SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (July 29, 2025) – Lucas Rizo-Patron of Rye, N.Y., and Amelie Phung of Forest Hills, N.Y., claimed the boys’ and girls’ division titles at the 23rd Carter Cup at Baltusrol Golf Club.
Phung is the first girls’ division champion at the Carter Cup. The win is Rizo-Patron’s first MGA victory and his first appearance in the Carter Cup.
Phung finished at 6-over par, 11 shots clear of Jessica Kim of Tenafly, N.J., while Rizo-Patron clinched the boys’ title at 1-under par with an up-and-down to save par on the par-4 18th to win by one over Rayhao Feng of Short Hills, N.J., and Tucker Gongaware of New York, N.Y.
“It is an honor to be here and to be an inaugural winner,” said Phung. “This tournament has a lot of history on the boys’ side; I am excited to share this with the girls and let them know about this tournament.”
“It feels great. This is my last junior tournament, so it is nice to end with a bang,” noted Rizo-Patron afterward. “It is an awesome event, a great field, and it is well run.”
Phung led the girls’ division after round one by seven with a 4-over par 76. The recent New York State Girls Amateur champion was two shots better in the afternoon on the Upper Course with a 3-over par 74. On her back nine in the afternoon, Phung birdied the par-5 11th and the par-5 17th.
Kim birdied the par-4 ninth in her second round on her way to finishing with a 78. The 12-year-old was five shots better on the Upper than the Lower Course in the afternoon.
While the top of the leaderboard fluctuated throughout the second round, Rizo-Patron played steady golf, specifically on the back 9, with eight pars and one bogey. On the par-5 17th, Rizo-Patron short-sided himself with his approach shot before two-putting for par to remain at 1-under. Then the 18-year-old went over the green with his second on No. 18. With the possibility of going to a playoff, Rizo-Patron rolled in a 20-foot par putt to secure the win.
Rizo-Patron finished his second round in 1-over par 73 after opening the day with a 2-under par 69 on the Lower Course, which put him in a share of the lead with defending co-champion Jack Chung of Greenwich, Conn., and Holden Schipper of Lebanon, N.J.
Feng was around the lead all afternoon and was tied with Rizo-Patron for most of his back 9. Feng shared the lead before back-to-back bogeys on his 15th and 16th holes of the day — the par-4 sixth and par-3 seventh. Gongaware recorded seven birdies in the second round, the most in the field, but came up one shot short of Rizo-Patron.
The Carter Cup was first played in 2003 and is named in honor of Michael P. Carter, an accomplished junior player at Baltusrol and standout golf team member at New Jersey’s Delbarton School, who died in a car accident in 2002. Carter had won the junior club championships at both Baltusrol and Winged Foot and played for Penn State at the time of his death.
This year’s tournament returned to Baltusrol Golf Club after the club restored the Upper Course in 2024 with it making its debut this spring. This was the first tournament contested on the newly restored layout.
