Hall & Merkulov Receive Rolex All-American Honors

It will be interesting to keep an eye on these two young guns from Rochester:

The following is copied from the AJGA.com web site.

Headlining the boys on the Rolex Junior All-America First Team is Jordan Spieth of Dallas. A two-time first-team selection, Spieth ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur in July. His 2009 season also included runner-up finishes at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Junior PGA Championship. In all, Spieth posted top-10 finishes at each of the eight national tournaments in which he competed.

For the record-setting fifth consecutive year, Andrew Yun of Chandler, Ariz., has earned Rolex Junior All-America honors. A first-team selection in 2006, 2008 and 2009, Yun joins Justin Leonard as the only five-time Rolex Junior All-Americans in AJGA history (Leonard’s run includes two years as a Rolex Junior All-American in the 11-14-year-old boys division). Yun, who is currently a freshman at Stanford, has 19 AJGA top-five finishes and four victories in his six-year junior career.

Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos, Calif., is the third returning member to the Rolex Junior All-America First Team. Previous Rolex Junior All-Americans earning first-team accolades for the first time are James Back of Cerritos, Calif., Michael Hebert of Orlando, Fla., Jeffrey Kang of Fullerton, Calif., and Bobby Wyatt of Mobile, Ala.

Additionally, five first-time Rolex Junior All-Americans are making their debut on the first team: Emiliano Grillo of Resistencia, Argentina; Shun Yat Hak of Lake Mary, Fla.; Gavin Hall of Pittsford, N.Y.; Yaroslav Merkulov of Penfield, N.Y.; and Patrick Winther of Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

More about the First Team

Gavin Hall, Pittsford, N.Y.  (pictured above)

Hall, 15, was named a first-team Rolex Junior All-American on the strength of four top-15 finishes in 2009. With a final Polo Golf Ranking of 10, Hall posted runner-up finishes at the AJGA Cliffs Championship and the Rolex Tournament of Champions. He also competed on the Canon Cup East Team in 2009.

Yaroslav Merkulov, Penfield, N.Y.

Merkulov, 17, ended the season No. 3 in the Polo Golf Rankings. He had four top-10 finishes in national tournaments in 2009, including a second-place finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Merkulov also posted a tie for fourth at the Western Junior Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur. He also competed on the Canon Cup East Team and has verbally committed to play golf at Duke University next fall.