Tuan Anh Targets Saucon Valley Success

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States: Nguyen Tuan Anh will be aiming to go one better than compatriot Nguyen Anh Minh when the 78th US Junior Amateur Championship tees-off at Saucon Valley Country Club tomorrow.

Anh Minh created history last year when he became the first Vietnamese golfer to reach the final of a United States Golf Association (USGA) championship. In the final, Anh Minh was beaten 2&1 by American Hamilton Coleman, who is defending his title this week.

Joining Coleman among the favourites at Saucon Valley Country Club is Tuan Anh, one of the Asia-Pacific’s most exciting golfing prospects.

The 17-year-old has just broken into the top-100 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) for the first time in 98th place and is widely tipped for a bright future in the game.

As well as finishing runner-up to New Zealand’s Cooper Moore in last year’s Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Boys’ Championship in Hong Kong, Tuan Anh’s resume includes eight wins in WAGR-recognised events, while he’s also won a professional event in Vietnam. Those performances have earned him a call-up to the Junior Presidents Cup International Team for the contest against the United States at Medinah Country Club in September.

This week, though, his full focus is on spearheading a 39-strong Asia-Pacific challenge at the US Junior Amateur Championship.

A total of 15 APGC-affiliated countries and territories are represented at the Pennsylvania venue – led by a contingent of eight from China.

They are joined by six players from Thailand, five from Korea, three from Hong Kong, China, Japan and Vietnam, two from New Zealand and Singapore and one each from Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Among the notables are 2025 APGC Junior Boys’ winner Moore, Ho Anh Huy and Le Khanh Hung, members of Vietnam’s triumphant 2024 Nomura Cup team, China’s Wu Qiyou, a semi-finalist in the US Junior Amateur last year, and Chang Xihuan, a semi-finalist in 2024, and Singapore’s Brayden Lee, the 2025 Royal Junior champion.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Riku Takase is the youngest competitor in the field at 13-years-old. Takase shot a 71 at the Koloa, Hawaii qualifier and won his first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) title two weeks ago.

The championship begins with 18-hole stroke play rounds on July 20-21. The field will then be cut to the low 64 scorers for match play. Six rounds of match play will determine the champion, with the final match contested over 36 holes. 

The USGA accepted 3,681 entries for this year's championship from golfers in 49 US states, including 104 from the host state Pennsylvania, as well as Puerto Rico and 44 foreign countries. 

Open to any male amateur who has not reached his 19th birthday on or before July 25, 2026, and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 2.4, the starting field this week has been trimmed to 264. 

Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course was designed by Herbert Strong and opened in 1922. Revisions were completed by William Gordon, Perry Maxwell and most recently Tom Marzolf from the Fazio Group in 2008.

Saucon Valley’s historic 850-acre facility also features the Weyhill Course, Grace Course and a six-hole course for juniors and novice golfers. The club is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Gordon designed the Grace Course, which opened for play in 1958. Andrew Green did a restoration in 2014.