Top junior boys of 2012: No. 1 Beau Hossler
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we brought you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
So who's No. 1? It's none other than the kid who held the lead at the U.S. Open at Olympic Club and made appearances at the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur and AT&T Classic.
It's Texas signee Beau Hossler.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 1: Beau Hossler
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 3
Credentials: U.S. Open (T-29); AT&T Classic (T-74); U.S. Amateur (MC); Sahalee Players (sixth); Ping Invitational (T-19); Junior PGA Championship (T-9); U.S. Junior Amateur (Round of 32); Callaway Junior World Championships (second); Thunderbird International Junior (fourth); Junior Invitational at Sage Valley (T-10); Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic (champion); Los Angeles City Junior (T-3); Junior Ryder Cup participant.
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Alas, we have come to No. 1, and who better deserving than a kid who held the lead at ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 2 Matt NeSmith
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 2 on our list: Matt NeSmith.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 2: Matt NeSmith
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 1*
Credentials: Wyndham Championship (MC); Players Amateur (T-4); Terra Cotta Invitational (fifth); Azalea Invitational (champion); Palmetto Amateur (T-7); Rolex Tournament of Champions (champion); FJ Invitational (champion); Junior Invitational at Sage Valley (T-2); Carolinas Georgia Junior (champion); Wyndham Cup participant; Rolex Player of the Year Award winner.
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The only player on this list who is currently playing in college, Matt NeSmith, comes in at No. 2.
NeSmith, who is now a freshman at South Carolina, was the Rolex Player of the Year. So why was he not No. 1? You’ll find out when we ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 3 Robby Shelton
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 3 on our list: Robby Shelton.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 3: Robby Shelton
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 1
Credentials: Polo Golf Junior Classic (Round of 16); Junior Players (champion); Gulf Coast Open (fourth); Junior PGA Championship (champion); Future Masters (champion); Greystone Invitational (fourth); Junior Invitational at Sage Valley (T-2); U.S. Junior Amateur (Round of 32); Junior Ryder Cup participant.
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Since the beginning of the summer, no junior boys golfer has had the type of success that Shelton has had.
He started it off by winning the Class 5A state high school championship in his home state of Alabama. He then notched a victory in the Future Masters and advanced to ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 4 Tianlang Guan
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 4 on our list: Tianlang Guan.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 4: Tianlang Guan
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: NR
Credentials: Asia Pacific Amateur (champion); Australian Open (MC); Volvo China Open (MC); Mission Hills Junior (champion); China Tournament of Champions Amateur (fifth); Legends Junior (T-2); Faldo Series U-21 Final (T-3); Callaway Junior World Championships (T-22); AJGA Junior Open at The Legends (T-2); AJGA Junior at Steelwood (T-11); Chinese National Team Championship participant; Dongfeng Nissan Cup participant.
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Guan seemingly came out of nowhere to punch his ticket into one of golf’s biggest tournaments. His Asia Pacific Amateur victory earned the 14-year-old a spot in the Masters. No other junior can say that and ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 5 Adam Wood
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 5 on our list: Adam Wood.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 5: Adam Wood
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 15
Credentials: Polo Junior Golf Classic (champion); U.S. Junior Amateur (Round of 64); Junior PGA Championship (third); Memorial Junior (T-4); Western Junior (champion); Ping Invitational (T-11); Junior Players (13th); Thunderbird International Junior (T-23); HP Boys Championship (T-37).
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The Indiana Junior champion from 2011 notched a pair of big victories in 2012. Wood, of Zionsville, Ind., won the Western Junior in June and then defeated Scottie Scheffler in the final of the Polo Golf Junior Classic last month.
Those victories bookended an impressive junior season that included a third-place finish at the Junior PGA ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 6 Jim Liu
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 6 on our list: Jim Liu.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 6: Jim Liu
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 2
Credentials: U.S. Junior Amateur (runner-up); Puerto Rico Junior (T-2); Junior Players (third); Ping Invitational (T-9); Junior PGA Championship (T-6); New Year’s Invitational (T-2); Terra Cotta Invitational (T-2); Azalea Invitational (second); Metropolitan Open (T-11); North & South Amateur (T-17); Jones Cup (T-18); European Tour Qualifying School: First Stage (T-12); Junior Ryder Cup participant.
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Much was made of Liu’s so-called “collapses” in 2012. There was the Junior PGA Championship where he led after two rounds only to finish T-6. Then there was the Junior Players Championship where he was tied with Robby Shelton for the lead ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 7 Andy Shim
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 7 on our list: Andy Shim.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 7: Andy Shim
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 8
Credentials: U.S. Junior Amateur (champion); Rolex Tournament of Champions (T-5); FootJoy Invitational (T-6); Junior Players (T-19); Exide Technologies Junior Open (T-14); TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook (T-41); Georgia Junior (champion).
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The best junior victory of 2012 has to go to this guy.
The Korean, whose real name is Hyeon Bo, went from relative unknown to junior golf sensation after defeating Jim Liu in the U.S. Junior Amateur final.
But it wasn’t just the fact that Shim beat a former champion in Liu to capture his first U.S. Junior crown ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 8 Andy Zhang
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 8 on our list: Andy Zhang
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 8: Andy Zhang
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 115
Credentials: U.S. Open (MC); Omega European Masters (MC); Australian Open (MC); U.S. Amateur (MC); U.S. Junior Amateur (Round of 64); Vaughn Taylor Championship (T-14); Golf Pride Junior Classic (T-19); Hank Haney IJGA Junior Open (T-8); Junior All-Star at Fieldstone (T-7); TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook (T-11); Florida Boys Junior (14 & under, champion); Scott Robertson Memorial (14 & under, T-3); IMG Junior Golf Tour at World Golf Village (champion).
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A 14-year-old playing in the U.S. Open. That in itself makes Zhang’s year one of the best among his peers.
A native of China, Zhang ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 9 Matt Gilchrest
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the course of 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we continue with No. 9 on our list: Matt Gilchrest
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 9: Matt Gilchrest
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 27
Credentials: Goodman Networks Junior (champion); Harvey Penick Junior (champion); Genesis Shootout (champion); Texas Junior Open (champion); Polo Golf Junior Classic (T-5); Junior Players (T-9); Thunderbird International Junior (11th); HP Boys Championship (T-50); Ping Invitational (25th); U.S. Amateur (MC).
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So what if the Auburn signee didn’t get the recognition of some of the other top juniors? Gilchrest, a two-time Rolex All-American honorable mention, still had a special year.
He started slow, following an 11th-place finish at the Thunderbird International Junior with missed cuts at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and FootJoy Invitational ...
Top junior boys of 2012: No. 10 Tae Wan Lee
From Tianlang Guan's Asia Pacific Amateur victory to Beau Hossler's memorable U.S. Open performance at the Olympic Club, 2012 was a year to remember for boys junior golf.
Over the next 10 days, we'll bring you the top 10 players of the year starting at No. 10 and ending with the player who we think had the most impressive season.
Who will be No. 1? Who else will make the list? Keep checking back to find out as we start you out with No. 10 on our list: Tae Wan Lee.
Check out the entire series here.
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No. 10: Tae Wan Lee
Golfweek/Sagarin ranking: 7
Credentials: Terra Cotta Invitational (T-2); Western Amateur (T-21); Florida Azalea (fifth); U.S. Junior Amateur (Round of 16); Western Junior (T-2); TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook (second); Thunderbird International Junior (third); Scott Robertson Memorial (T-6); FJ Invitational (T-14); Ping Invitational (T-11).
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There’s a reason why Lee’s signing with Middle Tennessee State in November was such a big deal.
Although he lacked that signature victory, Lee had arguably one of the top seasons of any junior golfer in the country in 2012. He had runner-up finishes at the Western ...
