Oct. 26, 2006
ATLANTA – Paul Haley of Dallas and Chesson Hadley of Raleigh, N.C., were named Rolex Junior All-Americans by the American Junior Golf Association Tuesday, thus joining an esteemed collection of current and former top-level junior golfers from around the world.
After being named a first-team Rolex Junior All-American in 2004, Haley, 18, earned honorable mention status in 2006. A 2006 graduate of Highland Park High School and a current freshman at Georgia Tech, Haley made the most of his final season of junior golf, finishing in the top 10 in his two AJGA appearances. He tied for second at the PING Junior at The Woodlands in April by posting a 70-68-70-208 tournament total and finished ninth at the Thunderbird International Junior in Scottsdale, Ariz., in May. He ended the 2006 season ranked 46th nationally in the Polo Golf Rankings.
Hadley, 19, a 2006 graduate of North Raleigh Christian and also a freshman at Georgia Tech, was named an honorable mention Rolex Junior All-American after being selected to the second team in 2005. After winning two AJGA events in 2005, Hadley had a strong final season of junior golf by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Polo Golf Junior Classic in Sea Island, Ga., and finishing in the top 15 in two AJGA events this past summer. By the end of this season, Hadley climbed to 44th nationally in the final 2006 Polo Golf Rankings.
Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex Junior All-America Teams annually recognize those players who have established themselves as the world’s premier junior golfers. This year’s selections distinguished themselves through their outstanding play in 63 national events, 52 of which were conducted by the AJGA. In 2006, the Rolex Junior All-America Teams were determined exclusively through the Polo Golf Rankings for the first time.
The teams are comprised of 96 junior golfers, ages 13-19, from 20 states and three foreign countries. These standouts will be recognized Nov. 19 during the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet held at The Cloister in Sea Island, Ga.
Former Rolex Junior All-Americans comprise the top players on both the PGA and LPGA Tours. Of the PGA TOUR’s current top-10 money leaders, Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Trevor Immelman and David Toms were all Rolex Junior All-Americans. On the LPGA Tour, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Hee-Won Han and Paula Creamer were named Rolex Junior All-Americans as junior golfers before working their way to the top of the pay-for-play ranks. Other notable professional AJGA alumni who help make up the list of past Rolex Junior All-Americans include Rory Sabbatini, Stewart Cink, Brett Quigley, Lucas Glover, Brittany Lincicome, Sherri Steinhauer, Julieta Granada and Morgan Pressel.
Rolex Watch, a supporter of the AJGA since 1983, became an AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. The distinguished timepiece maker is the proprietor of the Rolex Junior Players of the Year, Rolex Junior All-America Teams and the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet. Rolex also sponsors the Rolex Tournament of Champions and Rolex Girls Junior Championship, two of the AJGA’s most competitive major championships. As a Premier Partner, Rolex is the Founding Corporate Partner to the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program and an Official Partner of the biennial PING Junior Solheim Cup.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 foreign countries.
