ALAMEDA – Aston Lim loves Twix candy bars, counts Drake as his favorite artist, and has a borderline obsession with Instagram.
Totally normal things for a 15-year-old.
But Lim isn’t a typical teen.
The sophomore from Union City is a rising star in the golf world, with aspirations – perhaps realistic ones – of someday playing professionally.
Last week, Lim’s potential was on display as the youngest participant to compete in the U.S. Men’s Amateur championship at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, not that he was worried about his age.
“It doesn’t matter how young you are,” Lim told the Bay Area News Group. “You’re still able to compete at that high level.”
Though there have been a number of teens – some as young as 13 – to participate in the U.S. Amateur over the years, few have had the kind of success Lim had at the Olympic Club. He placed 35th out of a whopping 312 players in stroke play, advancing to the match-play portion of the competition. Lim lost to 20-year-old Auburn University golfer Billy Davis in the round of 64.
Having played a practice round with the top two seeds – San Jose’s 20-year-old Jackson Koivun and Virginia’s 22-year-old Benjamin James, two titans of the college circuit – the scrawny teenager set realistic expectations for himself once the event began.
“I didn’t really expect too much,” Lim said with a shrug after practicing putts this week at Corica Golf Course in Alameda. “I was just there, taking it shot by shot, and having fun.”
Golfer Aston Lim, 15, of Union City, is photographed at Corica Park Golf Course in Alameda, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. Lim was recently the youngest person to participate in the prestigious U.S Amateur Golf Championship. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Lim credited his highly-supportive family for giving him a boost to advance beyond stroke play. Cheering him on was his father Adrian and mother Melanie. His sister Alyssa, whom Lim calls his favorite golfer in the world, was his caddy.
An accomplished golfer herself, she took time out of her busy schedule to carry the bag.
“She just moved into Carnegie Mellon a few days ago,” Lim said, pointing out the school where Alyssa is a freshman and will compete on the golf team.
As their father remembered, there was quite a bit of banter between the siblings during the Amateur.
“They were talking all the time,” Adrian said.
Before becoming a force on the course, Lim was a wide-eyed five-year-old who wanted to play the same sport as his big sister.
“We would always compete a lot,” Lim said. “I’d end up doing pushups or having to do chores for her after I lost, but it was definitely fun.”
As Lim grew older, his love of the sport only continued to blossom.
He began to participate in tournaments at age seven and became a prolific competitor as a preteen.
The kid watched his sister rise to captain on the boys golf team at James Logan High School, and win three consecutive North Coast Section individual titles as the lone member of the girls team.
Nelson Agregado coached Alyssa at Logan and has known the family for years. When the siblings were elementary and middle-school students, he would use candy as rewards for beating the coach in drills.
Eventually, he remembered their talent – and Aston’s sweet tooth – won out almost every time.
“They were hustling me for snacks,” Agregado said while laughing at the memory.
Lim’s time at Logan was shorter than it was sweet. After less than a year at the Union City public school, he decided to enroll in online classes in order to devote more time to golf, which included traveling to tournaments.
The move has helped his golf career take off.
“Alyssa was more academic driven, so she used golf as a backup plan,” Adrian said. “In case academics didn’t pan out, she had golf to take her into a college she wanted to go to. Aston’s goal is to be a pro, so it’s mostly golf.”
Aston is still a 4.0 student, Adrian emphasized. And the father also made it clear that neither he nor his wife are “trying to make a pro” out of their son.
“We have not had to do anything special,” Adrian said. “Everything he does is coming from him, whether it’s a tournament he wants to sign up for, or lessons or equipment. It’s all on him. So as long as he wants to do it and is happy doing it, we’ll leave him alone.“
Agregado has seen his fair share of what he called overbearing “tiger parents” in the sport. He vouched for the Lims’ character, stating they are the furthest thing from domineering.
The coach’s biggest concern is Aston – as self-motivated as any young athlete he’s ever seen – wearing himself out by working too hard.
“With the whole burnout thing, he’s got to stay mentally healthy, and physically healthy,” Agregado said. “Keeping that in mind, I think he can definitely make it (as a professional).”
Golfer Aston Lim, 15, of Union City, is photographed at Corica Park Golf Course in Alameda, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. Lim was recently the youngest person to participate in the prestigious U.S Amateur Golf Championship. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
These days, Lim spends anywhere from six to eight hours at the course in Alameda after finishing his online classes.
He devotes three hours to putting, and then the rest of his time addressing mechanical issues that cropped up during recent competitions.
Trying new shots is at the top of Lim’s favorite things to practice.
“You can do a lot of different shot shapes, play around with the spin, how far left or right the ball starts, and all that stuff,” Lim said. “You can definitely be creative with what you do.”
When he is looking for a spark, the teenager turns to social media, particularly Instagram.
There, Lim can keep up with the other top players and sees highlights from his favorite pro golfers.
He ranks Scottie Scheffler at the top of his list, considering him the gold standard while hoping to one day be his peer.
“It might be a little while, but hopefully, eventually, I’ll play alongside him,” Lim said.
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When he’s not refreshing the popular social media app, he stays in touch with his friends – who are mostly golfers – through an active text group chat that he describes as “really supportive.”
Lim’s buddies peppered him with plaudits after his stellar showing at the Olympic Club, something he has already started to move past as he prepares for his next competition.
But before Lim completely shifted his focus to this weekend’s tournament in Bella Vista, Arkansas, he allowed himself to ponder the significance of his U.S. Amateur performance.
“It let me know that I’m not that far off,” Lim said. “I’m pretty close, and I’m good enough to be able to compete with all these great amateurs and big names in the field.”
At the rate he is going, Lim could be hoisting the Amateur trophy some time soon.
Golfer Aston Lim, 15, of Union City, is photographed at Corica Park Golf Course in Alameda, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. Lim was recently the youngest person to participate in the prestigious U.S Amateur Golf Championship. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)