Stars Set to Compete at JGTA Phuket

The JGTA Phuket Junior Open taking place at Laguna Golf Phuket is shaping up to be the most exciting event so far this season. Stars are set to compete to improve their JOM rankings. In total, 14 top-10 players in the JGTA Junior Order of Merit are competing. The field is comprised of players from nine countries including China, Thailand, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Myanmar, and the U.S. Many big shifts in the JGTA Junior Order of Merit occurred upon completion of the JGTA Taiwan Junior Championship.

The Boy’s Division includes co-JGTA Junior Order of Merit Leaders Jiakun (Andy) Li (2019) of Shanghai, China and Junyi (Daniel) Tang (2021) of Beijing, China. Li won the JGTA Bintan Lagoon Junior Championship presented by dwell Student Living shooting a remarkable 66 in the final round. Tang, the lowest Rolex AJGA Ranked player in the field and fully exempt AJGA Status holder, won the JGTA Taiwan Junior Championship in a shootout to the finish.

Rounding out the Boy’s Division includes Conor Kelly (2019) of the Kingdom of Thailand and Willy Chen (2022) of Taipei, Taiwan. Kelly has two top-10 JGTA finishes including a second-place finish at the JGTA Bintan Lagoon Junior Championship presented by dwell Student Living. Chen has a second-place finish at the JGTA Taiwan Junior Championship under his belt.

The Girls division includes JGTA Junior Order of Merit leader Camille Boyd (2020) of (USA) Shanghai, China and second in the ranking Jana Ni (2021) of Beijing, China. Boyd has two top-10 JGTA finishes including a win at the JGTA Bintan Lagoon Junior Championship presented by dwell student living. Ni, the lowest Rolex AJGA Ranked competitor in the Girl’s Division was the champion of the JGTA Taiwan Junior Championship.

Trailing from behind on the JGTA Junior Order of Merit are Natachanok Tunwannarux (2023) of the Kingdom of Thailand and Selina Li (2019) of Hong Kong. Finishing in second place at the JGTA Taiwan Junior Championship, Tunwannarux is at the top of many American college coaches radars for her class. Li finished in third place at the Bintan Lagoon Junior Championship and sits in sixth place on the JGTA Junior Order of Merit heading into the JGTA Phuket Junior Open.

Finishing atop the leaderboard at the JGTA Phuket Junior Open may ease some nerves heading into the JGTA season finale, the JGTA Myanmar Junior Championship, but 31 new JGTA members are in the JGTA Phuket Junior Open field (including five from Myanmar) and current high ranking holders in the JGTA Junior Order of Merit may get knocked out of their position by the completion of the season.