Braselton, GA – Beginning in 2023, the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), in conjunction with a few key international partners, created a pathway for top international juniors, who want to attend college, to earn their way into AJGA tournaments. These AJGA sanctioned tournaments will award top finishers in the field with Performance Based Entry (PBE) status.
The AJGA’s international membership has grown to 60 different countries and represents nearly 10% of our overall membership. The International Pathway Series is another step the AJGA is taking in an effort to make college golf scholarship exposure more accessible to our entire membership. Many of our international players attempt to earn PBE status by traveling long distances in hopes of qualifying into U.S. based AJGA tournaments. This requires significant resources and limits options for PBE earning.
The International Pathway Series will bring opportunities closer to home for international members, in turn, reduces the financial barriers. These tournaments also provide an opportunity to grow the game of golf and will be advertised to high performing international players in their local areas.
“This series will provide significant opportunity for our growing international membership,” said AJGA Chief Operating Officer, Mark Oskarson. “The potential to use this series as a way to reach talented junior golfers around the world, who otherwise may not have an opportunity to compete in an AJGA event, is incredible and we are proud to launch these efforts."
The first event in the International Pathway Series took place in January, earlier this year, in Shanghai, China. As the series continues to grow, the AJGA plans to expand into countries that want their juniors to have an opportunity to play collegiate golf.
"The AJGA's dedication to providing a pathway for young men and women to earn scholarships and play collegiate golf is similar to our own,” said PacificPine Sports Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Raymond Roessel. “This series of tournaments will play an important role in providing access to AJGA events in America and eventual exposure to university coaches."
PacificPine Sports will partner with the AJGA to launch their first series of International Pathway events in China later this year.
Santiago Casado, Golf Event Operations for Wesport, will launch the 2023 Nico Open in Colombia this May. The event will partner with Nicolas Echavarria, PGA TOUR professional and champion to the 2023 Puerto Rico Open. Casado says, “Wesport is very excited to partner with the AJGA to develop and grow junior golf in Latin America. Instead of waiting for players to come and play in the United States, we’ll bring the events closer to them.”
The AJGA is excited to add more International Pathway Series events to our schedule next year and for the opportunities it will bring to junior golfers around the world.
If you are interested in hosting an International Pathway Series event or Title Sponsorship of the series, please reach out to Jason Etzen, AJGA Chief Business Officer, at jetzen@ajga.org.