ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Seventy junior golfers from The First Tee have been selected to play in the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, an official Champions Tour event that will be held August 29-31 and televised nationally on Golf Channel.
Representing 43 chapters of The First Tee worldwide, 52 boys were selected from 90 participants through The First Tee Participant Selection process that was held at Kansas State University and Colbert Hills Golf Course, July 14-18. A second selection process took place July 23-27 at Wentworth by the Sea Country Club in Rye, NH where 18 girls qualified from 36 participants.
The selection process evaluates participants’ playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and core lessons learned through The First Tee program.
To round out the field, there will be a total of 78 junior players participating in the tournament, of which eight will be determined by exemptions through The Monterey Peninsula Foundation.
The following junior participants have been selected to play:
William Ellison The First Tee of Akron
Courtney Burris The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas
Evan Glanville The First Tee of Atlanta
Randon Holt The First Tee of Atlanta
Keller Tomassi The First Tee of Atlanta
Anthony Stewart The First Tee of Augusta
Price Ferchill The First Tee of Greater Austin
Elena Warren The First Tee of Greater Austin
Gabriel Hyde The First Tee of Greater Birmingham
Dalton Gore The First Tee of Brunswick County
Wesley Levanduski The First Tee of Central Coast
Paul Chirdon The First Tee of Cleveland
Valeria DeFex The First Tee of Dallas
Aaron Guereca The First Tee of Denver
Elizabeth Kresock The First Tee of Denver
Jack Densmore The First Tee of Detroit
Sarah Hicks The First Tee of Northwest Florida
Josh Tomlinson The First Tee of Fort Smith
Aaron Burton The First Tee of Harford County
Tezira Abe’ The First Tee of Houston/F.M. Law Park
Danielle Williams The First Tee of Houston/F.M. Law Park
Jan Jaro The First Tee of Jacksonville
Connor Rose The First Tee of Lexington
Pilar Morgan The First Tee of Lexington
Andrew Garcia The First Tee of South Los Angeles
Brett Silvernail The First Tee of South Los Angeles
Andre Dews The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Xander McDonald-Smith The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Ryan Porter The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Paul Toohey The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Clifton Jordan The First Tee of Memphis
Fredrik Palmer The First Tee of Modesto
Haley Andreas The First Tee of Monterey County
Rene Kelly The First Tee of Naples/Collier
Ian Bellah The First Tee of Philadelphia
Kyle Digacobbee The First Tee of Philadelphia
Michael Guardiola The First Tee of Phoenix
Sal Guardiola The First Tee of Phoenix
Graham Clouse The First Tee of Pine Mountain
Kipper House The First Tee of Pine Mountain
Michael Swope The First Tee of Richmond & Chesterfield
Viviana Perez The First Tee of Richmond & Chesterfield
Parker Davis The First Tee of Roanoke Valley
John Catlin The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Ryan Irish The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Andrew Roberts The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Austin Roberts The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Nicholas Schafer The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Brandon Urbano The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Beau Zastrow The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Jacqueline Williams The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Hannah Martin The First Tee of Salina
Daniel Ortega The First Tee of San Antonio
Sara Diaz The First Tee of San Antonio
Kenneth Chhoevn The First Tee of San Diego
Wally Gonzalez The First Tee of San Diego
Roberto Rosas The First Tee of San Diego
Ryan Rankin The First Tee of San Jose
Eric Muslawski The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee
Ericka Schneider The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee
Louis Reisman The First Tee of Savannah
Saraswati Oka The First Tee of Singapore
Gabriel Bell The First Tee of St. Johns County
AJ Newell The First Tee of Tampa Bay
Tyler Thomas The First Tee of the Triangle
Travis Rowney The First Tee of The Tri-Valley
Kortnie Maxoutopoulis The First Tee of The Tri-Valley
Brad Kershaw The First Tee of Tulsa
Brandon McDade The First Tee of Tulsa
Alex Hernandez The First Tee of Valparaiso
To learn more about the fifth-annual Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, visit www.thefirsttee.org orwww.thefirstteeopen.com.
About The First Tee
The First Tee (www.thefirsttee.org) is an initiative of the World Golf Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in St. Augustine, Fla. at World Golf Village, home of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Its mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has introduced the game of golf and its values to more than 2.2 million participants and students in 48 states and four international locations – Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore. Former President George Bush serves as honorary chairman.
As Founding Corporate Partner of The First Tee, Shell Oil Company has provided financial resources to support the development of this charitable youth initiative aimed at promoting character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Because of Shell’s initial contribution, The First Tee has garnered the support of hundreds of corporations and organizations that have provided financial or promotional support to The First Tee and its Chapters.
About the Champions Tour
The Champions Tour is a division of the PGA TOUR, Inc., a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour will feature a minimum of 29 official events offering $55.5 million in prize money in 2008 and its highest average purse ever of $1.91 million. The Champions Tour operates under the umbrella of the PGA TOUR which includes the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose as an entity of the PGA TOUR is to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Mike Stevens is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Contact:
Nancy Seely
904/798-3155
nseely@trsg.net
