Braselton, GA – The American Junior Golf Association’s Foundation is excited to announce Cobra Puma Golf as the title sponsor of the State Cup Series.
The Cobra Puma Golf State Cup Series is a unique junior golf event series providing competitive junior golfers development in important life skills such as charitable giving, leadership, and teamwork. Participants gain a greater understanding and knowledge of the benefiting charities while being celebrated for their accomplishments. The State Cup series is one such way that juniors participating in Leadership Links can earn money towards the charity of their choice.
Cobra Puma Golf is a leading golf brand that designs and develops superior-quality golf equipment as well as stylish, high-performance golf apparel, footwear, and accessories. Cobra Puma Golf staff Rickie Fowler, Lexi Thompson, Bryson DeChambeau and Gary Woodland are all AJGA alumni.
“We’re excited to partner with the AJGA Foundation on the State Cup Series, helping to support their charitable fundraising efforts and outfit the next generation of golfers,” said Dan Ladd, President & General Manager, Cobra Puma Golf. “Our goal at Cobra Puma Golf is to make the game more inviting, fun and inclusive, and working with the AJGA to provide gear that will help junior golfers develop their skills is crucial to that.”
Eleven years ago, 12 juniors teamed up and raised $12,000 for charity, and the Carolina Cup was born. Patrick Cover and Thomas Walsh, both North Carolina natives, founded the original State Cup event. Though its leadership, title (originally the Dormie Cup) and venue have changed, this event provides a blueprint for future Leadership Links and ACE Grant fundraising opportunities.
In 2017, the AJGA was excited to introduce the State Cup Series, founded to produce Carolina Cup-type events throughout the United States. In 2021, 14 events raised over $1 million across the country.
Each State Cup Series event is comprised of 24 to 32 juniors who are split in to two teams to compete in a two-day ‘Ryder Cup’ style event. To participate each junior must commit to raising a minimum $1,000 for the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant and a local charity for that event. The event also includes a reception for the juniors to celebrate their accomplishments and educate the juniors on the charities and reasons to give back.
“As we embark on our 13th year of group fundraising under the Leadership Links program, we are thrilled to have Cobra Puma Golf join us as our State Cup Series title sponsor. Their name and brand is synonymous with elite level golf on both the men’s and women’s professional tours”, said Kevin Rinker, AJGA Senior Vice President of Development. “The Foundation is excited to partner with the team at Cobra Puma Golf to grow the game and our charitable fundraising efforts.”
The 2022 Cobra Puma Golf State Cup Series kicked off last weekend in Austin, Texas, at Austin Country Club where over $200,000 was raised for the AJGA’s ACE Grant, Cap City Kids and the University of the Southwest golf program. 2021 Player Representative to the AJGA Board of Directors, Sean-Karl Dobson teamed up with fellow Austinite Ally Black to host the two-day event for juniors from all over Texas.
The 2022 schedule includes 16 more events across the United States. Noteworthy host venues this year include Whistling Straits, East Lake Golf Club and Eagle Point Golf Club.
As part of the Cobra Puma Golf sponsorship each participating junior in a State Cup event will receive two Puma golf shirts, a Puma hat, and other Cobra Puma Golf items.
For more information about the State Cup Series or to get involved contact Director of Development, Bobby Puchner, at bpuchner@ajga.org.
About COBRA PUMA GOLF
COBRA PUMA GOLF is a corporate division of PUMA, one of the world’s leading sports brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. COBRA PUMA GOLF is an inclusive company, promoting game enjoyment for golfers of all abilities, attitudes and styles. The brands full-range portfolio includes COBRA Golf’s high-performance drivers, fairways, hybrids, wedges and irons, as well as PUMA Golf’s sport lifestyle inspired footwear, apparel and accessories. Fusing performance and style, COBRA PUMA GOLF brings a focus on innovation, technology, compelling design and superior performance with an edge to the global golf marketplace. For more information, visit cobragolf.com and cobragolf.com/pumagolf.
About the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant
The Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant provides financial assistance to young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarship through competitive junior golf. Since its inception, the ACE Grant has funded more than 2,600 juniors for a total of $5.3 million dollars reimbursed. Those recipients have earned over $15.4 million dollars in college golf scholarships.
About the AJGA’s Leadership Links Program
Leadership Links helps kids impact their community and help others. Since 2009, more than 4,000 juniors have volunteered over 50,000 hours and raised more than $5 million for charity through both individual and group (State Cups) fundraising.