Longbow Golf Club celebrates 10 years as tournament host
BRASELTON, Ga. – The 15th annual Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club will return to Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz., as the best junior golfers from Arizona and around the world compete over Easter weekend, March 28-31. The 144-player field features juniors from 18 states, Canada and Mexico, with 17 players representing Arizona. The field is one of the strongest on the AJGA schedule, with 20 Rolex Junior All-Americans and a total of 53 players who have committed to play at the collegiate level.
This year marks the 10th consecutive year Longbow Golf Club has hosted the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic. The event has won several AJGA tournament awards including 2010 Tournament of the Year,
2007 Golf Professional of the Year to Jay Larscheid and the 2005 Media Award.
Tournament History
Historically, the event garners one of the strongest fields in junior golf, as evidenced by its impressive list of past champions. In addition to Hunter Mahan, LPGA standout Paula Creamer was victorious in 2003 and 2004. Local players who have found themselves in the winner’s circle are Scottsdale-natives Amanda Blumenherst (2002), Drew Kittleson (2005) and Philip Francis (2006).
In 2012, Beau Hossler of Mission Viejo, Calif., and Lindsey Weaver of Scottsdale, Ariz., earned titles in record-setting fashion. Hossler carded a tournament-record total of 15-under-par 198 for his fourth AJGA career victory. Weaver carded a final-round 7-under-par 64 to break the women’s course record. The Girls’ final came down to a one-hole sudden-death playoff with Weaver defeating Amy Lee of Brea, Calif. Lee returns to Longbow in 2013.
Local players highlight the field
Seventeen Arizona natives will compete, including Phoenix’s Nicolo Galletti, who is the highest-ranked local player in the field and an Arizona State commit. Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Ariz., is the highest-ranked Arizona girl in the field. Other Phoenix-area players include Christopher Petefish, Sam Triplett and Blake Cannon of Scottsdale, Chad Hardy of Mesa, and Peter Kyo Won Koo, Mike McGilton and Jino Sohn of Chandler.
Tournament Schedule
The tournament practice round will be held Thursday, March 28, while tournament rounds will be played Friday, March 29, through Sunday, March 31. First and second round tee times will run from 7 – 8:39 a.m. (first wave) and 11:30 a.m. – 1:09 p.m. (second wave) off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees at Longbow Golf Club. After the second round, the tournament field will be cut to a minimum of 50 percent of both boys and girls fields, and final round tee times will run 7 – 8:57 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees at Longbow Golf Club.
Guests are welcome to attend and admission is free. For more information, visit ajga.org.
TaylorMade-adidas Golf Qualifier
This year’s tournament field will be filled through the AJGA’s Performance Based Entry system. Numerous spots will be held for those participating in a TaylorMade-adidas Golf Qualifier taking place at Longbow Golf Club Wednesday, March 27.
AJGA Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament
During the tournament week, some of the top juniors who will be participating in the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club will also take part in the Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament Thursday, March 28. The Junior-Am will be a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start at Longbow Golf Club.
Supporting golf at the grassroots level, Junior-Ams allow the AJGA to make contributions to local junior golf charities. In 2013, the proceeds of the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club Junior-Am will benefit the First Tee of Phoenix, the Junior Golf Association of Arizona, the Southwest Section PGA Junior Golf and the AJGA ACE Grant.
AJGA Junior-Ams are excellent opportunities to entertain clients, reward employees or enjoy a tournament round with friends. To sponsor a team or for more information, contact Longbow Golf Club General Manager Jay Larscheid at (480) 807-5400.
About Heather Farr
Heather Farr started playing golf at age eight, and once she started, no one could stop her. At age 13, Farr won her first of four Arizona Women’s Amateur titles. She then went on to garner wins at the second-annual Polo Golf Junior Classic in 1979 and the 1982 Rolex Tournament of Champions.
As a junior, she captured a total of 12 national junior tournament crowns and finished runner-up six times by age 17. To recognize Farr’s accomplishments on the course, she earned Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors in 1980 and 1982 and was named a Rolex Junior All-American five times.
As an amateur, she was the co-medalist at the 1981 Women’s Amateur and the low amateur at the U.S. Women’s Open in 1983.
After her junior career, she continued to shine, becoming a two-time All-American and three-time All-Conference performer at Arizona State University.
Other prestigious honors listed on Farr’s resume include being a member of the 1984 Curtis Cup and World Amateur Teams. She also qualified for the LPGA Tour in October 1985 at the age of 20, becoming the youngest to do so at the time.
As a professional in 1988, Farr tied for third at the season-opening Mazda Classic and collected six top-10 finishes. In 1989, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 24. Farr was practicing for a comeback on Tour in the fall of 1990 when she discovered a recurrence of cancer in the back of her skull and on her vertebrae.
Throughout her four-and-a-half-year battle with the disease, she endured multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant. Heather lost her battle on November 20, 1993.
About Longbow Golf Club
Longbow Golf Club is a nationally recognized daily fee golf course located in Mesa, Ariz., within Longbow Business Park. Often described as the “Essence of Arizona Golf,” Longbow Golf Club serves up a desert golf experience that is firmly tied to the traditions of the game. Designed by Ken Kavanaugh, Longbow is consistently rated top notch by leading golf writers and publications, and was honored as one of the Top 100 Resort Courses in the Country, Golfweek magazine 2009; Top 20 Best Public Access Courses in Arizona, Golfweek magazine 2010; Top 25 Courses in Arizona, Golf Magazine 2010 and has received numerous other awards and top rankings. Longbow Golf Club is Another Daedalus Development. To learn more about Longbow Golf Club or to book a tee time, call 480.807.5400 or visit www.longbowgolf.com.
About OB Sports Golf Management
Longbow Golf Club is professionally managed by OB Sports Golf Management, a diversified, golf-oriented company with a long history of success. OB Sports manages premier golf courses and country clubs throughout the United States. Known for its comprehensive and personalized services since 1972, OB Sports has become widely acclaimed as the leader in boutique-style golf course management.
For more information about OB Sports Golf Management, visit www.obsports.com, call (480) 948-1300, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/obsportsgolf, become a Fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/obsports or check out the OB Sports You Tube Channel at www.youtube.com/obsportsgolf.
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 6,000 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 50 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 Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Stacy Lewis, Vicky Hurst, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Britney Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Heather Farr.
For more information, please contact Amanda Herrington (aherrington@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1787 or visit ajga.org.
Contact:
Amanda Herrington, AJGA
(678) 425-1787
