​Sofia Rivera of St. Augustine is back in action for her second start of the summer in a USGA national event as she competes in the U.S. Junior Girls Championship July 13-18 at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina. Rivera, who earlier this year became the youngest player from the First Coast to compete in a U.S. Open in June, will begin her first round from the No. 1 tee at 7:40 a.m. on July 13 and will tee off from No. 10 at 12:55 p.m. on July 14. Her goal is to progress to match play by finishing in the top 64 after 36 holes of stroke play, with match play set to begin July 15.
Rivera’s recent accomplishments include being named the All-First Coast girls golfer of the year after claiming the FHSAA Class 3A title at Beachside, where she shot a bogey-free front nine at the Mission Inn Resort Las Colinas Course and posted a 67, the tournament’s low round, finishing four shots ahead at 5-under-par. She has verbally committed to play college golf at Indiana. Rivera will be paired with Anna Bell of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, who has two AJGA victories this summer, and Adrielle Miller of McKinney, Texas, who recently finished strong in her last two AJGA starts.
This season marks Rivera’s third appearance in a USGA national event. She previously qualified for the U.S. Open in New Smyrna Beach and later shot 75-74—149 at Riviera Country Club, narrowly missing the cut by two strokes. Rivera also competed in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, partnering with Sahana Chokshi of Jacksonville; the pair missed the cut for match play by a single stroke.
Attention now shifts to the Junior Players Championship (Sept. 3-6), where the American Junior Golf Association Rolex Rankings determine eligibility. The field at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass features the top 58 players as of July 14. Currently, the strongest regional presence includes No. 1-ranked Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, the defending champion; No. 41 Cameron Kuchar of St. Simons Island, Georgia; and No. 48 Lucas Gimenez of Jacksonville. Gimenez will be joined by other competitors as the ranking window closes and qualification rules tighten.
Russell will not compete in the Junior Players Championship this year, as he has earned a spot on the U.S. Walker Cup team, which will take on Great Britain & Ireland September 5-6 at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland. Among the next highest-ranked area players, Ambrose Kinnare of St. Augustine sits at No. 81, while Charlie Hipp of St. Johns stands at No. 105; however, neither entered AJGA events this week. Also noteworthy is Charlie Woods, who tied for 33rd in last year’s Junior Players and made a hole-in-one at No. 3 during the final round; his AJGA ranking remains a topic of interest as the season progresses.