Hamilton Coleman was up big, and then he wasn’t.
The 17-year-old from Augusta, Georgia birded the 35th hole to secure a 2-and-1 victory over Minh Nguyen in Saturday’s final of the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest in Dallas.
Coleman jumped out to a commanding lead early, converting a birdie from 18 feet and building a 5-up advantage through just 12 holes of the scheduled 36-hole championship match. He maintained a 3-up lead at the lunch break before Nguyen, an 18-year-old from Vietnam who’s headed to Oregon State this fall, mounted a serious comeback.
“Getting off to that hot start, I knew that I couldn’t just ease my way into winning, and I knew I had to keep hitting quality shots,” Coleman said. “I was playing well, and he just kept making putts and hitting shots close. It got a little tight there, but I never lost faith. And I told my caddie, I was nervous, but I was never scared. I’m proud of the way I handled that.”
Nguyen began chipping away at Coleman’s lead in the afternoon, curling in a 5-footer for birdie at the par-4 first to move to 2 down. Coleman responded by winning the 22nd and 23rd holes to push his advantage back to 4 up, nearly holing out his third shot on the par-5 fifth.
But Nguyen wasn’t done. He birdied four of the next seven holes, including a spectacular shot at the lengthy par-3 11th where his tee shot landed on the front of the green and rolled some 50 feet to close range. Suddenly, Coleman’s lead had shrunk to just 1 up with six holes to play.
Nguyen nearly tied the match on the 34th hole, the par-5 16th, but his 12-footer for birdie missed. He couldn’t convert a similar distance putt at the par-3 17th, opening the door for Coleman.
“You try not to tell yourself what it’s for, to qualify for the U.S. Open and be the U.S. Junior champion,” Coleman said. “Just stuck to my line and made a free, aggressive stroke at it, and it happened to go in.”
With the victory, Coleman earns a spot in next summer’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. He’s the first U.S. Junior champion from Georgia since Andy Shim in 2012 and the first future Georgia Bulldog to claim this title since Brian Harman in 2003. Coleman has committed to Georgia for 2026.
