USA Toyota Junior World Cup Teams Announced
NORMAN, Okla. – The boys and girls United States teams have been announced for the 2019 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup. The event will be held at Chukyo Golf Club’s Ishino Course in Toshitomo-cho Fukada, Toyota-shi, Japan June 18-21.
The boys team will consist of John Keefer, William Moll, Alex Vogelsong, and Tyler Wilkes. Auburn head coach Nick Clinard will coach the team. The Americans are looking to win their eighth overall Toyota Cup.
Keefer was a second-team Rolex Junior All-America selection in 2018 and played on the West Team in the Wyndham Cup. He won the 2017 AJGA Sergio and Angela Garcia Foundation Junior Championship, 2017 TJGT Texas Junior Masters, and the 2016 AJGA UA Jordan Spieth Qualifier. Keefer signed with Baylor.
From Houston, Texas, Moll was the 2017 Junior Jones Cup Champion and was a member of the 2018 USA Junior Ryder Cup Team. He was a first-team Rolex Junior All-American in 2018 and honorable mention selection in 2017. Moll represented the West in the 2018 Wyndham Cup. He signed with Vanderbilt.
Vogelsong, a native of Palm City, Fla., was selected as the 2018 Sun Sentinel Golfer of the Year. He was a 2017 Rolex Junior Golf Honorable Mention All-America selection. An Auburn signee, Vogelsong is currently ranked #143 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Wilkes hails from Tampa, Fla. He was named 2018 Florida State Golf Association Junior Player of the Year. Wilkes has claimed first place at the 2019 AJGA Sean Foley Performance Center at EaglesDream Junior Championship, 2018 AJGA Jim Bell Memorial Junior, the 2018 Orlando International Junior Championship, and the 2017 and ’18 Florida State Junior Boys Championship.
The girls team will consist of Sadie Englemann, Michaela Morard, and Rose Zhang. Grand Canyon women’s head coach Lauren Giesecke will head the coaching duties for the team. Team USA looks to win its third Toyota Cup title.
An Austin, Texas native, Englemann is a returning member from last year’s Team USA when she finished eighth at the Junior World Cup. She was a first-team Rolex Junior All-America selection in 2018 and the STPGA Player of the Year. Last year Englemann won the Shanshan Feng Girls Invitational and was runner-up at both the PING Invitational and Thunderbird International Junior.
Morard is a four-time Rolex Junior All-America selection. She was named to the 2018 USA Today All USA Girls Golf Team. A six-time winner on the AJGA circuit, Morard is a three-time state junior champion and two-time state stroke-play champion.
Zhang has previously represented the United States in the Junior Ryder Cup, PING Junior Solheim Cup, and the Evian Junior Cup. She finished tied for 17th at the inaugural Augusta Women’s Amateur. In 2018, Zhang won the PING Invitational, the Swinging Skirts AJGA Invitational and the ANA Junior Inspiration and in 2017 won the Junior PGA Championship and Junior America’s Cup. She is ranked 24th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
- GCAA/WGCA -
About the GCAA:
Established in 1958, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is the professional organization of golf coaches. The GCAA's mission is to support its member coaches by creating educational opportunities, providing resources, and promoting its members with the purpose of enhancing their overall performance as coaches, mentors, and teachers. The GCAA also recognizes the excellence and achievements of its members and their student-athletes in academic, athletic and civic endeavors.
About the WGCA:
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA), founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women’s collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 500 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.