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Feature
ATI CIPUTRA
GOLFPRENEUR
JUNIOR WORLD 2019
T
he Junior Golf Tour of Asia’s season
has come to an end and the recipients
of the JGTA’s top awards were
announced, following the conclusion of
the Tour’s fi nal event on the 2018-2019
schedules, the ATI Ciputra Golfpreneur
Junior World 2019 presented by AKI.
Taking home the trophies last week in the
JGTA Divisions were Kentaro Nanayama
(2021) of Jakarta, Indonesia (also taking
home the Boys Overall Trophy) and
Natachanok Tunwannarux (2023) of
Bangkok, Thailand. With their wins,
Nanayama and Tunwannarux are forever
etched in JGTA history as the fi rst two-
time JGTA Champions. Finishing at the
very top of their divisions on the Junior
Order of Merit this season were Pongsapak
Laopakdee (2023) of Rayong, Thailand and
Amy Gao (2021) of Shanghai, China, each
crowned Player of the Year and Junior Order
of Merit Champion in the boys and girls
divisions, respectively.
Amy Gao (2021) of Shanghai, China
began her 2018-2019 JGTA season at the
season-opening JGTA Bintan Lagoon Junior
Championship presented by Tradewinds
Furnishing, where she took home the trophy.
Finishes from the season-ending event also
determined this year’s JGTA Junior All-Asia
Team, made up of the top 10 boys and top
10 girls on the Junior Order of Merit, who
receive recognition for being amongst Asia’s
most competitive juniors and promising
future College golfers.
Players named to the Junior All-Asia Team
also receive the highest AJGA PBE Status
on Tour, with the top-5 boys and top-5 girls
earning AJGA Fully-Exempt Status, the
most sought after status in junior golf in the
world, and a status they will hold for two
seasons. Members of the Junior All-Asia
Team who fi nished 6th to 10th on the Junior
Order of Merit receive 12 AJGA PBE Stars
for their feat, equivalent to an AJGA Junior
AllStar Champion. These elite players and
many other rising stars from the JGTA will
be competing amongst the best in the world
in AJGA tournaments this summer, using the
AJGA PBE Status they earned on the Junior
Golf Tour of Asia to pursue opportunities at
the College golf level in the U.S.
PANO WINS ROLEX GIRLS JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
R
olex Junior All-American Alexa
Pano of Lake Worth, Florida,
wins the Rolex Girls Junior
Championship with a fi nal score of
14-under-par 274. This is Pano’s second
AJGA win and fi rst invitational title. Pano
went 70 – 67 – 67 – 70 for a tournament
total of 274. The 14-year old took the title
by four strokes, bettering her 2018 fi nish
of solo fourth.
The event is one of fi ve girls-only AJGA
invitation-only events and features an elite
group of past champions, many of whom
have gone on to successful LPGA careers
including: Kellee Booth, Leigh Anne
Hardin, Aree Song Wongluekiet, Naree
Song Wongluekiet, Brittany Lang, Inbee
Park, Paula Creamer, Julieta Granada,
Morgan Pressel, Esther Choe, Jane Rah,
Victoria Tanco, Kimberly Kim, Yueer
Cindy Feng and Ariya Jutanugarn.
The 2019 fi eld features 10 players in the
top 25 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, 17
current Rolex Junior All-Americans, and
46 AJGA champions including 2017 Rolex
Girls Junior Championship victor Rachel
Heck of Memphis, Tennessee.
Pano, who at 14 has already
amassed a long list of junior
golf accomplishments, now has
an AJGA Invitational title until
her belt. Pano was the youngest
player to ever win an AJGA title
at 12 years and 11 days at the
PDQ/Philadelphia Runner Junior.
She is a two-time Drive, Chip
and Putt champion, in 2016 and
2017. Pano is also a two-time
AJGA Wyndham Cup East team
member.
“It is super amazing for me to have my
second win and fi rst invitational win be
at Rolex Girls. It is my third year playing
in this event and I’ve come pretty close to
top-ten’s and top-fi ve’s so it feels really
awesome to have fi nally gotten it done”,
says Pano. “It was super special having
my dad out here with me. He travels
everywhere with me across the country, so
I guess this is a really good Father’s Day
present [for him]”.
Finishing solo second, verbal Stanford
University commit, Lei (Angelina) Ye of
Bradenton, Florida. Ye shot rounds of 68 –
69 – 69 – 72 for a tournament total of 278.
Ye is currently No. 21 in the Rolex AJGA
Rankings and is a three-time Rolex Junior
All-American.
Finishing in solo third Phoebe Brinker of
Wilmington, Delaware, with a tournament
total of 6-under-par 282 with rounds of 69 –
74 – 69 – 70. Brinker is a three-time AJGA
champion who is verbally committed to
Duke University.
GolfPlus Junior July-August 2019
13