Brayden Forte of Aurora becomes just the second Coloradan since 2017 to make match play at U.S. Junior Amateur
By Gary Baines
A week and a half after playing the role of loyal sidekick/caddie for his good friend and future teammate Miles Kuhl at the Korn Ferry Tour event at TPC Colorado, Brayden Forte of Aurora has taken center stage this week — at least when it comes to Colorado golfers at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
Forte, the 2025 CGA State Junior champion who himself played in the KFT tournament last year in Berthoud, not only has been the top Colorado performer at the 2026 USJA, but he beat the odds by advancing to match play in the national championship.
In fact, Forte joined fellow Team Colorado elite junior squad member Nicholas Brooks (2025) in being the only Coloradans since 2017 to make the 64-player match-play portion of the U.S. Junior Am.
Forte, who like Kuhl will play his college golf at San Diego State starting in the fall, posted rounds of 73-71 for a 3-over-par total in the stroke-play portion of the championship that ended Tuesday at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.
By placing in the top 64 (39th, to be precise) — out of the 264-player field that started the competition — Forte will tee it up in the match-play round of 64 on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old graduate of Cherokee Trail High School, who joined with Kuhl to win the 2026 CGA Four-Ball title, made six birdies, seven bogeys and a double bogey over the 36 holes of stroke play, finishing nine strokes behind the three co-medalists: Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., Brayden Jones of Seal Beach, Calif., and Sohan Patel of Weston, Fla.
Prior to Brooks advancing to the round of 64 at last year’s championship, no Coloradans had made match play at the U.S. Junior Am since 2017, when Jackson Solem of Longmont (round of 32) and Davis Bryant of Aurora (round of 64) made the grade.
Here are the scores for all the Coloradans at the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur:
Advances to Match Play
39. Brayden Forte, Aurora 73-71–144
Failed to Make Match Play
77. Brayden Destefano, Peyton 75-72–147
160. Ash Edwards, Boulder 76-76–152
191. Elijah Johnson, Denver 79-75–154
For all the results, CLICK HERE.
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