JUNIOR GOLFERS SELECTED TO PLAY IN
WALMART FIRST TEE OPEN AT PEBBLE BEACH PRESENTED BY NATURE VALLEY

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Seventy junior golfers from The First Tee have been selected to play in the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, an official Champions Tour event that will be held August 29-31 and televised nationally on the GOLF CHANNEL.

Representing 43 Chapters of The First Tee worldwide, 52 boys were selected from 90 participants through The First Tee Participant Selection Process that was held at Kansas State University and Colbert Hills Golf Course, July 14-18.  A second selection process took place July 23-27 at Wentworth by the Sea Country Club in Rye, NH where 18 girls qualified from 36 participants.

The selection process evaluates participants’ playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and core lessons learned through The First Tee Life Skills Experience curriculum.

To round out the total field of 78 juniors, eight exemptions will be awarded by The Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the host organization for the tournament.
 
The following junior participants have been selected to play:

William Ellison	The First Tee of Akron
Courtney Burris	The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas
Evan Glanville	The First Tee of Atlanta
Randon  Holt	The First Tee of Atlanta
Keller Tomassi	The First Tee of Atlanta
Anthony Stewart	The First Tee of Augusta
Price Ferchill	The First Tee of Greater Austin
Elena Warren	The First Tee of Greater Austin
Gabriel Hyde	The First Tee of Greater Birmingham
Dalton Gore	The First Tee of Brunswick County
Wesley Levanduski	The First Tee of Central Coast
Paul Chirdon	The First Tee of Cleveland
Valeria DeFex	The First Tee of Dallas
Aaron Guereca	The First Tee of Denver
Elizabeth Kresock	The First Tee of Denver
Jack Densmore	The First Tee of Detroit
Sarah Hicks	The First Tee of Northwest Florida
Josh Tomlinson	The First Tee of Fort Smith
Aaron Burton	The First Tee of Harford County
Tezira Abe'	The First Tee of Houston/F.M. Law Park
Danielle Williams	The First Tee of Houston/F.M. Law Park
Jan Jaro	The First Tee of Jacksonville
Connor Rose	The First Tee of Lexington
Pilar Morgan	The First Tee of Lexington
Andrew Garcia	The First Tee of South Los Angeles
Brett Silvernail	The First Tee of South Los Angeles
Andre Dews	The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Xander McDonald-Smith	The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Ryan Porter	The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Paul Toohey	The First Tee of Metropolitan New York
Clifton Jordan	The First Tee of Memphis
Fredrik Palmer	The First Tee of Modesto
Haley Andreas	The First Tee of Monterey County
Rene Kelly	The First Tee of Naples/Collier
Ian Bellah	The First Tee of Philadelphia
Kyle Digacobbee	The First Tee of Philadelphia
Michael Guardiola	The First Tee of Phoenix
Sal Guardiola	The First Tee of Phoenix
Graham Clouse	The First Tee of Pine Mountain
Kipper House	The First Tee of Pine Mountain
Michael Swope	The First Tee of Richmond & Chesterfield
Viviana Perez	The First Tee of Richmond & Chesterfield
Parker Davis	The First Tee of Roanoke Valley
John Catlin	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Ryan Irish	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Andrew Roberts	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Austin Roberts	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Nicholas Schafer	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Brandon Urbano	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Beau Zastrow	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Jacqueline Williams	The First Tee of Greater Sacramento
Hannah Martin	The First Tee of Salina
Daniel Ortega	The First Tee of San Antonio
Sara Diaz	The First Tee of San Antonio
Kenneth Chhoevn	The First Tee of San Diego
Wally Gonzalez	The First Tee of San Diego
Roberto Rosas	The First Tee of San Diego
Ryan Rankin	The First Tee of San Jose
Eric Muslawski	The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee
Ericka Schneider	The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee
Louis Reisman	The First Tee of Savannah
Saraswati Oka	The First Tee of Singapore
Gabriel Bell	The First Tee of St. Johns County
AJ Newell	The First Tee of Tampa Bay
Tyler Thomas	The First Tee of the Triangle
Travis Rowney	The First Tee of The Tri-Valley
Kortnie Maxoutopoulis	The First Tee of The Tri-Valley
Brad Kershaw	The First Tee of Tulsa
Brandon McDade	The First Tee of Tulsa
Alex Hernandez	The First Tee of Valparaiso

To learn more about the fifth-annual Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach,
visit www.thefirsttee.org or www.thefirstteeopen.com.

About The First Tee
The First Tee (www.thefirsttee.org) is an initiative of the World Golf Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in St. Augustine, Fla. at World Golf Village, home of the World Golf Hall of Fame.  Its mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf.  Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has introduced the game of golf and its values to more than 2.2 million participants and students in 48 states and four international locations – Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore.   Former President George Bush serves as honorary chairman.

As Founding Corporate Partner of The First Tee, Shell Oil Company has provided financial resources to support the development of this charitable youth initiative aimed at promoting character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf.  Because of Shell’s initial contribution, The First Tee has garnered the support of hundreds of corporations and organizations that have provided financial or promotional support to The First Tee and its Chapters.

About the Champions Tour
The Champions Tour is a division of the PGA TOUR, Inc., a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour will feature a minimum of 29 official events offering $55.5 million in prize money in 2008 and its highest average purse ever of $1.91 million. The Champions Tour operates under the umbrella of the PGA TOUR which includes the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose as an entity of the PGA TOUR is to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Mike Stevens is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
                                                                               
                                                                                 ###