Princeton Men's & Women's Golf Recruiting on the Rise
12/11 CGC staff
The recruiting landscape is extremely competitive in division 1 golf, with dozens of coaches from high level golf programs following the top recruits in each tournament. These coaches make their wish lists for each class well ahead of the June 15th, end of sophomore year deadline, checking into the recruits' scores but also their grades. Many coaches don't want to waste time recruiting an athlete who may struggle academically at their school, as their grades ultimately affect their eligibility to play. Now imagine that you are a coach at an Ivy League school, with strict academic requirements that immediately cut the recruiting talent pool by a large margin. A coach may have to accept that their team may not always be competitive on the national level due to the academic standards for admission to their school. The Princeton Men's golf team is currently ranked a solid 96 in the new Spikemark rankings, while the women's team sits at 151 after the fall 2023 season. The women's team has three Ivy League titles under 10th-year head coach Erika DeSanty, while the men have nine Ivy championships in head coach Will Green's 25 year tenure. The question is, could Princeton be heading towards something bigger? When looking at the 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes for the Princeton men's and women's teams, their ranking may be on the rise in a few years.
Princeton women's class of 2024 is the 8th ranked recruiting class in our rankings, quite a feat for a school out of the top-100 in the NCAA. This class includes three Americans, two of whom are in the top -20 of junior rankings metrics. Californian Olivia Duan is ready for the east coast as the #6 US recruit on our list. Her wins in the past two years include the 2022 AJGA Junior at Dupont and the 2023 San Francisco City Women's Championship. Duan also boasts top-5 finishes at the 2023 Arizona Silver Belle Championship, 2023 AJGA Princeton Championship, 2022 San Francisco City Women's Championship, and the 2022 AJGA Mariah Stackhouse Girls Invitational. The second member of this class is Yufei (Nancy) Dai, who resides in Florida but originates from China. Dai finished 2nd at the 2023 AJGA Spot X Hotel Junior Championship (4th in 2022), and 4th at the 2022 Orlando International Amateur for Juniors. She made match play at the 2023 US Girls Junior Amateur and finished 6th at the 2022 Bubba Conlee Tournament. Rounding out this class is Californian Abra Richmond, 46th in the class of 2024 on JGS. She owns two SCPGA Toyota Tour Cup wins in the past year, made match play at the 2023 US Girls Junior Amateur, and finished 7th at the AJGA NW Arkansas Junior.
Class of 2024 Women
Class of 2024 Men
The men's 2024 recruiting class is highlighted by Californian Eric Yun, who has had a steady rise in the JGS rankings in 2023, currently sitting at #13. Yun, who says he had always been really excited about Princeton, started his summer with three AJGA Open top-4 finishes, which led him to Invitational invite status. That certainly paid off, as he finished 4th at the AJGA Jack Burke Invitational and 5th at the Ping Invitational. Yun also finished a solid 16th at the Junior PGA Championship, and will join his brother on the team in 2024. Florida's Reed Greyserman also has a family golf pedigree, with one brother at Stanford and another playing professionally. Greyserman has hung around the top-50 in his class for years, currently residing in the 39th spot. His best showing in 2023 was a third place finish at the Scott Robertson Memorial, and he added a 2nd place finish at the FJT Osprey Point event. Greyserman placed 2nd at the 2022 New Jersey Junior Championship, 5th at the 2022 New Jersey Amateur, and 7th in a loaded field at the 2022 South Beach International Amateur.
Class of 2025 Women
The 2025 women's recruiting class currently has two athletes in our top-10 international recruit list. Thailand native Thanana Kotchasanamanee has played solely in the US for the last two years, having a very successful 2022. Her best finish was 2nd at the AJGA Ping Invitational, and she also placed 4th at the Girls Junior PGA Championship. Add local wins at the Annika Award Junior Invitational, Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational, and the Georgia Junior PGA Championship to her resume, along with 2nd at the AJGA Rome Junior Classic and 3rd at the Georgia Women's Open. In 2023, she had two 11th place finishes in AJGA Invitationals, and made match play at the US Women's and Junior Amateurs. Princeton's second recruit on our list in Canadian Luna Lu. Lu has two AJGA Open event wins on her resume, along with a victory at the 2022 British Columbia Junior Championship. In 2023, she finished 2nd at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, 4th at the NextGen Selection Camp, and 4th at the AJGA KJ Choi Foundation Texas Junior Championship. Lu also qualified for the 2023 US Girls Junior Amateur.
Class of 2025 Men
The Princeton men have recently entered the top-10 recruiting class conversation with the commitment of Canadian Eric Zhao. Zhao, who is #13 on JGS in his class, ended 2022 with a win at the AJGA Ping An Bank Junior All-Star Championship, and followed it up with a 2nd place finish at the 2023 AJGA Spot X Hotel Junior Championship. In 2023 he has registered top-10 finishes at the Elite Invitational, AJGA Ping Invitational, AJGA KJ Choi Foundation Texas Junior Championship, and the Junior Orange Bowl International Championship. In 2022, Zhao had two AJGA top-3 finishes and was 5th at the Canadian Men's Amateur. Californian Luke Brandler hasn't logged as many tournament finishes as many others in his class, but he has posted a high percentage of rounds under par to lead him to a #19 JGS ranking in his class. Brandler finished 2nd at his lone 2023 AJGA event at Copper Valley, and has one win and two 2nd place finishes in 2023 JTNC events. His most notable achievement is a 4th place finish at the 2023 IMG Junior World Championship.