78 First Tee teens selected for the PURE Insurance Championship

July 3, 2019 | by

First Tee and PGA TOUR Champions announced today the 78 First Tee participants selected to play at Pebble Beach and Poppy Hills

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida – First Tee and PGA TOUR Champions announced today the 78 First Tee participants selected to play in the 2019 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee. The 16th annual event, hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, will be held September 24-29 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, California, and will be televised internationally on Golf Channel.

The PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee is the only event of its kind where 78 First Tee teenagers from across the country are paired up with 78 PGA TOUR Champions players and 156 amateurs during an official PGA TOUR Champions tournament. Ranging in ages from 14 to 18, the First Tee participants compete for the Pro-Junior Team title. Representing 27 states, participants were selected by a national panel of judges based on their understanding and application of the values and life skills learned through First Tee’s programs, as well as their playing ability.

The full junior field was revealed live on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive” today, including a video of World Golf Hall of Fame Member Jack Nicklaus surprising Stephen Ma from First Tee of Central Ohio. Other surprises by PGA TOUR players and Golf Channel hosts had been recorded over the last month and aired today as part of the PURE Insurance Championship announcement.

“We are proud to continue our involvement with this prestigious event and help support the great work of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and First Tee,” said Katherine Frattarola, Chief Marketing Officer of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies. “The impact this event has on the incredible young men and women from the First Tee makes this sponsorship tremendously rewarding for our entire team.”

This year’s field of professionals will include World Golf Hall of Fame Members Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen, as well as defending champion and recent KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship winner Ken Tanigawa. Clint Eastwood serves as chairman of the PURE Insurance Championship.

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 Golf Links on Sunday, where 23 First Tee juniors will compete based on their 36-hole performance. The tournament will crown one male and one female First Tee Junior Champion on Sunday.

Nearly 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 in the field.

“Congratulations to the 78 participants who have been selected to play and represent First Tee on a national stage,” said First Tee President Greg McLaughlin. “Their hard work and commitment to academic, social and emotional development through our programs has secured this opportunity. Thank you to our partners − PURE Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel − for their commitment to young people and helping us provide this opportunity to these deserving teens.”

First Tee is a youth development organization dedicated to helping young people build character through the game of golf. The PURE Insurance Championship is one of 10 national opportunities provided by First Tee headquarters to encourage and motivate kids as they progress through the program and toward higher education opportunities.

For more information on the tournament, visit PUREInsuranceChampionship.com. To learn more about First Tee, visit TheFirstTee.org.

First Tee participants selected to play in the 2019 PURE Insurance Championship (alphabetical by state):

Cade	Kilanowski	First Tee of Phoenix	Chandler	AZ
Ashley	Menne	First Tee of Phoenix	Surprise	AZ
Scott	Schlader	First Tee of Phoenix	Phoenix	AZ
Claire	Alford	First Tee of Central Coast	Santa Maria	CA
Yusuf	Ahmed	First Tee of Greater Sacramento	Folsom	CA
Ashley	Knepshield	First Tee of Greater Sacramento	Carmichael	CA
Dylan	McDermott	First Tee of Greater Sacramento	Granite Bay	CA
Mikaela	Paracuelles	First Tee of Greater Sacramento	Folsom	CA
Sam	Sommerhauser	First Tee of Greater Sacramento	Rocklin	CA
Skylar	Graham	First Tee of Los Angeles	Rosewood	CA
Shani	Waite	First Tee of Los Angeles	El Segundo	CA
Alexander	Iniakov	First Tee of Monterey County	Prunedale	CA
Jasmine	Leovao	First Tee of San Diego	Oceanside	CA
Brian	Xu	First Tee of San Diego	San Diego	CA
Lauren	Garces	First Tee of San Joaquin	Stockton	CA
Ralph	Kho	First Tee of Silicon Valley	Belmont	CA
Braden	Bernaldo	First Tee of the Coachella Valley	Indio	CA
Jasmin	Krishna	First Tee of the Tri-Valley	Pleasanton	CA
Aubri	Braecklein	First Tee of Denver	Northglenn	CO
William	Perez	First Tee of Denver	Denver	CO
Lilly	Moreau	First Tee of Connecticut	Wethersfield	CT
Hannah	Lydic	First Tee of Delaware	Ocean View	DE
Arlynn	Spence	First Tee of Lakeland	Lakeland	FL
Natalia	Jimenez	First Tee of Miami	Pembroke Pines	FL
Joey	Burke	First Tee of Naples/Collier	Naples	FL
Sophie	Shrader	First Tee of Naples/Collier	Naples	FL
Robert	Walbert	First Tee of Naples/Collier	Naples	FL
Isabel	Matos	First Tee of North Florida	St. Johns	FL
Ryan	Sauer	First Tee of North Florida	Jacksonville	FL
Sam	Kriseman	First Tee of St. Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	FL
Tyler	Mistretta	First Tee of The Palm Beaches	N. Palm Beach	FL
Anthony	Ford II	First Tee of Metro Atlanta	Atlanta	GA
Andrew	Karr	First Tee of Indiana	Valparaiso	IN
Lukas	Freelove	First Tee of Salina	Salina	KS
Caleb	Ashley	First Tee of Pine Mountain	Totz	KY
Branden	Nguyen	First Tee of Columbia	Columbia	MD
Lorenzo	Sanz	First Tee of Greater Baltimore	Glen Arm	MD
Owen	Porter	First Tee of Greater Washington, DC	Bethesda	MD
Kaylin	Yeoh	First Tee of Greater Washington, DC	Potomac	MD
Ryan	Guzzo	First Tee of Benton Harbor	St. Joseph	MI
Jackson	Boldt	First Tee of Coastal Carolinas	Bolivia	NC
Luke	Boldt	First Tee of Coastal Carolinas	Bolivia	NC
Hailey	Pendleton	First Tee of Greater Charlotte	Waxhaw	NC
Grace	Holcomb	First Tee of Greater Wilmington	Wilmington	NC
Branden	Boyce	First Tee of the Sandhills	Spring Lake	NC
Drew	Spurlock	First Tee of the Sandhills	Whispering Pines	NC
Jacob	Pendry	First Tee of the Triad	Lexington	NC
Clayson	Good	First Tee of the Triangle	Durham	NC
Shivani	Vora	First Tee of New Hampshire	Dover	NH
Aaron	Yagnik	First Tee of Greater Trenton	Plainsboro	NJ
Neil	Babu	First Tee of Northern Nevada	Reno	NV
Evan	Koutsopetras	First Tee of Metropolitan New York	Brooklyn	NY
Stephen	Ma	First Tee of Central Ohio	Columbus	OH
Asher	Clift	First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City	Edmond	OK
Sean	Dobson	First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City	OK
Sutton	McMillan	First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City	Choctaw	OK
Elise	Deschaine	First Tee of Greater Portland	Portland	OR
Jaden	Speiser	First Tee of Greater Portland	Portland	OR
Joseph	Morganti	First Tee of Greater Philadelphia	Havertown	PA
Jack	Kray	First Tee of South Dakota	Sioux Falls	SD
Shannon	McCormick	First Tee of South Dakota	Sioux Falls	SD
Kayli	Lucas	First Tee of Tennessee	Gallatin	TN
Orlando "Javie"	Cerda JR.	First Tee of Fort Worth	Fort Worth	TX
Malisone	Chanthapanya	First Tee of Fort Worth	Fort Worth	TX
Ella	Fisher	First Tee of Fort Worth	Aledo	TX
Taleah	Washington	First Tee of Fort Worth	Grand Prairie	TX
Zayla	White	First Tee of Greater Austin	Cedar Park	TX
Stephany	Barbosa	First Tee of Greater Dallas	Dallas	TX
Symran	Shah	First Tee of Greater Dallas	Carrollton	TX
Madison	DeBruin	First Tee of Greater Houston	Houston	TX
Allyn	Stephens	First Tee of Greater Houston	Houston	TX
Alexa	Vela	First Tee of Greater Houston	Pearland	TX
Justin	Green	First Tee of Hampton Roads	Chesapeake	VA
Harrison	Withers	First Tee of Roanoke Valley	Roanoke	VA
Stephen	Dai	First Tee of Greater Seattle	Bellevue	WA
Keiki	Hofilena	First Tee of Greater Seattle	Bellevue	WA
Matt	Jones	First Tee of The Inland Northwest	Spokane	WA
Jamozzy	Skenandore	First Tee of Northeast Wisconsin	De Pere	WI

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