Benjamin School golfers Charlie Woods and Kai Trump are reaping the benefit of competing in the “the most prestigious event in junior golf” in the latest American Junior Golf Association rankings.
Woods and Trump each jumped more than 200 places up the AJGA rankings after competing at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational in South Carolina last week.
Woods is ranked No. 603 in the latest AJGA boys rankings, an improvement of 235 places after he finished tied for 25th in a field of 36 golfers at Sage Valley.
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Trump rose to No. 530 in the latest AJGA girls rankings, an improvement of 285 places after she last in a field of 24 golfers at Sage Valley.
Mar 22, 2025; Graniteville, South Carolina, USA; Charlie Woods tees off No. 11 during the final round of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale – Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK
More: How did Charlie Woods, Kai Trump finish in Junior Invitational at Sage Valley?
While the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley is not an AJGA event, it is a maximum point value tournament in the AJGA rankings formula due to the strength of the field. The Junior Invitational at Sage Valley included global competition from at least 19 nationalities last week.
Woods played on Benjamin’s No. 2 line last fall and finished his sophomore varsity campaign as the No. 11 boys golfer in Florida per iWanamaker.
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Trump was an All-County selection for Benjamin last fall and finished her junior campaign as the No. 151 ranked girls golfer in Florida per iWanamaker.
Charlie Woods, Kai Trump rise in other rankings
Mar 22, 2025; Graniteville, South Carolina, USA; Kai Trump lines up a putt on No. 18 during the final round of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale – Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK
Woods and Trump’s performance in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley lifted each of the golfers more than 100 places in the Universal Golf Rankings.
Woods rose 124 places to No. 658 in the global junior boys rankings while Trump rose 126 places to No. 1300 in the global junior girls rankings.
The Universal Golf Rankings is an independent website which ranks professional and junior golfers based on relative strokes per round to the best player in the world based on scores from the last 18 months.
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The formula intends to bring golfers from separate tours, such as the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, PGA Tour Champions, into the same ranking.
More Palm Beach County golfers in AJGA rankings
Boys
No. 52: Brooks Colton, Benjamin
No. 65: Hampton Beebe, Jupiter
No. 79: Pavel Tsar, Benjamin
No. 134: William Cui, Dwyer
No. 140: Joey Iaciofano, Oxbridge Academy
No. 143: Tristan Wieland, Jupiter
No. 146: Lawson Ford, Cardinal Newman
No. 373: Andrew Tsar, Benjamin
No. 603: Charlie Woods, Benjamin
No. 676: Wylie Inman, Dwyer
Girls
No. 16: Kayla Bryant, FAU High
No. 130: Gabriella Albert, Saint Andrew’s
No. 166: Madison Moman, Florida Virtual School
No. 530: Kai Trump, Benjamin
No. 619: Zoe Shamy, Jupiter
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Charlie Woods, Kai Trump make huge jump in junior golf rankings
