BRASELTON, Ga. — Winn Grips , a golf industry leader in high-performance golf grip technology, will be the Preferred Grip of the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series, the American Junior Golf Association announced Friday. As the Preferred Grip of the series, Winn Grips will be present at Junior All-Star events to provide complimentary grip fitting and replacement service for all players. In addition, Winn will also provide equipment services to players at select Open and Invitational tournaments, including the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Heather Farr Classic.
“Winn looks forward to our new partnership with the AJGA,” said Dr. Ben Huang, founder and CEO of Winn Incorporated. "As longtime proponents of junior golf, we recognize the vital role that the AJGA plays. We believe that junior golfers represent the promise of the sport’s future and that our innovative technology will enhance their performance and potential from the start. We are thrilled to provide our new PCi Triple Line high performance grip to this exciting young generation of the country’s top AJGA players in our enthusiastic support of junior golf.”
The Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy / Montverde Academy Junior All-Star Series is a collection of 10 events specifically designed for boys and girls ages 12–15 and presents opportunities for younger members to develop their skills at the national level and earn entry into Open tournaments. The series concludes with the Junior All-Star Invitational over Columbus Day weekend for winners and top finishers over the course of the year.
“We are thrilled with Winn Grips’ decision to support junior golf, and are pleased to be associated with such a quality company,” said Jason Etzen, AJGA Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. “It will be a great benefit to our members to have Winn at tournaments providing equipment services in 2009.”
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 30 foreign countries.
Titleist , the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA , which is in its third decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
For more information, please contact Katie Jared (kjared@ajga.org
) in the AJGA Sponsorship Department at (678) 425-1743 or visit the AJGA Web site at ajga.org.