| Teams
are now set for the 15th annual Canon Cup, the American Junior
Golf Association announced Friday. Rolex Junior Players of
the Year Brian Harman of Savannah, Ga., and Paula Creamer
of Pleasanton, Calif., will anchor their teams as 40 of the
nation’s top junior golfers square off at the 2004 Canon
Cup August 2-5 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills,
Md.
The Canon Cup pits East vs. West (divided by the Mississippi
River) in a team match play format over three days. The first
two days of competition include foursome and four-ball matches,
and the final day is reserved for singles matches. Teams (10
boys and 10 girls) were selected based on a point system and
include four captains’ picks per squad.
Of
the 40 participants this year, 29 are Rolex Junior All-Americans,
and seven boys and 15 girls are ranked in the top 20 of the
Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings (as of July 12).
The West Team, seeking its fourth straight
Canon Cup, features Creamer, who won seven national tournaments
in 2003 en route to Rolex Junior Players of the Year honors
and continues to be the top-ranked girl in the Golfweek/Titleist
Junior Rankings. Creamer most recently tied for 13th at the
U.S. Women’s Open and placed second at the ShopRite
LPGA Classic.
Kevin Schultz of Richardson, Texas, was the
top boy point-getter to accept the invitation for the West
squad. The 2004 graduate teamed with Trent Leon of Dallas
to win the Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Team Championship
earlier this year. Schultz has two other AJGA wins to his
credit. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play
golf at the University of Texas in the fall.
The East squad will look to Harman, the reigning
Rolex Junior Player of the Year and top-ranked player in the
Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, as they try to break the
West’s stronghold on the Canon Cup. In June, Harman
won the FootJoy Boys Invitational for the second straight
year, bringing his AJGA Invitational title total to three.
Harman also leads a strong group of boys that includes nine
Rolex Junior All-Americans.
The East girls may be the strongest in the
event’s history, with five first-team Rolex Junior All-Americans
to contend for the Canon Cup, including In-Bee Park of Eustis,
Fla., who preceded Creamer by earning Rolex Junior Player
of the Year honors in 2002.
Park soared to the top of the Canon Cup rankings
this year with 1318 points, 500 points ahead of the closest
competition. The first-team Rolex Junior All-American recently
qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open. Last season, Park
acquired four championships and nine top-10 finishes.
Brittany Lincicome of Seminole, Fla., is
another to watch during Canon Cup competition. She made waves
at the U.S. Women’s Open by shooting a 67 to lead after
the opening round of play. The first-team Rolex Junior All-American
has waited to turn professional until after this event and
the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Creamer, Schultz, Harman, Park and Lincicome
are five of 40 players who will add their names to an impressive
list of past participants of an event already steeped in history.
“Canon
is very proud to sponsor the AJGA’s premier match play
competition,“ said
Debra Epstein, vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A.,
Inc. “The Canon Cup allows aspiring young golfers the
opportunity to experience the importance of teamwork and good
sportsmanship through this unique team competition.”
Past Canon Cup participants include Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink,
David Gossett, Charles Howell III, Ty Tryon, Beth Bauer, Cristie
Kerr, Kelli Kuehne and Grace Park.
“I
really enjoyed playing in the Canon Cup,” said David
Gossett, PGA TOUR player. “It was fun and they treated
us so nice. I remember working hard all summer long so I could
get on the Canon Cup team. It’s the best juniors in
the country so the competition is high.”
The Canon Cup is part of Canon’s overall commitment
to support youth programs. A component of the company’s
Canon4Kids initiative in collaboration with the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children, PGA TOUR player Briny
Baird and LPGA Tour player Michelle McGann place photos of
missing children on their golf bags during tournament play.
An additional component of the program is tied to the golfers’
performance on their respective tours. For each birdie, Canon
donates $100 to NCMEC. Each eagle is worth $250 and $1,000
is donated for every hole-in-one.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business,
and industrial imaging solutions. The company is listed as
one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies in America,
and is ranked No. 43 on the Business Week list of “Top
100 Brands.” Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ)
is a top patent-holder of technology, ranking second overall
in the United States in 2003, with global revenues of $24.5
billion. Canon U.S.A. employs more than 10,000 people at more
than 30 locations. |
