The First Tee participants to play in official PGA TOUR Champions event at Pebble Beach in September
St. Augustine, Fla. (July 6, 2016) – Participants representing chapters of The First Tee throughout the country have been selected to play in the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, an official PGA TOUR Champions event hosted by Monterey Peninsula Foundation. The event will be held September 13-18 and televised internationally on Golf Channel. Eighty-one young men and women listed below, ages 14 to 18, were selected by a national panel of judges that evaluated participants’ playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and core values learned through their involvement with The First Tee. “At Nature Valley we have great admiration for the mission of The First Tee. The program has such a meaningful impact in the lives of young people by strengthening important values like responsibility, judgement and perseverance. The opportunity for these teenagers to be selected as a part of The First Tee has the power to transform lives,” said Carla Vernón at General Mills. “The teenagers selected to play in the Nature Valley First Tee Open have worked hard to prepare for this opportunity, and we are immensely proud to welcome them to this year’s tournament.” The juniors will be teamed with 81 PGA TOUR Champions players and 162 amateurs as they compete for the pro-junior title at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course. Players committed to compete include two-time major championship winner John Daly, World Golf Hall of Fame member and 28-time PGA TOUR Champions winner Bernhard Langer, and defending champion Esteban Toledo. The junior field was announced this morning on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive. The show included current U.S. Presidents Cup captain and soon-to-be PGA TOUR Champions member Steve Stricker, Quicken Loans National winner Billy Hurley III, PGA TOUR player and The First Tee alumnus Scott Langley, Golf Channel’s Charlie Rymer and 2013 Nature Valley First Tee Open pro-junior winner Michelle Xie surprising six juniors with the news of their selection. Highlights from the coverage can be found on www.golfchannel.com. “We are pleased to introduce this year’s juniors in the Nature Valley First Tee Open, an event to which many have been working hard to secure their spot for years,” Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., chief executive officer of The First Tee, said. “We appreciate our partners—Nature Valley, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel—and their commitment to the event which is a life-changing experience for the juniors.” In its 13th year, more than 710 participants from The First Tee chapters have benefited from the opportunity to play in the tournament by meeting and learning from PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs in the field, utilizing the leadership and life skills they have acquired at their chapters. The Nature Valley First Tee Open is one of 10 national opportunities provided by The First Tee home office to encourage and motivate young people as they progress through the program and toward high school graduation. The First Tee is a nonprofit youth development organization with golf programs centered on building character through Nine Core Values™: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. Clint Eastwood is chairman of the event and Arnold Palmer, World Golf Hall of Fame member and Trustee of The First Tee, is honorary co-chair. Play will be conducted on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course on Friday and Saturday, and final round will be played on Pebble Beach on Sunday. For more information, visit www.thefirstteeopen.com. To learn more about The First Tee, visit www.firsttee.org. The First Tee Participants Selected to Play in 2016 Nature Valley First Tee Open Alphabetical by state| First Name: | Last Name: | Chapter: | City: | State: |
| Josie | Robertson | The First Tee of Central Arkansas | Maumelle | AR |
| William | Gibson | The First Tee of Fort Smith | Fort Smith | AR |
| Sydnie | Gamble | The First Tee of Fort Smith | Greenwood | AR |
| Grayson | Martin | The First Tee of Central Arkansas | White Hall | AR |
| Patrick | Fernandez | The First Tee of Phoenix | Surprise | AZ |
| Dylan | Choi | The First Tee of Greater Pasadena | La Cañada | CA |
| Caitlyn | Yamashita | The First Tee of Greater Pasadena | Pasadena | CA |
| Beah | Cruz | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Fairfield | CA |
| Emily | Dixon | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Rocklin | CA |
| Grant | Leppek | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Rocklin | CA |
| Neeve | Chen | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Roseville | CA |
| Jonathan | Tanihana | The First Tee of Greater Sacramento | Sacramento | CA |
| Calista | Reyes | The First Tee of San Diego | San Diego | CA |
| Catherine | Batang | The First Tee of San Francisco | San Francisco | CA |
| Madeline | Zunino | The First Tee of San Joaquin | Stockton | CA |
| Isabelle | Castro | The First Tee of Silicon Valley | San Jose | CA |
| Jacob | Meyberg | The First Tee of Silicon Valley | San Jose | CA |
| Joshua | Meyberg | The First Tee of Silicon Valley | San Jose | CA |
| Rachel | Roter | The First Tee of the Tri-Valley | Livermore | CA |
| Kailer | Rundiks | The First Tee of Denver | Denver | CO |
| Chase | Skrubis | The First Tee of Connecticut | North Granby | CT |
| Kaden | Kinard | The First Tee of Delaware | New Castle | DE |
| Nicholas | Kresl | The First Tee of Lakeland | Lakeland | FL |
| Jake | Moscoso | The First Tee of Miami | Miami | FL |
| Christian | Taylor | The First Tee of Naples/Collier | Naples | FL |
| Kelly | Newbrough | The First Tee of Naples/Collier | Naples | FL |
| Makenzie | Hotchkiss | The First Tee of Naples/Collier | Naples | FL |
| Peter | George | The First Tee of Naples/Collier | Naples | FL |
| Trevor | Madridejos | The First Tee of North Florida | St. Augustine | FL |
| Madelyn | Dimitroff | The First Tee of Northwest Florida | Pensacola | FL |
| Brandon | Pozzie | The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee | Bradenton | FL |
| Isabella | Stepanek | The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee | Sarasota | FL |
| Nicole | Polivchak | The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee | Sarasota | FL |
| Sadie | Chlapowski | The First Tee of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg | FL |
| Claire | Vermette | The First Tee of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg | FL |
| James | Morotti II | The First Tee of Tampa Bay | Brandon | FL |
| Brandon | Doner | The First Tee of The Palm Beaches | Palm Beach Gardens | FL |
| Alejandra | Ayala | The First Tee of Atlanta | Alpharetta | GA |
| Brette | Bryant | The First Tee of Augusta | Evans | GA |
| Emily | Harvey | The First Tee of Valparaiso | Crown Point | IN |
| Yianni | Kostouros | The First Tee of Valparaiso | Crown Point | IN |
| Cole | Elmore | The First Tee of Salina | Salina | KS |
| Tyler | Armstrong | The First Tee of East Baton Rouge Parish | Zachary | LA |
| Julia | Simon | The First Tee of Greater New Orleans | New Orleans | LA |
| Jarius | Gaines | The First Tee of Greater Baltimore | Baltimore | MD |
| Tyler | Burkum | The First Tee of Three Rivers Park District | Maple Grove | MN |
| Pierce | Robinson | The First Tee of The Foothills | Kings Mountain | NC |
| Connor | Moore | The First Tee of The Triangle | Durham | NC |
| Kayla | Parsons | The First Tee of The Triangle | Raleigh | NC |
| Ryan | Birkedal | The First Tee of The Triad | Lewisville | NC |
| Lauren | Thibodeau | The First Tee of New Hampshire | Hampstead | NH |
| Abbi | Fleiner | The First Tee of Northern Nevada | Reno | NV |
| Joshua | Fleiner | The First Tee of Northern Nevada | Reno | NV |
| Faith | Francisco | The First Tee of Metropolitan New York | Wantagh | NY |
| Summer | Marshall | The First Tee of Metropolitan Oklahoma City | Norman | OK |
| Soulai | Vang | The First Tee of Tulsa | Oologah | OK |
| Tya | Seth | The First Tee of Greater Portland | West Linn | OR |
| Kendel | Abrams | The First Tee of Greater Baltimore | New Freedom | PA |
| Brice | Smoker | The First Tee of Aiken | North Augusta | SC |
| Megan | Tang | The First Tee of Memphis | Memphis | TN |
| Trinity | King | The First Tee of Fort Worth | Arlington | TX |
| Calista | Lothliam | The First Tee of Fort Worth | Fort Worth | TX |
| Alexander | Lowe | The First Tee of Fort Worth | Westworth Village | TX |
| Annaliesia | Salazar | The First Tee of Greater Dallas | Balch Springs | TX |
| Mariano | Barbosa | The First Tee of Greater Dallas | Dallas | TX |
| Aysis | Azarcon | The First Tee of Greater Dallas | Grand Prairie | TX |
| Stephen | Boyd | The First Tee of Greater Houston | Houston | TX |
| Scott | Schuster | The First Tee of Greater Houston | Katy | TX |
| Aubrey | Zastoupil | The First Tee of The Piney Woods | Longview | TX |
| Zoe | Mayfield | The First Tee of The Piney Woods | Longview | TX |
| Lauren | Palmer | The First Tee of Greater San Antonio | San Antonio | TX |
| Ryan | Woo | The First Tee of Greater Richmond | Richmond | VA |
| Drew | White | The First Tee of Greater Washington D.C. | Alexandria | VA |
| Gerry | Jones, Jr. | The First Tee of Hampton Roads | Suffolk | VA |
| Ross | Funderburke | The First Tee of Roanoke Valley | Roanoke | VA |
| Callie | Montgomery | The First Tee of Roanoke Valley | Hardy | VA |
| Julia | Dai | The First Tee of Greater Seattle | Bellevue | WA |
| Dylan | Bissell | The First Tee of Yakima | Yakima | WA |
| Maxwell | Turnquist | The First Tee of Yakima | Yakima | WA |