First Tee — Central Arkansas teen invited to play PGA TOUR Champions’ PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee at Pebble Beach
Weston Wakefield to Compete in 21st Annual Event This September
LITTLE ROCK, AR (July 22, 2024) – First Tee and PGA TOUR Champions announced today that Weston Wakefield will represent First Tee — Central Arkansas at the 2024 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee. The event, now in its 21st year, will bring teens from First Tee chapters to Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course for the PGA TOUR Champions tournament, Sept. 17-22. The annual event, hosted by PURE Insurance and Monterey Peninsula Foundation, is televised internationally on Golf Channel.
Weston Wakefield, a participant of First Tee — Central Arkansas since 2016, is an incredible young man who has overcome adversity and thrived through the support and guidance of his mentors. This opportunity is a testament to his hard work and the value of mentorship in shaping young people to excel. His journey highlights the importance of providing guidance and mentorship to young individuals, demonstrating how they can achieve greatness. Weston, a rising junior who is homeschooled, has been a dedicated participant of the First Tee program. Over the years, Weston has honed his golf skills and developed into an exemplary junior leader within the First Tee program. First Tee — Central Arkansas is proud to have Weston represent our chapter, embodying the core values and life skills that the program instills in its participants.
Throughout the week, the teens will apply their character strengths and life skills learned from First Tee programs during the unique event, where they will be paired with a PGA TOUR Champions player and amateurs from the business world. Weston Wakefield will compete for the male/female pro-junior team title. He will join 79 other teens from First Tee chapters across the country, including a participant from First Tee — Morocco for the fourth consecutive year. 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. The group averages a 3.89 GPA and has spent an average of seven years in First Tee.
“This is an exciting moment for these 80 participants, many of whom have been working for years with the goal of earning a spot in this tournament,” said Greg McLaughlin, First Tee CEO. “Thank you to our partners at PURE Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, and Golf Channel for their support of this special week, which is full of lessons for our teens, both on and off the golf course.”
The full junior field was revealed live on Golf Channel’s “Golf Today.” 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 Thongchai Jaidee, 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 round will be contested solely at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Sunday, where 24 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.
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 in the field.
“I’m so proud to continue our involvement with this incredible event,” said Katie Krum, Chief Marketing Officer at PURE Insurance. “Being selected to play in this tournament speaks volumes about the character of each of these 80 participants, and I’m so excited to see this unforgettable experience play out for them.”
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 Tee Headquarters to encourage and motivate participants as they progress through the program and toward higher education opportunities.
The junior field for 2024 PURE Insurance Championshipcan be viewed here.
For more information on the tournament, visit PUREInsuranceChampionship.com. To learn more about First Tee, visit FirstTee.org.
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About First Tee — Central Arkansas
First Tee — Central Arkansas is one of 150 First Tee chapters across the U.S. and select international locations. 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. First Tee —Central Arkansas reaches kids and teens through programs delivered at 4 program locations,15 schools and youth centers. Learn more at www.firstteecentralarkansas.org.
About Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Surpassing $200 million in total donations, Monterey Peninsula Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that donates funds from the proceeds 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 Benito Counties.
www.montereypeninsulafoundation.org
www.pureinsurancechampionship.org
About PURE Insurance
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) Insurance is a property and casualty insurance company designed exclusively for successful, 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 of interests, and delivers greater value. Today, after growing at least 15% in each year since we began, we are the most awarded insurer in our category, 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 of PGA 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 is also 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.
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