The Wyndham Cup rosters have
been finalized and 40 players from 14 states have committed to represent the
East or West at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, July 23-26, 2012.
The AJGA Wyndham Cup brings
together 40 of the nation’s top juniors in an East-versus-West team match play
tournament. With the Mississippi River as the border that separates East from
West, 10 boys and 10 girls from each side are selected based on the Polo Golf
Rankings, which reward top finishes in national junior golf events.
The East Team will be led by
the last four champions of the Polo Golf Junior Classic, the AJGA’s only other
annual match play event. Matthew NeSmith
won the 2011 Polo Golf Junior Classic and has ascended to No. 1 in the Polo
Golf Rankings after wins at the Jones Cup Junior Invitational, FJ Invitational
and Rolex Tournament of Champions.
Cody Proveaux
is currently No. 15 in the Polo Golf Rankings and won in 2010 en route to Rolex
Junior Player of the Year honors. Proveaux and NeSmith will be making their
second Wyndham Cup appearances, as they combined for a 7-1-0 record in their
debuts last year.
The girls will be led by Jaye Marie Green and Nicole Morales, who won the Polo Golf
Junior Classic in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Green posted a 2-1-1 record in
her Wyndham Cup debut in 2011 and claimed her third career AJGA Invitational
crown after winning the Rolex Tournament of Champions. Morales has moved to No.
9 in the Polo Golf Rankings and will make her first appearance on the East
Team. In all, the East’s 20-player roster has a combined 11 years of Wyndham
Cup experience.
The West Team has eight years
of Wyndham Cup experience and is led by Lindsey
Weaver, who has compiled a 6-2-0 record in two previous appearances. With
wins at the 2012 Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club and
PING Phoenix Junior at ASU Karsten, Weaver has nine career victories, which is
tied for 10th most in AJGA history.
By contrast, Andrea Lee, 13, is the youngest of the 40
players, but is No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings and led West girls in
qualifying points en route to her first Wyndham Cup berth. She has five top 10s
in her last seven AJGA starts, including a semifinal appearance at the Polo
Golf Junior Classic.
The West boys will be led by Scott Scheffler and Connor Black. Both players made their
debuts in 2011, and Scheffler carded a 2-1-1 record while Black finished 3-1-0.
Scheffler has four top 10s in his last six AJGA Invitationals, while Black won
the 2011 Western Junior and has six career AJGA top-five finishes.
The final player to earn his place on the West squad was Brandon Pierce, who recently received the USGA-AJGA Presidents' Leadership Award. As a result of the award, he was invited to compete at the Rolex Tournament of Champions where he tied for third place.
"Playing in the Rolex was an honor and that has led to me playing in Wyndham Cup," Pierce said. "I'm really excited to go out and help my team."
For both the East and West
Teams, the top-eight boys and top-eight girls earned invitations based on the Polo
Golf Rankings as of June 26, 2012. The final two boys and girls spots on each
team were awarded to the highest-ranked players in the Polo Golf Rankings as of
June 29, 2012, who were not already eligible and who were participants in the
2012 Rolex Tournament of Champions.
In 2011, the East Team
reclaimed the Cup for the first time since 2004, as it beat the West, 32-18, at
Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C. The West holds a 12-9-1 edge in the
all-time series, which dates back to 1990.