The 77th U.S. Junior Amateur took place July 21st through July 26th at Brook Hollow Country Club and Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas. While our son Hamilton has always dreamed of bringing home the trophy, we weren’t sure if it would happen in 2025 or not. He felt great going into the competition, but as parents of junior golfers know, anything can happen during a tournament.
Cheering from far away
For the first half of the week I was relying on constant updates from my husband on how our son was playing. I wasn’t able to head out to Dallas for the first part of the tournament due to scheduling conflicts and honestly, the U.S. Junior is such a logistical planning nightmare for any parent. I was thrilled to learn Hammy had made it to match play and the Round of 64. At this point, it seemed like Hamilton and his caddie were getting dialed in, but it was still so hard to say how the week would progress.
Hamilton was able to advance through the Rounds of 64 and 32. In the Round of 16, he was matched with Tyler Watts and I wasn’t sure how it would go because Tyler is such a fierce competitor. It’s not that I didn’t think Hammy could win, I just know nothing is ever assured in junior golf and both would play their heart out. The match started out rather rocky and Hamilton was down by 3. I remember my husband texted me that he thought this might be it for Hamilton unless something really special happened.
Thankfully, something special did happen!
Hamilton rallied back and before we knew it, the match was over and he had won. He was headed to the quarterfinals and it was growing more intense by the minute. It was about 6pm EST on Thursday and I couldn’t stand it anymore — I had to go to Dallas to watch my son in the quarterfinals, I didn’t care what it took.
I told our other two kids to pack their bags and get ready, we were flying to Dallas! I booked a last-minute flight, drove to Atlanta in the middle of the night, we were on the plane at 5 a.m. and landed in Dallas around 7 a.m., arriving at Trinity Forest Golf Club after about 4 holes into the quarterfinals. The matches were getting more and more intense and I was operating on one hour of sleep — not a great combination for a mom watching their child compete.
Advancing to the finals
We were able to watch Hamilton face off against Sohan Patel for the quarterfinals, another amazing junior golfer. It was a grueling match but after Hamilton won and moved on to the semifinals, it finally hit me that he could actually win this thing. Sohan was so sweet too. He came up to me after the round and told me he thought Hammy would bring it home, which I thought was a classy move.
The semifinal match was another brutal test because at this point it was over 100 degrees in the Texas heat. I knew Luke Colton would be one of the toughest tests ever, not only because he’s at the top of the junior golf game right now, he’s also a Texan and more accustomed to the conditions. Both boys battled it out and before I knew it, Hamilton was moving on to the finals with Nguyen Anh Minh.
The night before the finals was a crazy experience too. Hamilton was invited to the Texas Rangers vs. Atlanta Braves game. We didn’t know until about 5 minutes before that he was throwing out the honorary first pitch! He was more nervous doing that than anything in the Jr. Am, I can assure you. And let’s just say he ended up throwing the pitch like a golfer and not a baseball player 😉 Though he’s a lifelong Braves fan, he loved the experience of being on the field.
The finals
The day of the finals started early with a 7:45 a.m. tee time. Hammy said he felt great and I noticed he was so calm. I think at this point he felt like he had already won, no matter the outcome. He was so excited to be competing for this opportunity. We packed up and headed to the course for another long, hot day. Hamilton’s coach Doug Spencer also made a surprise showing, having flown in from Charlotte the night before and watching Hamilton for the finals.
As a side note, I don’t think it was brought up on TV but Minh didn’t have any family there with him because they were all back home in Vietnam. As a mom I couldn’t help but think how tough that had to be for him competing on such a big stage, but he was an amazing opponent.
Hammy would go on to win 2 and 1 after 35 holes. I’m not going to sugarcoat it and tell you it was easy watching each hole when there were some moments when the outcome seemed so uncertain. In fact, it was downright gut-wrenching. But after battling triple-digit temperatures and playing 196 holes, Hamilton was finally able to call himself the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur champion. It was a dream come true for me watching my child accomplish something he had worked so hard for.
Lessons learned
As parents, you know your child is capable of achieving success on the course, but so much is out of our control. I promise you I had plenty of nerves last week and didn’t always listen to my own advice of staying calm and collected. Thankfully, Hamilton was well-equipped and knew what to do when he was presented the opportunity.
After watching him compete for 10 years you might think I have the whole junior golf parent gig mastered. This couldn’t be further from the truth and I actually learned several lessons from watching this:
- Dehydration is real: The entire family was completely spent after the tournament. No matter how much water we took in, we were still struggling afterwards and felt the physical impact of dehydration for days afterwards. Electrolytes and water are a must!
- The caddie plays a major role: Hamilton has always had great caddies, but he and his caddie Mitch really worked well together. He helped Hamilton stick to his routine and not get ahead of himself, while distracting him with conversation when necessary.
- Flexibility matters: Scheduling with junior golf tournaments can be quite difficult, especially when there’s a cut involved and you don’t know when your child will reach the end of the line. Flexibility in these situations is key and it was a great lesson for the other kids in how important spontaneity can be too.
What’s next
It’s been a whirlwind since we came home. First, he was welcomed home with a neighborhood parade, followed by several local and national interviews. It’s been non-stop messaging and calling, but it is so wonderful to have so much support. Hamilton starts his senior year of high school next week and I can’t think of a better way for him to end his summer.
Hammy has earned a spot into the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. He hadn’t qualified already, so now we are planning a last-minute trip to San Fran. He has also officially made the Junior Ryder Cup team and will compete at Bethpage Black in September. Next June he will compete in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and he will accomplish a goal he set for himself of competing in a major while in college. I can’t wait to share with you each of these experiences too!
