UPDATE 2: Kailer Stone’s USGA Junior Amateur Championship run came to an end in the round of 32 on Thursday, July 24, in the second round of match play. Kailer won two of the first five holes over China’s Mingbo Jiang. That lead would slip away as the round progressed, with Jiang recording victories on 5 of the remaining 11 holes, enough to secure the win after 16 holes.
In the end, Kailer notched two birdies and 1 bogey. In the match play format, Stone & Jiang tied on 9 of the holes, with Jiang taking 5, and Stone with 2.
UPDATE: Alameda High senior Kailer Stone defeated Cameron Kuchar, son of nine-time PGA Tour winner and Olympic medalist Matt Kuchar, in the first round of match play on Wednesday, July 23, at the 77th U.S. Golf Association (USGA) Junior Amateur Championship in Dallas, Texas, and moves on to the Round of 32 on Thursday, July 24. The semifinal round is set for Friday, July 25, and the championship match is set for July 26.
Here’s how it happened.
Blazing heat didn’t phase 17-year-old Alameda High senior Kailer Stone in the first round of stroke play on Monday, July 21 at the 77th U.S. Golf Association (USGA) Junior Amateur Championship in Dallas, Texas. Stone, who plans to attend Pepperdine University in fall 2026, is in first place after shooting a bogey-free, 5-under-par 66 at Trinity Forest Golf Club, according to a U.S .Golf Association (USGA) report.
Stone shares the top spot with Qiyou Wu, of the People’s Republic of China, who also shot a 66, registering five birdies and an eagle, in the first championship round on Monday.
Asked how he felt about hitting 16 of 18 greens and tallying five birdies on the Trinity Forest course, which is hosting its first USGA championship, Stone just said, “It was nice.”
The teen golfer, who just won the 2025 Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) Junior Championship in July, continued, “I mean, just kind of playing it fairway, middle of green. This is a tough course, if you miss the green in the wrong spot, you pretty much can’t get up and down. So just playing to the right areas.”
And about those five birdies?
“They were just pretty simple, solid golf,” Stone said. “I mean, middle of the green. I think I had a couple birdies from like, 150 (yards). I hit it to, like, 15 feet and made a couple putts.”
How did he do it? “I just stuck to my game plan,” the Alameda golfer said. “I had a good idea of what I wanted to do out there. …It’s definitely the best tournament I’ve played in.”
Stone joined the rest of the competitors who switched courses to Brook Hollow Golf Club for the second and final round of stroke play on Tuesday, July 22. His game plan for that round? “Just hit fairways out there,” he said. “It’s a completely different course… pretty narrow, tight fairways, a lot of rough. The fairways are a must.”
So, given the fact that the final stroke play round was a qualifier for the final, did he plan to play it a little less aggressively?
“Obviously it’s a little different, having two rounds of qualifying, top 64,” he said. “I don’t want to go out there and just play conservatively. Obviously, you don’t need to go and shoot 8 under and try to qualify, but I think just playing calculated golf.”
After that round of stroke play, the field was trimmed to the low 64 scorers for match play, beginning Wednesday, July 23, at Trinity Forest. Stone defeated Cameron Kuchar, son of nine-time PGA Tour winner and Olympic medalist Matt Kuchar, in the first round of match play to move on to the Round of 32.
The 36-hole championship match is set for July 26.
For those who wish to watch Alameda’s teen golf champ in action, Peacock will stream Friday’s semifinal matches live from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, with Golf Channel airing the afternoon portion of the championship match on Saturday live, also from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT (noon to 2 p.m. Pacific time).
