Golf Channel announced the full field of teens with help from PGA TOUR player Joel Dahmen and PGA TOUR Champions players Tim O’Neal, Rod Pampling and defending PURE Insurance Championship winner Steve Flesch.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – First Tee and PGA TOUR Champions announced today the 80 FirstTee participants selected to play in the 2023 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee. Celebrating its 20thanniversary, the event will bring teens from First Tee chapters to Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Coursefor the PGA TOUR Champions tournament, Sept. 19-24. The annual event, hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, is televised internationally on Golf Channel.
This unique event pairs each First Tee participant with a PGA TOUR Champions player and amateurs from the business world. Ranging in ages from 14 to 18, the First Tee players compete for the pro-junior team title. The teens represent 44 First Tee chapters from across the country and for the third year in a row, a participant from First Tee — Morocco will be in the field. Participants were selected by a national panel of judges based on their personal growth and development through First Tee’s programs, as well as their playing ability. On average, participants have been involved with First Tee for more than seven years, have a 3.95 GPA and have recorded a 1.5 handicap.
“I’m so proud to continue our involvement with this incredible event,” said Martin Leitch, CEO of PURE Insurance. “Beingselected to play in this tournament speaks volumes about the character of each of these 80 participants and I’m soexcited to see this unforgettable experience play out for them.”
The full junior field was revealed live on Golf Channel’s “Golf Today,” featuring surprises that the network recorded at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. Additionally, several players helped surprise select participants leading up to the full field announcement, including PGA TOUR player JoelDahmen, and PGA TOUR Champions players Tim O’Neal, Rod Pampling and the tournament’s defending champion, Steve Flesch.
Each year two juniors receive exemptions into the PURE Insurance Championship based on their play at the First Tee National Championship, which took place at Stanford Golf Course in July. This year, Alaythia Hinds of First Tee – Greater Sacramento, who finished second among the girls, and Sean Kwok of First Tee – Tri Valley, who finished in a fourth-place tie, earned those spots
“Earning the opportunity to play at the PURE Insurance Championship is a goal for many First Tee participants,” said Greg McLaughlin, First Tee CEO. “Congratulations to the 80 teens who will represent First Tee at this year’s event. This marks the 20th anniversary of the tournament, and we are grateful to our partners at PURE Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel for their ongoing commitment to First Tee. Our alumni who have played at the PURE Insurance Championship have told us it is a life-changingopportunity, and we are so excited for the 80 First Tee teens who will get to experience it in September.”
This year’s field of PGA TOUR Champions players will feature legends including Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh,Steve Stricker, Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Jim Furyk, as well as three-time PURE Insurance Championship winner Kirk Triplett and Steve Flesch, who will defend his title. Clint Eastwood serves as chairman of the PURE Insurance Championship.
Play will be conducted on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course on Friday and Saturday. The final roundwill be contested solely at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Sunday, where 24 First Tee juniors will compete based on their 36-holeperformance. The tournament will crown one male and one female First Tee Junior Champion on Sunday.
More than 1,000 teens from First Tee have played in the PURE Insurance Championship, experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet, play and be mentored by PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs.
First Tee is a youth development organization that teaches life skills and helps kids and teens build their strength of character through golf. The PURE Insurance Championship is one of several national opportunities provided by First TeeHeadquarters to encourage and motivate participants as they progress through the program and toward higher educationopportunities.
The junior field for 2023 PURE Insurance Championship can be viewed here.
For more information on the tournament, visit PUREInsuranceChampionship.com. To learn more about First Tee, visit FirstTee.org.
About PGA TOUR First Tee Foundation (“First Tee”)
First Tee (www.firsttee.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth development organization that is supported by the PGA TOUR. Its mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character and instill life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Since 1997, First Tee has expanded to reach millions of kids annually through its network of 150 chapters, 11,000 schools and 1,900 youth centers. Headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA, programs are delivered in all 50 United States and select international locations. President George W. Bush serves as Honorary Chair.
About Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Surpassing $200 million in total donations, Monterey Peninsula Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that donates funds from theproceeds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA TOUR and the PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee at Pebble Beach,a PGA TOUR Champions tournament. The Foundation focuses on improving the quality of life in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San BenitoCounties.
www.montereypeninsulafoundation.org www.attpbgolf.comwww.pureinsurancechampionship.org
About PURE Insurance
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) Insurance is a property and casualty insurance company designed exclusively forsuccessful, responsible families. We opened for business more than 15 years ago with the goal of offering something different in the insurance space: a company focused on doing what’s right for our membership (policyholders), one that promotes transparency and alignment ofinterests, and delivers greater value. Today, after growing at least 15% in each year since we began, we are the most awarded insurer in ourcategory, offer coverage in all 50 states that includes high value homeowners, automobile, collections, watercraft, personal excess liability, fraud &cyber and flood to a membership of more than 100,000 individuals and families.
Pureinsurance.com | 888.813.7873
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour and on Instagram @pgatourchampions.
All events are televised in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner ofPGA TOUR Champions. Tournament programming is available via 25+ TV linear partners in 145+ countries and territories, with 25 channels carrying long-form and/or highlights coverage, and 200+ hours of live coverage distributed in 135+ countries and territories. Programming isalso available via the OTT platform GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR in every market outside of the United States, excluding China and Korea, with live coverage distributed in 130+ countries and territories.
