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Rolex Tournament of Champions Receives Multiple Accolades

BRASELTON, Ga. —The Rolex Tournament of Champions, held in 2008 at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind., was recently honored by the American Junior Golf Association for achievements in media and charitable giving.

Each year the AJGA presents awards to the tournaments with the best individual media coverage, junior-am fundraising tournament, volunteer support base and hospitality. The AJGA also recognizes its golf professional of the year, new tournament of the year, most improved event, AJGA Invitational of the year, and overall tournament of the year.

Though the AJGA boasts a schedule of over 80 junior golf tournaments, only 10 tournament awards are given each year, and for the 2008 season, the Rolex Tournament of Champions snagged two of them. The Media Award is given annually to the event or person who achieves outstanding media coverage throughout a tournament, while the Charitable Giving Award is presented to the event whose fundraising efforts resulted in the largest amount of money being given back to grassroots junior golf organizations.

The media success of the Rolex Tournament of Champions was made possible by the efforts of Media Chairman Doug Padgett who secured $95,000 worth of free ad space in the month leading up to the tournament. During the four-round event, five television stations, two print outlets, and nine radio stations covered the tournament by running recaps, feature stories, and post-round results.

It is a great honor for Victoria National to receive the Media Award. It speaks to the dedication and support of the Freidman family, staff of Victoria National, the AJGA local committee, the membership and the community,” Media Chairman Doug Padgett said. “The communities cooperation and recognition of the great golf played by the youth of our country was outstanding.”

Tournament activities included a Junior-Am Fundraising tournament whose mission was to raise money for grassroots junior golf organizations. Due to the success of the Rolex Tournament of Champions Junior-Am, $20,000 was donated to the Evansville Junior Golf Association. This money will be used to help develop junior golf in the Evansville, Ind., area.

“On behalf of the EJGA we are honored by the community support for the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions,” Tournament Chairman Dean Brinker said. “The leadership and work by the AJGA staff has inspired the EJGA to reach for new heights. We look forward to working with the AJGA and Victoria National Golf Club in the future.”Check below for more information on each of the individual awards or contact the AJGA Communications Department at (770) 868-4200.

2008 AJGA Tournament Awards

Media Award – Doug Padgett (Rolex Tournament of Champions Newburgh, Ind.)

Volunteers – PING Invitational (Stillwater Okla.)

Hospitality Award – The Cliffs Championship (Salem, S.C.)

Junior-Am Award – Natural Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior (Ashland, Ky.)

Charitable Giving Award – Rolex Tournament of Champions (Newburgh, Ind.)

Golf Professional of the Year Award – Mike Summa (The Stanwich Club, Greenwich, Conn.)

Most Improved Tournament Award – SAP Junior Open (Avon, Ohio)

Newcomer of the Year Award – ClubCar Junior Hosted by Charles Howell III (Evans, Ga.)

Tournament of Year Award – Dalhousie Junior Championship (Cape Girardeau, Mo.)

Invitational of the Year Award – Junior PLAYERS Championship