Junior-Am slated for July 7 at Champions Retreat GC
BRASELTON, Ga. – Preceding the American Junior Golf Association’s Club Car Junior hosted by Charles Howell III, Club Car and the AJGA will conduct a Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament July 7 at Champions Retreat in Evans, Ga. The proceeds will benefit The First Tee of Augusta and other local youth golf programs as well as the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, the two organizations announced Wednesday.
Similar to a PGA TOUR Pro-Am, the Junior-Am will group four amateur junior golf supporters with one of the talented players scheduled to compete in The Club Car Junior hosted by Charles Howell III. Charles Howell III along with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Grace Park were just a few of the thousands of AJGA players who participated in Junior-Ams when they were teenagers.
Over the past decade, AJGA Junior-Ams have raised more than $1 million for junior programs in communities across the United States.
The Club Car Junior continues a history of support for the community and golf from the Augusta-based manufacturer of golf cars and other small vehicles. In addition to its longstanding assistance to The First Tee, Club Car and its employees support the American Cancer Society and the United Way of the CSRA among numerous other local organizations. Club Car also supports the golf industry at a national level as a partner of the National Golf Course Owners Association in the U.S. and Canada, the European Golf Course Owners Association, the Club Managers Association of America, the Ryder Cup, the PGA European Tour, the PGA Tournament Players Clubs, the PGA Professional National Championship, and the Executive Women’s Golf Association.
“We believe golf can be a catalyst for great things in a young person’s life, and we’re excited to support The First Tee and other local golf programs with the help of the AJGA and Charles Howell,” said Club Car Chairman Phil Tralies.
The First Tee of Augusta is one chapter of a national/international, nonprofit youth initiative, The First Tee, created in 1997, by the World Golf Foundation to provide young people of all ethnic and economic backgrounds an opportunity to develop, through golf and character education, life-enhancing values such as honesty, integrity and sportsmanship. By engaging young people in a combination of life skills, leadership and golf activities, they are exposed to positive traits that will help them achieve success in life. In the process, participants become valuable assets to their community.
“The fundraising efforts made by the organizers of The Club Car Junior will help keep golf affordable for the children in our program,” The First Tee of Augusta Executive Director Jill Brown said. “Through this event, Club Car continues to be a faithful sponsor of our chapter.”
The First Tee of Augusta opened in 2001, on a 40-acre site west of downtown Augusta near Daniel Field Airport and features six holes, a driving range, chipping area, putting green and clubhouse/teaching facility. On an annual basis, The First Tee of Augusta enrolls approximately 700 students in its on-site program and visits more than 2,500 students through its School Golf Program.
In addition to local junior golf, the tournament also will benefit the AJGA ACE Grant program, which gives top-flight golf opportunities to young golfers regardless of financial resources. This program helps to fulfill the AJGA’s mission of developing young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. Since the program’s inception in 2003, the AJGA has awarded 304 ACE Grants to 194 juniors totaling more than $1.1 million.
“It is critically important that the AJGA help give young golfers who may have the talent, but not the means, the opportunity to compete on a national stage to gain exposure for a college golf scholarship,” said AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin. “I’m excited to partner with Club Car to help grow The First Tee of Augusta and the AJGA’s ACE Grant.”
In 2007 alone, the AJGA offered financial assistance to 77 juniors, helping them to compete in 240 tournaments and 87 qualifiers. The total amount granted was $288,780.
About the AJGA
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 30 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
About Club Car
Club Car provides fleet, turf, hospitality and financing solutions for golf, agricultural, recreational and industrial markets. For more information on Club Car, go to www.clubcar.com. Based in Augusta, Ga., Club Car is part of the Industrial Technologies sector of Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (NYSE:IR), a diversified industrial company. For more information, go to www.ingersollrand.com.
For more information, please contact Steve Ethun (sethun@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1786 or visit the AJGA Web site at ajga.org. For information about supporting the event’s Junior-Am, please contact Fred Palmer at Club Car at (706) 868-3803.
Bill Bryant
Bryant Marketing Communications
2910 Gleneagles Pointe
Alpharetta, Georgia 30005
678-366-3232
bbryant@bryantmarcomm.com
www.bryantmarcomm.com
Contact:
Steve Ethun, AJGA
(678) 425-1786
Bill Bryant, Club Car
(678) 366-3232
