-up in the U.S. Junior Amateur. Those finishes helped him win the 2016 Rolex Junior Player of the Year. Noah's 2017 was even better, as he notched the win in the Boys Championship, as well as came back to not just reach the finals of the U.S. Junior again, but to win it last summer. Those performances helped him repeat as the 2017 Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
Don't feel too bad for Ben. His 2017 wasn't too shabby either, despite the loss at The Club at Carlton Woods, here in The Woodlands, Texas. He followed up with another near-miss at the Haas Family Invitational - again leading heading into the final round, only to come in 3rd. However, he finally broke through with a playoff victory at the Junior PLAYERS Championship. He also partnered with another good friend, Frankie Capan (2018, Alabama signee), to win the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. He also made the U.S. Junior Amateur for the 4th time in the past 5 years. It was performances like that, which helped propel Ben to the top of the AJGA Rolex rankings heading into this year's Simplify Boys Championship.
Ben lives here in The Woodlands and has to be considered one of the favorites. However, Ben is not he local area participant who could be considered a favorite. Remember Cole Hammer? In 2015 he qualified and played in the U.S. Open. Well, he's finally a senior in high school (The Kinkaid School in Houston), and the future Texas Longhorn has made his mark in junior golf (being a two-time Rolex Junior All-American as well as Honorable Mention Rolex Junior All-American) and amateur golf - having top 3 finishes at the Jones Cup Invitational and Azalea Invitational, as well as qualifying for U.S. Amateur.
The top-ranked player in 2019 is Houston native Travis Vick. He's played in the 2015 & 2016 U.S. Junior Amateurs, having been the medalist in 2016 which included a course record 64 at the Honors Course. He also plays varsity football and baseball for his high school. With a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) of 136, he's a threat to win any tournament he tee's it up in.
Speaking of WAGR rankings, Canon Claycomb (a 2020 prospect who recently committed to golf for the University of Alabama) tops the list in the field with a ranking of 41. Canon competed in his first USGA event last summer, the U.S. Amateur. He had 6 top 15 finishes last year before breaking through with an AJGA Invitational victory at the PING Invitational last October. It was a record-setting victory, too, a 9-under par 207 to best Jordan Speith's 8-under par 208 back in 2008. He even followed that up with an impressive 2nd place finish at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. The Rolex Junior All-American represented Team USA in the inaugural Presidents Cup.
Joining Canon in the class of 2020 as a member of the Junior Presidents Cup team is Akshay Bhatia. With a WAGR ranking of 183, he ranks 5th highest in the field. His 2017 was really good. He competes a lot and wins. His most impressive last summer was the Junior PGA Championship, where he shot 61 in the second round.
Sean Maruyama tied Ben's 65 in round one last year, before dropping to a T6. But the son of Shigeki and UCLA signee for the class of 2018 has the fourth highest WAGR ranking in the field, which helped him earn a spot on the inaugural International team in the Junior Presidents Cup. Perhaps his best junior victory is the 2016 Western Junior, however, his 2017 was impressive from a consistency standpoint. He had top 10's in 5 AJGA Invitationals, another at the U.S. Junior Amateur and a yet another at the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
Other players to watch:
Julian Perico - Arkansas signee
Joseph Pagdin - 2020 Florida commit
Cole Ponich - 2019 BYU commit
Jansen Smith - Texas Tech signee
Parker Coody - Texas signee
Joe Highsmith - Pepperdine commit
