UCLA Men’s Golf Announces Signing Class
LOS ANGELES – UCLA men's golf head coach Derek Freeman has announced his final, three-player signing class, as Kyle An (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel HS), Lincoln Melcher (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS) and Matthew Yamin (New York, N.Y./Miami Country Day School) have all signed their National Letters of Intent.
An, the Bruins' highest-ranked golfer the signing class at No. 40 in the Rolex American Junior Golf Association rankings, was named to the 2021 AJGA Rolex Junior All-American Honorable Mention team after recording four Top 10 finishes and one finish just outside at 11th in four of his last six competitions. An won two tournament titles in 2021 at the Toyota Tour Cup in February and at the Ping An Bank Open Championship with a 7-under 209 performance (71-71-67) in August. An posted a runner-up, 7-under 208 finish at the Inland Empire Amateur Championship with two sub-70 rounds, including a 6-under 66 on day two. In his most recent action at The PING Invitational in October, An tied for ninth (74-79-76). An placed fifth at two tournaments in July with two under-par rounds at the AJGA Junior at Ruby Hill (68-75-70) and two sub-70 performances at the AJGA Junior at Palouse Ridge (69-72-69).
Melcher, a former Disney child actor and singer, has won two titles as a junior the past two years at the 2021 Toyota Tour Cup at Industry Hill Golf Club with a 66 in round two and at the Callaway Junior Golf Championship in August 2020, overcoming a four-stroke deficit with a 66 in the final round at the Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe. At one point during Melcher's junior year, he was ranked first for both the Class of 2022 and the state of California on Junior Golf Scoreboard — and sixth worldwide. Melcher recorded three other Top 10 finishes in 2020 at the Corey Pavin Invitational (2nd, 77-67), the Toyota Tour Cup at Las Posas (T-5th, 67-72) and the 6th Annual SoCal Junio Amateur (T-6th, 70-73). Melcher is a four-time winner on SCPGA Junior Golf's highly-competitive Toyota Tour, whose alumni include Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Matt Wolff, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. He was awarded the tour's 2020 "All Southern California Team Award" for exceptional play at the national level, and represented Southern California in the 2021 Junior America's Cup. In 2019, at age 15, he was one of the youngest players to compete in the 119th US Amateur at Pinehurst. In 2020, Melcher took second in the Se Ri Pak Desert Junior at Mission Hills Country Club. That same year, he placed T12 in the Monday Qualifier for the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open, firing a 3-under 69 at Bear Creek Golf Course in Murietta, Calif.
Yamin competed in seven tournaments in 2021 and recorded two Top 20 finishes. Most recently, Yamin tied for 10th at the Under Armour Alison Lee Championship in August with an even-par round of 72 and three-under 69 to open the tournament. Yamin tied for 12th at the Sung Hyun Park Junior Championship in April with a 2-under 70 in round two and would place tied for 22nd late that month at the AJGA Junior Championship. In high school competition for Miami Country Day School, Yamin shot a 70 at the Flordia District 1A Championships at Miami Shores Country Club in 2021 and shot a 69 at the Championships held on the Plantation Preserve Golf Club in 2020. Yamin placed in the Top 20 three times the year previous in 2020, including a seventh-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Junior Invitational in Match (73-71-73). Yamin's highest placing game at The First Tee of Greater Baltimore Junior Championship in 2019 with a second-place spot on the podium (74-72-69).