International – There are 36 countries represented in the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur:

United States of America (189), People’s Republic of China (11), Thailand (8), Canada (6), Mexico (5), Chinese Taipei (4), Colombia (3), Hong Kong China (3), Australia (2), France (2), Republic of Korea (2), Italy (2), New Zealand (2), Singapore (2), Vietnam (2), Bolivia (1), Bulgaria (1), Chile (1), Costa Rica (1), Czech Republic (1), England (1), India (1), Japan (1), Jordan (1), Malaysia (1), Panama (1), Paraguay (1), Peru (1), Philippines (1), Republic of Ireland (1), South Africa (1), Spain (1), Sri Lanka (1), Switzerland (1), Ukraine (1) and United Arab Emirates (1).

Most U.S. Junior Amateur Appearances (2024 included): Kihei Akina (3), Jake Albert (3), Joshua Bai (3), Finley Bartlett (3), Blades Brown (3), Parker Bunn (3), Edan Cui (3), Erich Fortlage (3), Nicholas Gross (3), Mason Howell (3), Jay Leng Jr. (3), Michael Mikus Vasquez (3), Shiv Parmar (3), Ethan Paschal (3), Jackson Shelley (3), Brady Smith (3).

Drive, Chip & Putt National Finalists (12): Hamilton Coleman (2022, ages 12-13), Carter Gaede (2017 champion, ages 7-9), Nicholas Gross (2018, ages 10-11), Henry Guan (2021, ages 10-11), Will Hennessee (2017, ages 10-11), Lance Hollingshead (2018, ages 12-13; 2021, ages 14-15), Chase Hughes (2019, ages 7-9; 2021, ages 7-9), Jay Leng Jr. (2015 champion, ages 7-9; 2019, ages 12-13), Miles Russell (2018, ages 7-9; 2021, ages 10-11), Bailey Sutter (2022, ages 14-15), Nick Werner (2021, ages 12-13), Tristan Wieland (2015, ages 7-9).

Members of the U.S. National Development Program (9): Blades Brown, Phillip Dunham, Henry Guan, Josiah Hakala, Will Hartman, Logan Kim, Michael Riebe, Miles Russell, Tyler Watts.

Members of the U.S. National Junior Team (7): Blades Brown, Phillip Dunham, Henry Guan, Will Hartman, Michael Riebe, Miles Russell, Tyler Watts.

First Tee Participants (1): Jeep Patrick (First Tee – The Lowcountry)

Players from Michigan (2): Connor Fox (Lake Orion), Ieuan Jones (Ann Arbor).

Played in 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur (48): Kihei Akina, Jake Albert, Kush Arora, Joshua Bai, Finley Bartlett, Jake Birdwell, Blades Brown, Parker Bunn, Xihuan Chang, TK Chantananuwat, Luke Colton, Edan Cui, Billy Davis, Erich Fortlage, Carter Gaede, Gerardo Gomez, Nicholas Gross, Henry Guan, Will Hartman, Zenghao Hou, Mason Howell, Jordan Hwang, Cole Isbell, Sean Keeling, Kristoffer Kuvaas, Chase Kyes, Jay Leng Jr., Alex Malanga, Brady McHenry, Michael Mikus Vasquez, Ajay Morris, Taishi Moto, Shiv Parmar, Beau Petersen, Harry Satterlee, Jackson Shelley, Brooks Simmons, Kartik Singh, Brady Smith, Hunter Stetson, Zack Swanwick, Nicholas Turowski, Juan Velasquez, Yixiang Wang, Tyler Watts, Thad Whitfield, Josh Yan, Hristo Yanakiev.

Played in 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur (31): Billy Abdow, Jake Albert, Supakorn Amornchichan, Joshua Bai, Finley Bartlett, Blades Brown, Parker Bunn, Vincent Cervantes, Edan Cui, Phillip Dunham, Erich Fortlage, Rodrigo Garcia Teruel, Nicholas Gross, Talan Harrison, Lance Hollingshead, Mason Howell, James Lee, Jay Leng Jr., Nicholas Logis, Bowen Mauss, Michael Mikus Vasquez, Shiv Parmar, Ethan Paschal, Liam Pasternak, Miles Russell, Jackson Shelley, Brady Smith, Tristan Wieland, Drew Woolworth, Alex Zhang, Ziqin Zhou.

Played in 2023 U.S. Amateur (11): Joshua Bai, Blades Brown (co-medalist), TK Chantananuwat, Luke Colton, Nicholas Gross, Will Hartman, Chase Kyes, Bowen Mauss, Brody McQueen, Ethan Paschal, Tyler Strong.

Played in 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (3): Blades Brown (runner-up), Brooks Harper, Brayden Miller.

Competed in 2024 U.S. Open Final Qualifying (14): Kihei Akina, Joshua Bai, Blades Brown, John Daniel Culbreth, Billy Davis, Ryan Downes, Nicholas Gross, Braden Herstich, Michael Lugiano, Jonathan Oakes, Ethan Paschal, Miles Russell, Hill Wang, Thad Whitfield.

Rayan Ahmed, 17, of the United Arab Emirates, is the first player from the UAE to play in a U.S. Junior Amateur. Earlier this year, Ahmed won both individual and team gold at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Golf Championship in Qatar, then narrowly missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi Challenge in his European Challenge Tour debut in April. Ahmed also won the 2024 GCC Youth Games at Abu Dhabi Golf Club by 14 strokes.

Joshua Bai, 18, of New Zealand, will make his third U.S. Junior Amateur start after finishing runner-up to Bryan Kim last year at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. Last month, Bai reached the Round of 16 in the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (Course No. 2). Earlier this year, he finished third in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and tied for ninth in the Australian Boys’ Amateur. Bai also represented the International Team in the 2022 Junior Presidents Cup.

Blades Brown, 17, of Nashville, Tenn., made the cut and finished tied for 26th in his PGA Tour debut at the Myrtle Beach Classic in May. Brown, a member of the U.S. National Junior Team, reached the finals of the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with his partner Jackson Herrington. He won five times in 2023, including a 12-stroke victory at the Tennessee Junior Amateur and a win at The Elite Invitational. Brown reached the Round of 32 in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club after surpassing Bobby Jones as the youngest stroke-play co-medalist in the championship’s history. He was named the 2023 Tennessee Golf Association’s Player of the Year. His mother, Rhonda Blades, is a former WNBA player and All-American point guard at Vanderbilt University who made the first 3-point shot in WNBA history.

TK Chantananuwat, 17, of Thailand, is the second highest-ranked player (No. 55) in the U.S. Junior Amateur field based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®. TK (first name is Ratchanon) won the 2022 Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup at just 15 years of age, becoming the fifth amateur to win on the Asian Tour and the youngest player ever to win a professional tour event recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking. Chantananuwat, who will attend Stanford University in the fall, made the cut in the DP World Tour’s Porsche Singapore Classic earlier this year. In 2023, he was a semifinalist in The Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A and reached the Round of 64 in the U.S. Junior Amateur.

Luke Colton, 17, of Frisco, Texas, has seven top-five finishes in 2024, including wins in the Byron Nelson Junior Championship and the Terra Cotta Invitational. Colton, a rising junior at Frisco Wakeland High School, won the Texas 5A individual championship as a sophomore this spring. He had an impressive run with notable amateur events in June, which started with a runner-up finish in the 115th Texas Amateur, followed by a tie for 12th in the Northeast Amateur and a trip to the Round of 16 in the North & South Amateur. Colton is right-handed but plays golf left-handed.

Billy Davis, 18, of Spring Valley, Calif., returns to the U.S. Junior Amateur after a semifinal run last year at Daniel Island Club. Davis, who will join his twin sister, Anna, at Auburn University in the fall, Monday-qualified for the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico last November where he made his PGA Tour debut. Last month, he finished second in the Toyota Junior World Cup in Japan. He represented the United States in the 2023 Junior Ryder Cup in Italy alongside Anna, a rising sophomore at Auburn after joining the women’s team in January. Anna has competed in two U.S. Women’s Opens (2022, 2023), won the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and represented the USA in the 2023 World Amateur Team Championship.

Connor Fox, 17, of Lake Orion, Mich., qualified for his first USGA championship via his victory at the 46th Michigan Junior Amateur earlier this month, a year after finishing runner-up. Winning an Allied Golf Association junior title is a new USGA Junior exemption for 2024. Fox, who is committed to play at Michigan State University beginning in the fall of 2025, defeated his future MSU teammate Julian Menser, 7 and 6, in the final match at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course. Fox is a rising senior at Lake Orion High School and has been selected to the MHSAA All-State Team three years in a row.

Lev Grinberg, 16, of Ukraine, reached the Round of 16 in the The Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A last month. Grinberg, a member of the victorious 2023 European Junior Ryder Cup team in Italy, has competed in four DP World Tour events, including a made cut in the 2022 Soudal Open. He is the top-ranked Ukrainian amateur golfer in WAGR®. Earlier this year, Grinberg won the French Golf Federation’s Grand Prix de Merignies and tied for fifth in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham & St Annes in England.

Nicholas Gross, 17, of Downingtown, Pa., advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2022 U.S. Amateur and reached match play last year. Gross, a member of the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, will play at the University of Alabama in the fall. Last month, he reached the quarterfinals of the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. His parents are both college professors – Shawn at Villanova University (civil and environmental engineering) and Jennifer at Lehigh University (structural engineering).