BRASELTON, Ga. -- Top junior golfers from around the country will return to the Phoenix area for the first of three prestigious junior golf tournaments (I.R.I Arizona National Mixed Team Championship and the PING Phoenix Junior) to be hosted there by the AJGA this season. The AJGA opens its Phoenix swing with the sixth-annual Heather Farr Classic over Easter Weekend (April 9-11) at the Longbow Golf Club.

A field of 120 boys and girls, ages 12-18, will battle it out during the 36-hole event, which features one of the strongest fields on the AJGA slate. The event will also feature strong local flavor with more than 25 Arizona natives set to compete.

More than a dozen Rolex Junior All-Americans are set to compete, including last year’s Girls Division champion and the reigning Rolex Junior Player of the Year Paula Creamer of Pleasanton, Calif. In the Boys Division, three of the top-five finishers from 2003 return to try capture this year’s crown, they are a 2003 U.S. Open qualifier, Tom Glissymeyer of Colorado, Springs, Colo.; California native Erik Flores of Grass Valley; and Arizona standout Philip Francis of Scottsdale.

The late Heather Farr was an outstanding junior golfer, an All-American player at Arizona State University and a rising star on the LPGA Tour. Yet, it was during her proper style year fight with breast cancer that Farr’s unique courage and spirit shown most brightly. Although she ultimately lost her struggle, her family, friends and fans have chosen to continue her fight through the Heather Farr Foundation. In Farr’s name, the AJGA proudly honors her accomplishments by annually conducting the Heather Farr Classic.

"Heather Farr is an ideal role model for our juniors," said Peter Ripa, AJGA chief operations officer. "Her ability as a golfer, coupled with the integrity and perseverance that she displayed under the most difficult of circumstances, is a great inspiration to our juniors. The junior golfers, as well as the AJGA, are very excited to hold the tournament at Longbow Golf Club. It’s an ideal tournament venue which will allow the cream to rise to the top."

The Heather Farr Classic is one of three AJGA Easter weekend tournaments. Also being conducted over Easter Weekend will be the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Chateau Elan in Braselton, Ga., and the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at The Woodlands in The Woodlands, Texas.

Two shotgun qualifiers are scheduled for April 3 and 4 at the Longbow Golf Club, while tournament play begins off the No. 1 tee on April 10 at 7 a.m. Final-round tee times will be from 7 a.m. Ñ 1 p.m. off the No.1 tee on April 11.

The completely re-designed par-71, 7,003-yard Longbow Golf Club should provide a stout test of golf for the junior participants. As a result of the re-design, the juniors will find more area through the fairways. Careful positioning, however, is still required to yield the best angles to the challenging hole locations.

"On behalf of the Longbow team, I’d like to welcome the AJGA and the juniors to our golf club," said Robert M. McNichols, owner and managing member of the Longbow Golf Club. "Competitive tournament golf is well suited to Longbow. We hope to host the Heather Farr Classic, as well as other events, in the future."

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 largest association of its kind, the AJGA has a junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 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, a supporter of the AJGA since 1983, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.

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 Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Mike Weir, Charles Howell III, Jim Furyk, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Grace Park, Cristie Kerr and Beth Bauer.

For more information, please contact Robin Solovey (rsolovey@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (770) 868-4200.