After ending U.S. Junior Amateur match-play drought for Coloradans, Nicholas Brooks falls in round of 64 to a 2024 quarterfinalist; meanwhile, Hadley Ashton, Alexander Kukreja claim CO PGA Junior Match Play titles
By Gary Baines – 7/23/2025
Nicholas Brooks of Parker has another notable achievement from his breakout season in 2025, but his stay as a competitor at the U.S. Junior Amateur came to a close on Wednesday afternoon in Dallas.
Brooks, the first Coloradan since 2017 to advance to match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur, lost in the round of 64 to a 2024 quarterfinalist in this event, Nguyen Anh Minh of Vietnam, who’s No. 52 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Anh Minh never trailed Wednesday in defeating Brooks 4 and 3 at Trinity Forest Golf Club. He went 3 up through four holes, and though Parker won No. 5 with a birdie, and Nos. 8 with 13 with pars, the Vietnamese golfer remained in control throughout. He finished 1 under par for the 15 holes of the match, while Brooks was 5 over.
Brooks, 17, landed a spot in match play by tying for 37th place (73-70) out of 264 golfers in the stroke-play portion of the championship. The last Coloradans before him to make match play in the Junior Am were Jackson Solem of Longmont (round of 32) and Davis Bryant of Aurora (round of 64) in 2017.
Last month, Brooks made some headlines by tying for the third-lowest winning score in AJGA history (22 under par for 54 holes) in claiming the Colorado Springs Junior title.
A day later, the senior-to-be at Lutheran High School, who will play his college golf at Butler, earned medalist honors in U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying at Flatirons Golf Course in Boulder by shooting a 4-under-par 66. Then earlier this month, Brooks placed fourth in the Colorado Junior PGA Championship.
Here are the results for all the Coloradans at the U.S. Junior Amateur:
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64 ON WEDNESDAY
Nguyễn Anh Minh, Vietnam, def. Nicholas Brooks, Parker, 4 and 3
STROKE PLAY MONDAY AND TUESDAY
Advances to Match Play
37. Nicholas Brooks, Parker 73-70–143
Failed to Advance to Match Play
106. Brayden Forte, Aurora 77-71–148
119. Ash Edwards, Boulder 75-74–149
148. Gregory White, Centennial 76-75–151
232. Austin Hunt, Highlands Ranch 77-82–159
For all the results, CLICK HERE.
— Meanwhile, at the Mizuno Colorado PGA Junior Match Play, which is considered a junior major in the state, Hadley Ashton of Erie and Alexander Kukreja of Denver claimed the girls and boys titles, respectively, on Wednesday at Lake Valley Golf Club in Niwot.
Ashton, a Team Colorado member who’s won a 4A girls state high school individual title in 2022 as well as the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior shortly thereafter, defeated Tatum Platt of Cherry Hills Village 2 and 1 in the girls finale. Ashton prevailed in her earlier matches 4 and 3, 8 and 7, 2 and 1, and 1 up. The CGA Girls Player of the Year in 2023, Ashton will begin her college career at the University of Wisconsin this fall.
In the boys title match, Kukreja won 2 and 1 over Jackson Stewart of Carbondale. Kukreja, a senior-to-be at Denver East, earlier this month teamed with Elijah Johnson to win a Colorado PGA Junior Cup event at the Broadlands in Broomfield. Kukreja’s victory margins on the road to the Junior Match Play finals were 5 and 3, 7 and 6, 19 holes, and 2 and 1.
For all the results from the Colorado PGA Junior Match Play, click on BOYS, GIRLS.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com