Asia's Top Junior Prospects for U.S. College Golf Recognized

With the formal conclusion of its 2019-2020 season, the Junior Golf Tour of Asia has announced the 2020 JGTA Junior Players of the Year and JGTA Junior All-Asia Team. 

Jui Shen Lee (class of 2020) of Yunlin, Chinese Taipei, and Jiabao Song (class of 2022) of Shanghai, China were named the 2020 JGTA Junior Players of the Year, finishing the season ranked first overall in the Boys and Girls Divisions respectively.  

Introduced by the JGTA in 2017, the JGTA Junior All-Asia Teams annually recognize the junior golfers who have proven to be Asia’s top prospects for U.S. college golf. The 2020 teams honor 31 junior golfers, 16 boys and 15 girls, ages 12-18, from six countries including China (21), Thailand (4), Philippines (3), Vietnam (1), India (1), and the United States (1). 

As JGTA Players of the Year, Lee and Song were also named Captains of the Boys and Girls Junior All-Asia Teams. 

For Pongsapak Laopakdee of Rayong, Thailand, this is his third time honored on the Junior All-Asia Team. Additionally, three boys are recipients for the second time. These players are Hsiao Che Yang of Tainan, Chinese Taipei, Jui-Tung Wu of Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, and Markus Lam of Hong Kong SAR, China. 

All 31 recipients of Junior All-Asia honors have distinguished themselves through outstanding play on Tour during the 2019-2020 season, which was limited to two international junior golf tournaments due to the shortened season. Both events were conducted by the JGTA and sanctioned on the JGTA Junior Order of Merit, the Tour’s official season standings and the source for AJGA PBE Status in the Asia-Pacific. 

The JGTA Junior All-Asia teams, and JGTA Junior Player of the Year honors, were determined exclusively through the JGTA Junior Order of Merit as of April 5, 2020.  

Asia’s Top Junior Prospects will receive a significant boost to their AJGA Performance Based Entry (PBE) Status. AJGA PBE is a fundamental component to the pursuit of college golf recruitment and the most sought-after junior golf status worldwide. In total, 60 junior golfers from the JGTA will receive AJGA PBE Status according to their final position on the JGTA Junior Order of Merit. 

The top-5 boys and top-5 girls on the JGTA Junior Order of Merit will receive AJGA Fully Exempt PBE Status, the AJGA’s most competitive status achievable. 12 AJGA PBE Stars are awarded to players who finish between 6th and 10th in their respective divisions, 8 PBE Stars for players finishing between 11th to 20th, and 4 PBE Stars for 21st to 30th. All PBE Status juniors earn on the JGTA is valid for two years in the AJGA.