BUFORD, Ga. – Seckinger High School will host a new and unique charity golf event, the Jaguar Turkey Shootout (www.skggolf.com), on November 23, 2026, at renowned TPC Sugarloaf in nearby Duluth, GA. The event, being planned by Perfect Golf Event, is slated to raise money for the new agronomy program at Seckinger, which hopes to construct a golf practice area on campus.
Craig Begalle and Jacob Medders, the Seckinger golf coaches and the leads on the agronomy program, hope that funds will allow for the on-campus practice facility to be built, bring more focus to the golf program and kickstart a new agronomy program that would be introduced into the AI curriculum. The proposed golf short game area will allow the team to practice without leaving the campus and provide a versatile space for PE classes and community events to introduce golf to elementary and middle school students. Begalle’s golf teams were having difficulty securing practice time at area courses and thought that building a short-game area with a combination of grass and artificial surface in an approximate 50-yard by 50-yard space would be a worthwhile project.
The school is located just 17 miles from TPC Sugarloaf, a Greg Norman-designed 27-hole facility that hosted a PGA Tour event from 1997-2008 and since 2013 has held the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Championship each May. The course was World Golf Hall of Famer Norman’s first United States design when it opened in 1997.
Additionally, Perfect Golf Event and Seckinger Golf are working with The Pantry at Hamilton Mill, a local food bank, to provide a turkey for each tournament participant, therefore the Jaguar Turkey Shootout name. Opportunities for donations and support to The Pantry at Hamilton Mill will be an additional focus for the tournament. The tournament date is the Monday of Thanksgiving week.
Seckinger opened as the nation’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) themed educational institution in 2022, using tools like Gemini, Copilot and MagicSchool AI to weave artificial intelligence into every class, including AI history and ethics as well as a capstone focused on designing real-world AI solutions.
The future of the SKG Agronomy Club is dedicated to gaining student interest in plant science, turfgrass management and sustainable landscape design. Through hands-on projects, environmental AI, industry partnerships and golf course facility planning, students will be prepared for careers in agronomy, environmental science, landscape architecture and sports turf management. The University of Georgia, located 40 miles away in Athens, Ga., has one of the nation’s foremost agronomy and landscape architecture programs. Activities will include guest speakers in the industry, field trips to local golf courses, engineering and design challenges and much more. An overarching goal is to provide a feeder high school program for agronomy and landscape architecture institutions of higher learning.
“The Jaguar Turkey Shootout connects our students, faculty, and broader community to expand on-campus opportunities at Seckinger,” Begalle said. “The SKG Agronomy project serves a dual purpose: It gives our golf team and those interested in learning a dedicated space to practice and provides a hands-on lab for our new agronomy program to study turf management and environmental impact. Seckinger High School leads the country as the first public high school designed around a K-12 AI-themed curriculum. As an AI-themed school, this outdoor facility seamlessly integrates into our curriculum—enhancing courses in environmental science, foundations of artificial intelligence, biology and engineering. With the growth of our golf program over the past five years and our region’s need for young professionals entering the agronomy field, this initiative opens exciting new post-graduation career paths for our students.”
The tournament will include many activities. A silent auction is scheduled to open two weeks before tournament week. Several hole-in-one prizes include box tickets to the Atlanta Falcons’ 2027 home opener, season tickets to the Georgia Bulldogs’ 2027 season and 2027 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four tickets. A $1 Million Shootout will be held at the end of the round for the winning team and raffle winners. The goal is to raise enough funds for the agronomy program to launch and start construction for the short-game area. For more information about participation and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.skggolf.com.
About Perfect Golf Event
Perfect Golf Event (PGE) is organized to help golf courses and golf event organizers have a more successful golf event and raise more money through technology, innovative formats and exciting fundraising contests. PGE assists groups looking to organize, manage, and market a fundraising golf event, beginning with a free service and scaling up. Organizations benefit in three main areas: attracting more players, selling more sponsorships and ultimately raising more money. For golf courses, the benefits expand to generating more event revenue through the PGE partnership program. For more information, visit perfectgolfevent.com.
Media Contact:
Alex Augustus
Director of Sales – Tournament Committee Chair
Perfect Golf Event
alex@perfectgolfevent.com
(877) 799-6031, ext. 103
perfectgolfevent.com
