U.S. Junior National Team names 2026 squad, elevating golf’s next wave of NIL talent

by Golf NIL Staff

December 17, 2025

The USGA has named the 24-player 2026 U.S. National Junior Team, the third class in its national development push and a major checkpoint for the country’s most advanced junior golfers.

The lineup features 12 boys and 12 girls from 10 states, a snapshot of the country’s best emerging talent, now grouped in a true “best of the best” pool with year‑round support, top‑tier competition, and a USGA spotlight on their names.

Golf NIL High School Girls No. 2 Asterisk Talley earns a third straight spot on the U.S. National Junior Team | Dustin Satloff/USGA

Fourteen players return from last season’s squad, and 10 newcomers played their way in through national results and state-team competition. Within this team, several names already sit on the Golf NIL High School boards, bringing together championship titles, WAGR position, and NIL valuation.

The USGA often spotlights and promotes players on its socials, which reach nearly 2.5 million followers across Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as its own platforms. That kind of built‑in reach gives every player on this team more chances to be seen by fans, brands, and potential partners.

For the past two years, USJNT members have also been front and center in “The Future Is Now Presented by Ally,” a docuseries that’s appeared on the Golf Channel and averaged nearly one million views per video on the USGA’s YouTube channel.

The 2026 team now walks into that same spotlight, with a backdrop that only strengthens their NIL potential.

2026 U.S. National Junior Team – Boys

Ronin Banerjee, 17, Irvine, Calif.

Hamilton Coleman, 17, Martinez, Ga.

Luke Colton, 18, Frisco, Texas

Philip Dunham, 18, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Mason Howell, 18, Thomasville, Ga.

Jessy Huebner, 16, Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Chase Hughes, 15, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Tyler Mawhinney, 18, Fleming Island, Fla.

Sohan Patel, 17, Weston, Fla.

Jaden Soong, 15, Burbank, Calif.

Giuseppe Puebla, 17, Royal Palm Beach, Fla.

Tyler Watts, 18, Huntsville, Ala.

Third-year: Dunham, Mawhinney, Watts | Second-year: Banerjee, Colton, Huebner | First-year: Coleman, Howell, Hughes, Patel, Puebla, Soong

2026 U.S. National Junior Team – Girls

Grace Carter, 15, Jupiter, Fla.

Mia Clausen, 15, Carlsbad, Calif.

Zoe Cusack, 17, Potomac, Md.

Anna Fang, 16, San Diego, Calif.

Mia Hammond, 17, New Albany, Ohio

Jude Lee, 18, Walnut, Calif.

Nikki Oh, 18, Torrance, Calif.

Eliana Saga, 16, Stevenson Ranch, Calif.

Emerie Schartz, 18, Wichita, Kan.

Asterisk Talley, 16, Chowchilla, Calif.

Amelie Zalsman, 17, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Angela Zhang, 16, Bellevue, Wash.

Third-year: Hammond, Oh, Schartz, Talley, Zhang | Second-year: Fang, Lee, Zalsman | First-year: Carter, Clausen, Cusack, Saga