78 First Tee teens selected for the PURE Insurance Championship
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 |