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United States Teams Named for Toyota Junior Golf World Cup

NORMAN, Okla. – The boys and girls United States teams have been announced for the 2017 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup. The event will be held June 13-16 on Chukyo Golf Club’s Ishino Course outside Nagoya, Japan.

The boys team will consist of Frankie Capan, Brandon Mancheno, Reese Ramsey, and Travis Vick. Oklahoma City University’s Kyle Blaser will coach the team for the second time, also having led Team USA in 2007. The event’s defending champion, the Americans have won the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup a record six times.

Blaser is in his 20th season at Oklahoma City where he has led the Stars to ten NAIA Championships. With his tenth championship coming this past year, he became the winningest coach in NAIA history. Blaser is an eight-time recipient of the Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award presented by Golf Pride. OCU won its 18th Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Championship under Blaser this past year while setting the SAC Championship’s scoring record. He has coached five NAIA Individual Champions and three Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award recipients. He has coached 25 PING First-Team All-America selections, two Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award winners, and 12 SAC Players of the Year. Blaser has been inducted into both the Golf Coaches Association of America and NAIA Hall of Fame.

“I am extremely honored to be named coach of the 2017 Junior World Cup and look forward to again working with JR (Steinbauer). It is a privilege to represent the USA and I look forward to giving it our best to keep the trophy on our soil,” said Blaser. “Last year’s team played incredible and set the bar high with their win and we look forward to making it back-to-back! I am excited about the group of guys that we have chosen to carry the USA bag.”

Capan was a 2016 AJGA Rolex All-America Honorable Mention. He recently won the 2017 AJGA PING Heather Farr Classic and the 2016 AJGA Puerto Rico Junior Open. Capan competed in the 2016 PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open, missing the cut by one stroke. He was named the 2016 Minnesota Junior Player of the Year.

Mancheno was the 2017 Florida Times-Union Player of the Year and is a two-time AJGA Rolex All-America Honorable Mention and was the Florida State Golf Association Junior Player of the Year in 2015. He won the 2017 First Coast Amateur and the 2016 St. Augustine Amateur. Mancheno was a 2016 Florida 3A State Individual Champion. He has signed to play for Auburn in the fall.

Ramsey is the number one ranked player in the state of Texas for the Class of 2017. He was a 2016 AJGA Rolex All-America Honorable Mention. He was UIL 6A All-District and Academic All-District. He broke the AJGA low-round record at Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. Ramsey signed with Texas A&M for the class of 2017.

Vick was named to the 2016 AJGA Rolex All-America Second Team and is ranked number one in the class of 2019 according to the Junior Golf Scoreboard. He sits at number 10 overall in Junior Golf Scoreboard ranking. He was a medalist at the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur.

The girls team will consist of Alyaa Abdulghany, Emilia Migliaccio, and Kaitlyn Papp The United States’ team will be coached Jojo Robertson of Texas Tech. Team USA looks to defend its 2016 team title.

Robertson is currently in her eighth season at Texas Tech where she has led the Lady Raiders to the NCAA Tournament six times. In 2015, she led Texas Tech to a 5th place finish in the NCAA Championships, the school’s highest finish ever. Since being named head coach in 2009, Robertson has led the Red Raiders to 11 team titles, which is the most for a head coach in program history. Her players have received All-Big 12 honors as well as one Big 12 Player of the Year award to go along with WGCA All-America honors. Prior to coaching, Robertson played collegiately at Oklahoma State.

“This is such an honor for me to be a part of this event,” said Robertson. “I could not be more proud to travel with our team and represent the USA. We have a great group of young ladies and I am looking forward to getting to know them and experiencing this with them.”

Abdulghany is returning for her second year at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup after having finished third individually last year. She also represented the U.S. at the World Junior Girl’s Championship in 2015. Abdulghany finished second at both the 2016 Thunderbird Invitational and the Junior PGA Championship. She was named the USA Today High School Sports All-USA Golfer of the Year in 2016. Abdulghany signed a letter of intent to play for the Southern California.

Migliaccio was named to the 2016 AJGA Rolex Junior All-America First Team. She recently won the 2017 AJGA Girls Junior at Disney. She also won the 2016 Scott Robertson Memorial tournament. Migliaccio also competed for the East Team at the 2016 Wyndham Cup. She is currently ranked 3rd in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings. Migliaccio signed to play at Wake Forrest in the fall.

Papp is also returning for her second year at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup after having finished ninth individually last year. She won the 2015 AJGA Girls Championship and she finished third at the 2016 Thunderbird Invitational. Papp is a four-time Rolex All-American, earning first team honors in 2015 and 2016. She signed a letter of intent with Texas.