Eighty-one juniors from The First Tee selected to compete in PURE Insurance Championship on PGA TOUR Champions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 5, 2017
CONTACTS:
Sara Henika, The First Tee, [email protected], 904-940-4341
Stewart Moore, PGA TOUR, [email protected], 904-540-2765
AUGUSTINE, Fla. – PGA TOUR Champions and The First Tee announced today the 81 junior golfers selected to play in the 2017 PURE Insurance Championship. The annual event, hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, will be held September 19-24 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif., and will be televised internationally on Golf Channel.
During Sunday’s final round of the 2016 tournament, the PGA TOUR and Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) announced an agreement making the policyholder-owned property & casualty insurer for high net worth families the title sponsor of the longstanding event, which dates back to 2004.
“We have been anticipating this day since PURE was announced as title sponsor of this prestigious event,” said Ross Buchmueller, President & CEO of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies. “This tournament has the ability to impact the lives of youth throughout The First Tee, and we are proud to serve an integral part in the PGA TOUR’s mission of creating a strong community footprint while also helping to grow this great game.”
The 81 participants, ages 14 to 18, were selected by a national panel of judges based on playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and core values learned through their involvement with The First Tee. The juniors will be teamed with 81 PGA TOUR Champions players and 162 amateurs as they compete for the pro-junior title.
As of June 28, players currently committed to compete in the PURE Insurance Championship include World Golf Hall of Fame members Tom Watson and Colin Montgomerie, as well as three-time tournament winner Jeff Sluman and defending champion Paul Broadhurst. Players have until Friday, September 8 to commit, with additional commitments to be announced in the coming months.
The junior field was announced this morning on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive. The show included PGA TOUR player Luke Donald, recent NCAA star Wyndham Clark, and Golf Channel hosts Matt Ginella and Lauren Thompson, with seven junior golfers receiving surprises informing them of their selection.
“We are proud of this year’s juniors selected for the PURE Insurance Championship” said Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of The First Tee. “Being selected demonstrates their understanding and application of life skills, and ability to play elite golf. We appreciate our partners—PURE Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel—and their commitment to the event which is a life-changing experience for the juniors.”
In this 14th tournament year, more than 790 participants from The First Tee chapters have benefited from the opportunity to play in the tournament by meeting and learning from PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs in the field, utilizing the leadership and life skills they have acquired at their chapters.
The First Tee is a nonprofit youth development organization with golf programs centered on building character through Nine Core Values™: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. The PURE Insurance Championship is one of 11 national opportunities provided by The First Tee home office to encourage and motivate young people as they progress through the program and toward high school graduation.
Clint Eastwood is chairman of the event. Play will be conducted on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course on Friday and Saturday, with the final round contested solely at Pebble Beach on Sunday.
For more information on the tournament, please visit PUREInsuranceChampionship.com.
To learn more about The First Tee, please visit TheFirstTee.org.
The First Tee participants selected to play in the 2017 PURE Insurance Championship:
Alphabetical by state:
| First Name: | Last Name: | Chapter: | City: | State: |
| Evan | Griffith | The First Tee of Fort Smith | Greenwood | AR |
| Brinkley | Beever | The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas | Siloam Springs | AR |
| Kaitlynn | Criswell | The First Tee of Phoenix | Mesa | AZ |
| Dalton | Marsh | The First Tee of Phoenix | Chandler | AZ |
| Edward | Anaya | The First Tee of Contra Costa | Moraga | CA |
| Jackielou | Caniete | The First Tee of Contra Costa | Antioch | CA |
| Genevieve “Skye” | Mingming | The First Tee of Contra Costa | Walnut Creek | CA |
| Caitlin | Figura | The First Tee of Fresno | Fresno | CA |
| Claire | Oetinger | The First Tee of Fresno | Oakhurst | CA |
| Lauren | Parayno | The First Tee of Fresno | Fresno | CA |
| Adrian | Chiu | The First Tee of Greater Pasadena | San Marino | CA |
| Katelyn | Harris | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Antelope | CA |
| Sienna | Lyford | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Roseville | CA |
| Ryan | Parry | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Carmichael | CA |
| Hailey | Rietz | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Rancho Cordova | CA |
| Emma | Sand | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | El Dorado Hills | CA |
| Jose | Calderon | The First Tee of Monterey County | Salinas | CA |
| Anitra | Khoth | The First Tee of San Joaquin | Stockton | CA |
| Dana | Condon | The First Tee of the Coachella Valley | Palm Desert | CA |
| Madison | Rincon | The First Tee of the Coachella Valley | Palm Desert | CA |
| Kevin | Thai | The First Tee of the East Bay | Oakland | CA |
| Annika | Borrelli | The First Tee of the Tri-Valley | Alamo | CA |
| Catherine | Phillips | The First Tee of the Tri-Valley | Danville | CA |
| Michael | Shaw | The First Tee of the Tri-Valley | Pleasanton | CA |
| Cole | Drew | The First Tee of Denver | Centenial | CO |
| Mateo | Manzanares | The First Tee of Denver | Denver | CO |
| Andrew | Maslar | The First Tee of Connecticut | Monroe | CT |
| Matthew | Ariza | The First Tee of Naples/Collier | Naples | FL |
| Sam | Nunner | The First Tee of Naples/Collier | Naples | FL |
| Tyler | Aulger | The First Tee of Northwest Florida | Pensacola | FL |
| Nicholas | Dimitroff | The First Tee of Northwest Florida | Pensacola | FL |
| Meredith | Kiernan | The First Tee of St. Petersburg | St.Petersburg | FL |
| Carter | Harwell | The First Tee of Augusta | Evans | GA |
| Kambron | Taylor | The First Tee of Augusta | Augusta | GA |
| Abdel | Raoul | The First Tee of Greater Chicago | Chicago | IL |
| Jake | Huffaker | The First Tee of Salina | Salina | KS |
| Hallie | Boles | The First Tee of Pine Mountain | Barbourville | KY |
| Braxton | Caldwell | The First Tee of Pine Mountain | Pineville | KY |
| Jared | Winiarz | The First Tee of Massachusetts | Norton | MA |
| Charles | Blount | The First Tee of Greater Baltimore | Baltimore | MD |
| Lauren | Artis | The First Tee of Greater Washington, D.C. | Upper Marlboro | MD |
| Mason | Dirlam | The First Tee of Benton Harbor | St. Joseph | MI |
| Logan | Essig | The First Tee of Benton Harbor | Stevensville | MI |
| Cailey | Rooker | The First Tee of Benton Harbor | Saint Joseph | MI |
| Spencer | Faircloth | The First Tee of Brunswick County | Shallotte | NC |
| Jayla | Rogers | The First Tee of Brunswick County | Wilmington | NC |
| Gavin | Gwaltney | The First Tee of Greater Charlotte | Charlotte | NC |
| Mara | Hirtle | The First Tee of the Sandhills | Pinehurst | NC |
| Blake | Brantley | The First Tee of the Triad | Winston-Salem | NC |
| Josh | Lendach | The First Tee of the Triangle | Raleigh | NC |
| Trey | Diehl | The First Tee of San Juan County, NM | Farmington | NM |
| Tyler | Diehl | The First Tee of San Juan County, NM | Farmington | NM |
| Tyler | Kim | The First Tee of Metropolitan New York | New York | NY |
| Jake | Roach | The First Tee of Western New York | East Aurora | NY |
| Trace | Thomas | The First Tee of Greater Miami Valley | Hamilton | OH |
| Colby | Chrismon | The First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City | Yukon | OK |
| Hayden | Meiser | The First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City | Norman | OK |
| Matthew | Popielec | The First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City | OK |
| Mikaela | Rindermann | The First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City | Norman | OK |
| Alyssa | Wilson | The First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City | Yukon | OK |
| Justin | Potwora | The First Tee of Greater Portland | Eugene | OR |
| Shelby | Shumaker | The First Tee of Pittsburgh | Verona | PA |
| Andrew | Greene | The First Tee of Aiken | Aiken | SC |
| Charlton | Hill | The First Tee of Aiken | Aiken | SC |
| Lincoln | Haymaker | The First Tee of Middle Tennessee | Nashville | TN |
| Kyle | Engelbert | The First Tee of Fort Worth | Fort Worth | TX |
| Brendan | O’Connell | The First Tee of Fort Worth | Benbrook | TX |
| Zachary | Slayton | The First Tee of Greater Austin | Austin | TX |
| Taylor | Lewallen | The First Tee of Greater Dallas | Waxahachie | TX |
| Matthew | Lewallen | The First Tee of Greater Dallas | Waxahachie | TX |
| Eunice | Bao | The First Tee of Greater Houston | Houston | TX |
| James | LaRue | The First Tee of Greater Tyler | Tyler | TX |
| Annaka | Watts | The First Tee of Greater Tyler | Tyler | TX |
| Connor | Howard | The First Tee of The Piney Woods | Hallsville | TX |
| Dalton | Northcutt | The First Tee of The Piney Woods | Longview | TX |
| Alisa | Caraballo | The First Tee of Roanoke Valley | Troutville | VA |
| John Hatcher | Ferguson | The First Tee of Roanoke Valley | Rocky Mount | VA |
| Grace | Huffman | The First Tee of Roanoke Valley | Fairfield | VA |
| Haley | Wong | The First Tee of Greater Seattle | Seattle | WA |
| Bradley | Wong | The First Tee of Greater Seattle | Seattle | WA |
| Drew | Halili | The First Tee of South Puget Sound | Port Orchard | WA |
About Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Monterey Peninsula Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization which donates funds from the proceeds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA TOUR and the PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee, a PGA TOUR Champions tournament. The Foundation focuses on improving the quality of life in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties.
www.attpbgolf.com
www.pureinsurancechampionship.com
About PURE
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) is a policyholder-owned insurer dedicated to creating an exceptional experience for responsible high net worth individuals and families. PURE provides best-in-class, customizable coverage throughout the U.S. for high-value homes, automobiles, jewelry, art, personal liability, watercraft and flood. Today PURE insures more than 65,000 responsible, high net worth families and has earned a world-class NPS of 67.4. Inspired by some of the finest policyholder-owned companies in the world, PURE emphasizes alignment of interests and transparency. PURE’s low cost of capital, careful member selection and proactive risk management all contribute to highly competitive rates. In return for a fee, PURE Risk Management, LLC acts as attorney-in-fact for PURE. For more information or to find a local broker, visit pureinsurance.com. You can follow PURE on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About The First Tee
The First Tee (www.thefirsttee.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth development organization whose mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf. With its home office at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., The First Tee reaches young people on golf courses, in elementary schools and at other youth-serving locations.
Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has grown its network to deliver programs in all 50 United States. In 2016, The First Tee brought character education through the game of golf to more than 5.3 million young people. The First Tee’s Founding Partners are LPGA, the Masters Tournament, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and the USGA. Shell Oil Company is The First Tee’s Founding Corporate Partner and Johnson & Johnson is its Legacy Partner. Former President George W. Bush serves as honorary chair.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of golf’s most recognizable and accomplished players, age 50 and older, including 32 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. In 2017, the PGA TOUR Champions schedule includes 26 tournaments in 18 states, Japan, Wales and Canada, with purses totaling more than $55 million. The Charles Schwab Cup, which includes the Regular Season and the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, is used to determine the season-long champion. All events are televised in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Internationally, telecasts air live, tape-delayed or in a highlights-package format in excess of 190 countries and territories, reaching more than 330 million potential households. The PGA TOUR’s web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Follow PGA TOUR Champions at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour and on Instagram @pgatourchampions.
