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Involved with Junior Ams
Local
sponsors and amteurs come together to give a boost to grass
roots junior golf
Junior-Am
Schedule
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Depending
upon your perspective, the many benefits of an AJGA Junior-Am
fundraising tournament vary greatly.
As a participating junior, it is a great way to socialize with
AJGA supporters and show them who makes up the playing membership.
As a sponsor, it is a way to play with golf’s next generation,
helping them gain the exposure needed to gain a college golf
scholarship. And for local grass-roots golf organizations, it
is a way to raise funds to help support the local junior golf
community.
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| Tournament
Director Ben Kimball (left), along with Director of Tournament
Development Matt Cuccaro (right) present a $5,000 check
to Kathy Cousart, executive director of the Georgia Junior
Golf Foundation. |
Preceding 39 of the AJGA’s 72 events on its 2004 schedule,
a Junior-Am Fundraising tournament will take place. This is
a day filled with fun, food and prizes, with a round of golf
in-between. Supporters purchase an individual spot or team.
The team is then coupled with a participating junior golfer
from that week’s tournament to compete in an 18-hole shamble
or scramble (varies by event). Most Junior-Ams include one or
two meals, a tournament shirt, tournament hat, tournament bag
tag and a raffle of prizes during the awards presentation.
Along with the golf, food and prizes comes support of local
junior golf organizations. In 2003, the AJGA gave $140,000 back
to grass-roots junior golf. Local junior golf charities are
named beneficiaries of tournaments by assisting the AJGA with
volunteers, fundraising and other tournament operations needs.
Over the past four years, AJGA Junior-Am Tournaments have raised
nearly $600,000 for local grass-roots junior golf programs across
the nation. By the year 2006, the AJGA hopes to distribute $500,000
annually to junior golf charities. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization, part of the contribution to play in an AJGA Junior-Am
Tournament is tax-deductible.
One of the most successful Junior-Am Tournaments in 2003 was
the Dunlop Carolina Junior Championship. AJGA Tournament Chairman
and volunteer Marshall Bettendorf provided a check for $20,000
to local junior golf charities in the Upstate region of South
Carolina through his Junior-Am fundraising efforts.
This year, the AJGA is off to another incredible start. For
example, at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Chateau Elan,
the AJGA was able to give $5,000 to the Georgia Junior Golf
Foundation based on the Junior-Am revenue from that event. Kathy
Cousart, execuive director of the GJGF, said that being a benefactor
of an AJGA Junior-Am is one of the most important fundraising
efforts the foundation undertakes.
"As a grass-roots golf organization, it means a lot to
have this relationship with the largest national junior golf
organization,” she said. “Working with the AJGA
has been great. You can tell that the sponsors and the kids
are having a blast the whole time.”
The American Junior Golf Association is pleased to invite you
to play in an AJGA Junior-Am Tournament. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson,
Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Charles Howell III, Sergio Garcia,
Grace Park, Kelli Kuehne and Beth Bauer are just a few in a
long and talented list of players who participated in AJGA Junior-Am
Tournaments before they became household names. This could be
your opportunity to tee it up for your most memorable golf experience
of the year while also helping to make a contribution to a worthwhile
cause.
The following is our Junior-Am Tournament Schedule for 2004.
Space is limited, so please contact Matt Cuccaro, AJGA director
of tournament development via e-mail at mcuccaro@ajga.org
for more information. |
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