All ‘Grown Up’ Wotnosky Set for 3rd U.S. Junior Amateur

Davis Wotnosky is all grown up now— if being 17 and a rising high school senior can be classified as a “grown up.”

When the Wake Forest, N.C., resident arrives at the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club, in Bethlehem, Pa., this week, he’ll be considered one of the veterans. That wasn’t quite the case five years ago. Just six months removed from celebrating his 12th birthday, Wotnosky became, at the time, the second youngest qualifier in the event’s illustrious history. Only Southern Californian Matthew Pierce, at 12 years, 2 months, 15 days, was younger when he competed in 2001. That mark was surpassed in 2022 at Bandon Dunes when Arizonan Pierson Huyck qualified at 12 years, 17 days. For the record, Wotnosky also qualified for that event as a first alternate, so the 2026 championship will be his first U.S. Junior in four years.

So much has changed in his life and game since. For starters, he’s grown 6 inches and packed 40 pounds of muscle to his once-120-pound frame. Back then, he hit fairway metals into par-4s and mid-irons for his third shot into par-5s. There’s even some facial hair, something the 12-year-old Wotnosky didn’t feature. And, of course, he’s added 80-90 yards off the tee to go with much-improved course management.

“It was pretty surreal,” said Wotnosky, reflecting on the 2021 championship held an hour from home at The Country Club of North Carolina, in Pinehurst, N.C. “In my practice round, I actually played with a guy (Robbie Higgins) who had already finished his freshman year of college [at the University of North Florida]. so he had his college coach on the bag. I had my [older] sister [Haeley] carrying for me.

“It was pretty cool because I felt we were equal competitors, but we were in such different stages of life. At the time, he seemed like the best golfer on the planet. He was outdriving me by probably 70, 80 yards. It was crazy.”

The fact that Wotnosky was even in the field was remarkable in itself. A day before his qualifier at Ironwood Golf & Country Club, he was competing in a two-day U.S. Kids event at Longleaf Golf & Family Club, in Southern Pines, N.C. Instead of making the three-hour drive to Greenville, N.C., that night, Wotnosky and his father, Jeff, awoke at 4 a.m. and arrived shortly before his starting time.

When Jeff filed Davis’ entry, he told him, perhaps tongue and cheek, that if he failed to break 80, he’d consider not registering him the following year. Without the benefit of a practice round and running strictly on adrenaline, Wotnosky shot a 68 and qualified.

Interviewed afterward, Wotnosky, then a rising eighth grader, talked in a voice a few octaves higher from his current tenor,

“I get annoyed now listening to me talk,” said Wotnosky. “I had this pipsqueak of a voice. I think I was like 5-foot-6 … and weighed 120 pounds. It was pretty funny.”

His golf game, even at such a tender age, was no laughing matter. Despite giving up huge amounts of distance and lacking experience, Wotnosky posted rounds of 74-75 to miss the match-play cut by a mere two strokes.

Here’s a list of players who Davis matched or bested in stroke play that week: future two-time U.S. Open qualifier Omar Morales (UCLA), future University of Florida star and 2023 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Parker Bell, future U.S. National Junior Team Member and current Brigham Young University star Kihei Akina, future U.S. Amateur runner-up Jackson Herrington, and future Iowa State standout Luke Gutschewski, whose younger brother, Trevor, won the 2024 Junior Amateur.

“A lot of blind confidence,” said Wotnosky. “When you qualify at 12, that was kind of the peak for me. I didn’t have a lot [of past results] to back it up. When I look back, the qualifier is probably … the biggest round I’ve played in my junior career because when you do that, it gives you so much confidence.

“It’s something I think about now and then. If I’m ever lacking confidence or feel like things aren’t going well [with my game], I can always go back to the blind confidence [I had] when I was 11 or 12 years old. There was a certain innocence. There’s no scar tissue. It’s nice to think about and lean back onto that kind of mindset of just freewheeling it.”

Of the four 12-year-olds who have qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur in the last 40 years, which includes future PGA Tour winner Kevin Na, Wotnosky is the lone competitor to break 150 in stroke play. The youngest player to make match play remains Oregon native and current University of Oklahoma head coach Jonathan Moore (13 years, 8 months).

Considering Wotnosky’s journey in golf, this shouldn’t come as a major surprise. From the time he was born, he was indoctrinated into the game, thanks to big sister Haeley, nine years his senior, and brother, Grayson, who is eight years older. Both became accomplished players good enough to earn scholarships to play at the University of Virginia. Haeley qualified for three U.S. Girls’ Juniors and a U.S. Women’s Amateur but gave up competitive golf after graduating from UVA.

Grayson, who works for Serengeti Asset Management in West Palm Beach, Fla., also no longer plays competitively, but competed in the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Pinehurst No. 2 with future PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia. 

Both siblings challenged and inspired Davis from the moment he competed in his first tournament at age 3.

“I grew up watching them play in junior events,” said Davis. “[Grayson] pushes me harder than I push myself sometimes, which is a good thing. That’s what big brothers are for.”

It was a trip that Grayson made down to Sea Island, Ga., to visit noted instructor Todd Anderson that led a then-11-year-old Davis to beg for his own lessons from one of the world’s most renowned teachers. Davis wasn’t sure if Anderson, who has worked with such stars as Brandt Snedeker, Davis Love III and Billy Horschel, would give this fledgling junior a look. But he agreed, and it has made a major difference in Wotnosky’s game, not just physically but mentally.

Now based out of the PGA Tour’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Anderson has helped Wotnosky understand his golf game from a mental perspective.

“It’s a lot more talking than physical swing stuff,” said Davis. “We talk about what I’m thinking and how to approach a golf shot and how to hit that shot, and how to marry those things together.”

Whatever knowledge Anderson instilled in Wotnosky, it’s working quite well. Two years ago, he went to a Korn Ferry Tour qualifier for the Club Car Championship, in Savannah, Ga., and shot 64 without the benefit of a practice round and about four hours of sleep. Is there a pattern here?

Last summer, he registered his biggest win to date, nabbing the North & South Junior at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, shooting a final-round 66 on Course No. 2. It came after he lost a playoff at the North Carolina Junior, which would have earned him a spot in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest.

Nevertheless, those results had college recruiters increasing their efforts to land the talented home-schooled Wotnosky, a member of the U.S. National Development Program’s Team North Carolina. It would have been easy for Davis to follow his older siblings to Virginia, but he chose a different path.

With several top Division I programs offering scholarships, he recently committed to current NCAA champion Auburn University. Davis said it was one of the most gut-wrenching processes he’s ever endured. He had a long discussion with Grayson who understood his brother’s choice.

“When you are looking at all the different schools, you want to see how different players develop,” said Wotnosky on why he landed on Auburn. “Obviously, Jackson [Koivun] from North Carolina (Chapel Hill) is a big name. The progression he made [at Auburn] was incredible. Just talking to the coaches and everything, they’re unbelievable at progressing players. When you see a player like [Koivun] who’s already so good in junior golf and they progress a lot more in college [to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®], you know they’re doing something right there. That was something I wanted to be a part of.”

With recruiting in his rearview mirror, Wotnosky has dialed back his competitive schedule. Last summer, he spent just three days in June sleeping in his own bed. He played his U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier on May 20 at Franklin Bridge Golf Club, in Tennessee, where he shot 64, the North & South Amateur (missed the match-play cut) and trying to qualify for the U.S. Amateur in Fairfield, Conn., on July 13, where he posted a 4-under 67 to earn a spot in next month’s championship at Merion Golf Club. He’s bringing good friend and Radford rising senior C.J. Peterson to serve as his caddie at Saucon Valley.

Otherwise, Wotnosky is spending more time practicing and sharpening his skills at Wakefield Plantation. By next summer, he’ll be gearing up for his freshman year at Auburn.

Once again, he’ll be the newbie trying to showcase his talent amongst hotshot veterans.

Sans the fresh face.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.