Winn Grips will host the fourth edition of the Winn Junior Cup Challenge at Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nev., Nov. 15-17, as eight of the nations top junior golfers join forces with legendary swing coach Butch Harmon and LPGA Tour player Natalie Gulbis.
The West squad, captained by Gulbis, brings together four top juniors from west of the Mississippi who share a combined record of 10 AJGA wins. The team is led by Brad Dalke of Hobart, Okla., who returns for the third consecutive contest and looks to continue the winning streak held by the West. Dalke recently captured his third AJGA Invitational win at The PING Invitational, closing his 2013 season which began with a win at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods.
Three-time AJGA champion Austin Connelly of Irving, Texas, will join Dalke on the West team. At No. 8 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Connelly posted four top-three finishes in 2013 and won the Under Armour® / Hunter Mahan Championship in April.
Rounding out the West squad are Amy Lee of Brea, Calif., and Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, Calif. Ranked No. 3, Amy Lee finished top-15 in all five AJGA starts of 2013 and represented the United States at the PING Junior Solheim Cup. Her season was highlighted by a third-place finish at the Thunderbird International Junior and a victory at the Junior PGA Championship.
Also a member of the victorious PING Junior Solheim Cup U.S. squad, Andrea Lee posted seven top-10 showings in 2013, highlighted by runner-up finishes at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and The PING Invitational. A two-time Rolex Junior All-American, Andrea currently sits at No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Harmon will head-up an all-rookie East squad. With three Invitational champions and a combined five AJGA victories, the team includes 2013 Thunderbird International Junior champion Jorge Garcia of Miami, Fla., and 2013 Rolex Tournament of Champions victor Benjamin Griffin of Chapel Hill, N.C.
In addition to his win at Grayhawk Golf Club, the No.4-ranked Garcia opened the season with his first AJGA victory at the Puerto Rico Junior Open sponsored by Sport Link and earned an exemption into the PGA TOUR counterpart held at Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico. He became the eighth-youngest player in history to make the cut in a TOUR event after posting back-to-back 70s in the first and second round.
Griffin, who is currently ranked No. 7, climbed the Polo Golf Rankings after finishing sixth at the FJ Invitational and winning the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
Megan Khang of Rockland, Mass., and Abbey Carlson of Lake Mary, Fla., will represent the top junior girls from the East. Khang comes off a win at The PING Invitational, her third AJGA start. This season she made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Girls Junior Championship and tied for third at the Junior PGA Championship.
Carlson tallied five top-10 finishes in 2013. Ranked No. 8, she tied for second at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship after firing a final-round 65. Carlson closed the season with a runner-up finish at the Junior PGA Championship and tied for sixth at The PING Invitational.