Matt Snodgrass Las Vegas Junior named in honor of late Matt Snodgrass
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Stallion Mountain Golf Club in Las Vegas was selected to host the American Junior Golf Association’s Las Vegas event, the Matt Snodgrass Las Vegas Junior. This event, which boasts some of the top juniors in the country, will return to the Las Vegas area for the 23rd time in the Association’s 34-year history. The Matt Snodgrass Las Vegas Junior, will play host to 78 junior golfers, ages 12-18, for a 54-hole stoke play event, June 11-14.
This year’s event has been named in honor of Matt Snodgrass, a young Las Vegas golfer who was diagnosed with a malignant, recurrent brain tumor at the age of nine. Snodgrass endured a 13-year battle with the disease before passing in July 2011. Snodgrass had a passion for the game of golf, playing on a regular basis to stay in good health and be mentally motivated to keep fighting.
“Part of the AJGA’s mindset at each tournament is to give back to local organizations,” said Sean Riley, AJGA West Regional Director. “We are excited to be supporting the Matt Snodgrass Foundation through our fundraising efforts and are honored to have the storied Las Vegas-area tournament named in honor of such an inspirational individual.”
In 2008, the Matt Snodgrass Foundation was created by Matt and family members to provide emotional support and professional counseling to childhood cancer survivors during their transition to adulthood as well as the newly diagnosed ages 18-30. The Foundation also provides scholarship dollars to young adults whose lives have been affected by cancer to assist with school-related costs.
Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament
In conjunction with the tournament, the AJGA will host a Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament, benefitting the Matt Snodgrass Foundation, Monday, June 11 at 8 a.m.
An excellent opportunity to entertain clients, reward employees or enjoy a tournament round with friends, the Junior-Am allows amateurs to play alongside the future stars of the game. Tiger Woods, Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel are just a few of the thousands of talented players who participated in AJGA Junior-Ams when they were teenagers. To participate, please contact Sean Riley at sriley@ajga.org.
Tournament rounds will follow with tee times running from 6:30 – 8:30 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees, June 12-14 at Stallion Mountain Golf Club.
Past Champions
The AJGA’s Las Vegas tournament has produced a notable list of past champions over the years. LPGA star Cristie Kerr picked up a victory in 1995 en route to Rolex Junior Player of the Year accolades while two-time Player of the Year Kellee Booth won in 1994. On the boy’s side, local standout and UNLV commit AJ McInerney of Henderson, Nev., won in 2009. Other past champions of the event include Chez Reavie, Chris Riley and Trip Kuehne, to name a few.
“We know this event has a decorated history in Las Vegas…in fact, if you look into the event history, Tiger Woods even competed in 1991,” stated David Raper, General Manager of Stallion Mountain Golf Club “We certainly are excited to have some of the finest young golfers compete at Stallion Mountain Golf Club and playing host to what often times become the future professionals we’ll see someday on the PGA and LPGA Tours,” added Raper.
About Stallion Mountain Golf Club
Just seven miles the fabulous Las Vegas Strip, Stallion Mountain Golf Club boasts a 7,351-yard layout that was designed former PGA Tour professional, Jim Colbert and golf course architect Jeff Brauer. Stallion Mountain Golf Club has a decorated history in the Las Vegas golf scape as a host venue for Golf Channel’s Big Break II and also past of the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Classic and the PGA Tour’s Las Vegas event (at the time known as the Las Vegas Invitational). Stallion Mountain’s luxurious 38,000 square foot clubhouse promises to be Las Vegas’ premier special event venue that offers numerous event venues and facilities for weddings, banquets, meetings and other special gatherings. The club’s banquet facilities include a full service restaurant and grill as well as flexible banquet facilities that overlook the golf course and surrounding mountains. Now under new ownership, Stallion Mountain Golf Club is professionally managed by Scottsdale-based OB Sports Golf Management. For more information on Stallion Mountain Golf Club call (702) 547-6250, visit www.stallionmountaingolf.com, become a fan of Stallion Mountain on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stallionmountain or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/smgclasvegas
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 provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,500 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 40 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.
Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 500 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Stewart Cink, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park and Morgan Pressel.
Contact:
Kristi Bradley, AJGA
(678) 425-1786
Kris Strauss, OB Sports
(480) 518-5003
