Hamilton Coleman is Augusta’s Latest Golf Legacy
Winning the United States Junior Amateur Championship is a victory for both Lakeside senior Hamilton Coleman and golf in Augusta.
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty ImagesDALLAS, TEXAS: Hamilton Coleman of the United States poses for a photo with the trophy after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest Golf Club on July 26, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.
I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but we are not a golf town.
Is the most famous golf tournament in the world held in this town every year? Yes - but that doesn’t make us a golf town. For 51 weeks out of the year, we are who we are and golf isn’t dominating our days.
Myrtle Beach is a golf town. Well, it used to be more of one. A lot of courses have closed over the last twenty years, but that is what a golf town looked like.
Pinehurst, North Carolina is definitely a golf town. The resort is the center of activity in that area and just about everything circulates around the game.
I’m saying all of that to say this - it is a huge deal that a local golfer, a young man named Hamilton Coleman, won the United States Junior Amateur championship last week in Texas. It’s a national championship. It has national implications. The victory ensures his spot in the next two US Amateurs. He’s also going to play in the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
You must be young to win this tournament, not only because of the age qualifications, but because, for Coleman to win, he had to play 123 holes. The finals alone were 36 holes.
When the tournament started, Coleman was ranked No.625 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. You could say his victory came out of the blue, although there were some signs earlier this year regarding his game. Last August, he beat now-touring professional Blades Brown at the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. He’s come a long way from just three years ago when he was a participant in the 2022 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National.
He is heading into his senior year at Lakeside and has committed to Chris Hack’s golf team at the University of Georgia. As a matter of fact, he has said he would love to play a practice round or two at next year’s US Open with a couple of the Bulldogs on tour.
As I stated, Augusta is not a golf town, but when we put our minds to it, we can do golf really well. We’ve known that for years about Augusta National. Now, we can add Hamilton Coleman to the list.
Congratulations young man, you’ve done us proud.
