Future UGA golfer puts name on list alongside Masters champions

With his victory in the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship on Saturday, Augusta’s Hamilton Coleman has put his name on a list that includes four Masters champions and other golf greats.

Coleman, 17, a rising senior at Lakeside-Evans High School who has committed to play at the University of Georgia, won the national title Saturday with a 2 and 1 victory over Mihn Nguyen of Vietnam at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.

Hamilton made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 35th hole to close the match.

“You try not to tell yourself what it’s for,” Coleman said. “Just stick to my line and make a free, aggressive stroke it, and happy it went in.”

Hamilton joined elite company. Other Masters champions who have won the U.S. Junior Am – the most coveted prize for players 19 and younger – include Tiger Woods (1991-93, Jordan Spieth (2009, 2011), Scottie Scheffler (2013) and Gay Brewer (1949).

Georgians who have won the title include Brian Harman (2003), Jack Larkin (1979) and Madden Hatcher III (1976). Other notable past winners include Johnny Miller (1964), Charlie Rymer (1985), David Duval (1989), Will Zalatoris (2014) and Nick Dunlap (2021).

Coleman was up by four holes after winning the seventh hole in the afternoon round. But the longer-driving Nguyen went on a run and cut the lead to one hole with a birdie on the 12th. The finalists matched birdies on 14 and tied the 15th and 16th with pars.

Both hit their tee shots on the green at the 99-yard par-3 17th hole. Nguyen was away and missed, while Coleman hit a firm putt and found the center of the cup.

“I think a lot of it just goes back to the preparation I put in,” Coleman said. “I work very hard and it’s nice to see all that start to pay off. I knew if I just stuck to hitting my numbers and kept hitting putts on my line, which I was doing, then I had a good chance of closing him.”

Coleman had a three-hole lead after the morning round. He was up by five holes after he birdied the par-4 12th hole, but Nguyen won the three of the next four holes to cut the lead to two holes. Coleman steadied himself with a birdie at the 17th.

“After getting off to that hot start, I knew I couldn’t just ease my way into winning. I knew I had to keep hitting quality shots,” Coleman said. “He kept making putts and hitting shots close, so it got a little tight, but I never lost faith. I told my caddie I was nervous, but I was never scared, so I’m proud of the way I handled that.”

Coleman emerged as the No. 13 seed after stroke play rounds of 72-69 put him easily inside the top 64.

In stroke play, Coleman defeated Isaiah Igo of Texas in 25 holes, defeated Ajalawich Anantasethakul of Thailand 4 and 3, defeated 2024 U.S. Junior Am runner-up Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala., 2 and 1, defeated Sohan Patel of Weston, Fla., 2 and 1, and defeated local favorite and Vanderbilt commit Luke Colton of Frisco, Texas, 5 and 4.

Hamilton, who plays out of West Lake Country Club in Augusta, earned his place in the U.S. Junior Am by winning the 2024 Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in a playoff. He was a finalist at the 2022 Drive, Chip and Putt championships at Augusta National.

In GHSA competition, Coleman was medalist and helped Lakeside win the Class 5A title in 2023. He finished third overall in 2024 as a junior.

“Honestly, I have not had the best summer coming into this, but I started to hit it better and then the putter is finally starting to warm up,” Coleman said. “So I knew I had a good chance coming in, and to see it coming to fruition is pretty cool. I know my ranking doesn’t really show how good I am, and I know I can compete with anybody out here.”

Coleman earned a gold medal, an exemption from future U.S. Junior Amateurs, an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and an exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2025 and 2026.