Class of 2025 Boys Individual Rankings
American
*Will be updated at the beginning of each month until signing day in November 2024.
Will Hartman: Vanderbilt North Carolina native and Vanderbilt-commit Hartman is currently the top-ranked player in this class, sitting in the top 3 in all junior rankings metrics. He notched a 4th place finish at the 2023 AJGA Team Taylormade Invitational in May, cooled down for a few tournaments, then began a run of top-5 finishes, starting with his semi-final appearance at the US Junior Amateur. Hartman got right back to work the following week with a 5th place at the Junior PGA Championship, then traveled across the Atlantic to represent the US in the Junior Ryder Cup. He had a solid 3rd place finish at the AJGA Junior Players Championship, and capped off his fall season with a repeat win at the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational.
Kihei Akina: Brigham Young Akina, who hails from Utah, recently committed to Brigham Young University. Named the 2023 USA Today high school player of the year, Akina has shown very consistent golf in big-stage tournaments in the past year, which earned him the #2 spot on our list.. He started a string of top-5 finishes with a 2nd-place showing at the Junior Jones Cup last December, and followed it up with 5th at the AJGA Team Taylormade Invitational and the Dye Junior Invitational, 4th at the Junior PGA Championship, and 9th in stroke play of the US Junior Amateur. He capped off November with 3rd place at the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions.
Michael Riebe: Vanderbilt Riebe, a Californian who is also committed to Vanderbilt, has notched some strong finishes in high-profile events in 2023. His most notable finishes include 5th at the recent AJGA Ping Invitational, 5th at the Jones Cup Junior Invitational, 6th at the Western Junior, and 4th at the recent AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions. He started off 2024 with an 8th place finish at the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship. Riebe was also 5th at the 2022 AJGA Ping An Bank Junior All-Star Invitational, 14th at the 2022 Junior Jones Cup, and 15th at the AJGA Jack Burke Junior Invitational.
Chase Kyes: Alabama Kyes, who has been a top-10 presence in this class for years, clocks in at #4 on our list after committing to home-state Alabama. Kyes started 2023 with a win at the Patriot Open, was 2nd at the AJGA Junior championship by Visit Tallahassee, and 4th at the AJGA Spot X Hotel Junior Championship. He followed that up with a 7th at the AJGA Wyndham Invitational, 16th at the Western Junior, and a match play appearance at the US Junior Amateur. Kyes also has two AJGA wins on his resume from 2020, winning at Open event at age 14.
Jackson Byrd: Clemson It was widely expected that Byrd, a Georgia native, would end up at Clemson, where his uncle is the head coach. Byrd is no stranger to success in big tournaments, as he burst unto the junior scene in 2021 by finishing 4th at the Junior Jones Cup and respectable 11th place showings at the 2022 AJGA Team Taylormade and Wyndham Invitationals. He had a slow start to the beginning of this year, but turned his season around with a 9th place in stroke play at the US Junior Amateur, 2nd at the Junior PGA Championship, and a solid 9th at the AJGA Junior Players Championship. This earned him a spot on the US Junior Ryder Cup team. Byrd recently had a solid showing at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley with a tie for 6th place.
Carson Bertagnole: North Carolina-Chapel Hill North Carolina resident Bertagnole is staying close to home with the Tarheels, and has proved worthy of that commitment with a string of top-10 finishes in big events in the past year. This includes 2nd at the Sea Pines Junior Heritage, 7th at the 2022 Junior Jones Cup, 10th at the Western Junior, 8th at the Dye Junior Invitational and the AJGA Mayakoba Invitational, and 7th at the AJGA Team Taylormade Invitational. He hit a rough stretch in August-October, then stormed back into 6th at the recent AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, and a runner-up finish at the 2023 Jones Cup Junior Invitational.
JD Culbreth: Georgia Georgia native Culbreth is staying in-state with the Bulldogs, in a year where he has shown excellent consistency. His biggest accomplishment was a 2nd place finish at the Georgia State Amateur. He started 2023 with a win at the Sea Pines Junior Heritage, added an 8th place at the Western Junior, and 4th at the Bobby Chapman Invitational. He is consistently near the top-10 in high-profile events, with 13th place finishes in the Dustin Johnson World Junior, AJGA Wyndham Invitational, and the AJGA Junior Players Championship. Culbreth hasn't posted a score above 76 all year at high-rated courses. He solidified his place among the 2025 elite with a 3rd place showing at the 2023 Jones Cup Junior Invitational.
Bowen Mauss: Arizona State Mauss jumps into the top ten of 2025 after a 5th place showing at the 2024 Dustin Johnson World Junior and a tie for 6th at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Add that to his quarterfinal match-play appearance at the 2023 US Amateur, and he has proven he can succeed on the big stage. Utah niative Mauss had proven himself locally, with three UJGA wins, two Utah PGA 2nd place finishes, and 2nd place at the Brophy Rodeo in 2023. He carded 13 rounds in the sixties in junior events in 2023, with six additional rounds under par.
Jake Albert: Auburn Auburn landed their first commit in Virginia's Albert, fresh off his win at the 2023 AJGA Jack Burke Junior Invitational. From November 2022 through April 2023, he carded four wins in local tournaments, and followed that up with a 3rd place at the AJGA Will Lowery Junior Championship. Albert recently finished 4th at the Elite Invitational, competed at the 2023 US Junior Amateur, and was a solid 7th at the AJGA Wyndham Invitational. One of the brightest spots on his resume is a match-play final appearance at the 2023 Virginia Amateur.
Logan Reilly: Auburn Virginia native Reilly had a steady start to 2024 and has ramped it up in the month of May. He began 2024 with a top-10 finish in the AJGA Boys Simplify Championship, followed by 17th at the Dustin Johnson World Junior. Next came a victory at the Scott Robertson Memorial and a 3rd place finish at the AJGA Team Taylormade Invitational. Reilly owns a win and a runner-up finish in the Fox Puss Invitational, an amateur event in Virginia, in the past two years, and won the AJGA Junior at Penn State in 2023. He had a top-10 finish at the 2023 AJGA Polo Junior Classic and was 4th and the VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship.
Others to watch: Brooks Simmons (Texas), Joshua Kim (UCLA), Andrew Hinson (Alabama), Shiv Parmar (Texas A&M), Jon Ed Steed (Vanderbilt), Talan Harrison (South Carolina)
*All photo creds to players' instagrams
6/30 The class of 2025 is interesting because there are not 1 or 2 standouts who you can say are the top of the class, and many athletes in this bunch are pretty equal in tournament finishes and talent. That begin said, this top-10 is very talented and we may see some separation between athletes as the summer and fall tournaments progress. Notable achievements in the last month are Logan Reilly's victory at the Virginia Men's Amateur, Jackson Byrd's semifinal appearance at the AJGA RLX Ralph Lauren Jr Classic and solid showing at the Toyota Junior World Cup, and Michael Riebe's 5th place at the Western Junior and top-10 at the AJGA Wyndham Invitational. Carson Bertagnole notched a top-10 at the Wyndham as JD Culbreth finished a strong 4th, Jake Albert found the top-10 at the Western and won an open AJGA event, and Chase Kyes was 2nd at the Western. Will Hartman qualified for the quarterfinals at the RLX Ralph Lauren.
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