PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (July 10, 2023) – First Tee and PGA TOUR Champions announced today the 80 First Tee participants selected to play in the 2023 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the event will bring teens from First Tee chapters to Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course for the PGA TOUR Champions tournament, Sept. 19-24. The annual event, hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, is televised internationally on Golf Channel.
This unique event pairs each First Tee participant with a PGA TOUR Champions player and amateurs from the business world. Ranging in ages from 14 to 18, the First Tee players compete for the pro-junior team title. The teens represent 44 First Tee chapters from across the country and for the third year in a row, a participant from First Tee — Morocco will be in the field. Participants were selected by a national panel of judges based on their personal growth and development through First Tee’s programs, as well as their playing ability. On average, participants have been involved with First Tee for more than seven years, have a 3.95 GPA and have recorded a 1.5 handicap.
“I’m so proud to continue our involvement with this incredible event,” said Martin Leitch, CEO of PURE Insurance. “Being selected to play in this tournament speaks volumes about the character of each of these 80 participants and I’m so excited to see this unforgettable experience play out for them.”
The full junior field was revealed live on Golf Channel’s “Golf Today,” featuring surprises that the network recorded at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. Additionally, several players helped surprise select participants leading up to the full field announcement, including PGA TOUR player Joel Dahmen, and PGA TOUR Champions players Tim O’Neal, Rod Pampling and the tournament’s defending champion, Steve Flesch.
Each year two juniors receive exemptions into the PURE Insurance Championship based on their play at the First Tee National Championship, which took place at Stanford Golf Course in July. This year, Alaythia Hinds of First Tee – Greater Sacramento, who finished second among the girls, and Sean Kwok of First Tee – Tri Valley, who finished in a fourth-place tie, earned those spots.
“Earning the opportunity to play at the PURE Insurance Championship is a goal for many First Tee participants,” said Greg McLaughlin, First Tee CEO. “Congratulations to the 80 teens who will represent First Tee at this year’s event. This marks the 20th anniversary of the tournament, and we are grateful to our partners at PURE Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel for their ongoing commitment to First Tee. Our alumni who have played at the PURE Insurance Championship have told us it is a life-changing opportunity, and we are so excited for the 80 First Tee teens who will get to experience it in September.”
This year’s field of PGA TOUR Champions players will feature legends including Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Jim Furyk, as well as three-time PURE Insurance Championship winner Kirk Triplett and Steve Flesch, who will defend his title. Clint Eastwood serves as chairman of the PURE Insurance Championship.
Play will be conducted on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course on Friday and Saturday. The final round will be contested solely at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Sunday, where 24 First Tee juniors will compete based on their 36-hole performance. The tournament will crown one male and one female First Tee Junior Champion on Sunday.
More than 1,000 teens from First Tee have played in the PURE Insurance Championship, experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet, play and be mentored by PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs.
First Tee is a youth development organization that teaches life skills and helps kids and teens build their strength of character through golf. The PURE Insurance Championship is one of several national opportunities provided by First Tee Headquarters to encourage and motivate participants as they progress through the program and toward higher education opportunities.
Selected Participants
| First Name | Last Name | Chapter |
| Lev | Abramson | First Tee – Colorado Rocky Mountains |
| Izabela | Aigner | First Tee – Pittsburgh |
| Abbey | Anderson | First Tee – Greater Austin |
| Onofre | Badillo | First Tee – Monterey County |
| Aditi | Balakrishna | First Tee – Tri-Valley |
| Sarah | Brannigan | First Tee – Metropolitan New York |
| Tavia | Burgess | First Tee – Greater Sacramento |
| Sadaly | Campbell | First Tee – North Florida |
| Brayden | Casolari | First Tee – Pine Mountain |
| Blayze | Chapman | First Tee – Indiana |
| Tanya | Chowdary | First Tee – Greater Trenton |
| Jordin | Cowing | First Tee – Phoenix |
| Peyton | DeBruin | First Tee – Greater Houston |
| Diego | DeJesus | First Tee – Greater Washington, DC |
| Jasmine | Do | First Tee – Greater Houston |
| Ryan | Donaldson | First Tee – Lakeland |
| Kaylee | Dwyer | First Tee – Greater Chicago |
| Nathan | Eger | First Tee – North Florida |
| Reda | El Hali | First Tee – Morocco |
| Andre | Follmer | First Tee – Greater Austin |
| Luciano | Follmer | First Tee – Greater Austin |
| Marcus | Freeman III | First Tee – Greater Charlotte |
| Brooks | Freitas | First Tee – Greater Dallas |
| Salloni | Gill | First Tee – Greater Baltimore |
| Jaxson | Green | First Tee – Greater Tyler |
| Garrett | Harrison | First Tee – Greater Sacramento |
| Alaythia | Hinds | First Tee – Greater Sacramento |
| Aspen | Hopper | First Tee – Fort Worth |
| Taylor | Horacefield | First Tee – Greater Houston |
| Wylie | Inman | First Tee – Florida Gold Coast |
| Joshua | Jang | First Tee – Silicon Valley |
| Jakob | Krombholz | First Tee – Metropolitan New York |
| Sean | Kwok | First Tee – Tri-Valley |
| James | Labukas | First Tee – Tucson |
| Meg | Lavinder | First Tee – Greater Richmond |
| Kyla | Layman | First Tee – Phoenix |
| Sophia | Lee | First Tee – Contra Costa |
| Colin | Lett | First Tee – Tennessee |
| Trinity | Leung | First Tee – Greater Dallas |
| Jacob | Lewallen-Le | First Tee – Greater Dallas |
| Dawson | Loo | First Tee – San Francisco |
| Bretton | Mackiewicz | First Tee – Central Florida |
| Kenzie | McClenny | First Tee – Greater Tyler |
| Lillian | McGowan | First Tee – Greater Sacramento |
| Jonathan | Moon | First Tee – Howard County |
| Jay | Nergard | First Tee – Phoenix |
| Abi | Newell | First Tee – Greater Houston |
| Brianna | Nguyen | First Tee – Greater Seattle |
| Kylie | Nguyen | First Tee – Greater Seattle |
| Keanu | Phillips-Alberto | First Tee – Contra Costa |
| Chase | Pickering | First Tee – Tucson |
| ClaraGrace | Plath | First Tee – San Joaquin |
| Lucas | Power | First Tee – Eastern Michigan |
| Noah | Quiros | First Tee – Phoenix |
| Akira | Ransi | First Tee – Greater Sacramento |
| Tate | Reid | First Tee – Manhattan |
| Morgan | Riley | First Tee – Triangle |
| Jay | Sakagami | First Tee – Greater Seattle |
| Zoe | Shamy | First Tee – Florida Gold Coast |
| Cormac | Smith | First Tee – Metropolitan New York |
| Theodore | Snyder | First Tee – South Puget Sound |
| Alyssa | Stewart | First Tee – Greater Dallas |
| Emilee | Swagger | First Tee – Phoenix |
| Makaela | Swanson | First Tee – Green Valley Ranch |
| Camille | Thai | First Tee – Silicon Valley |
| Leah | Torres | First Tee – Greater Houston |
| Colin | tounalom | First Tee – Greater Seattle |
| Sebastian | Velasquez | First Tee – Greater El Paso |
| Gabrielle | Villarin | First Tee – San Diego |
| Rachel | Waters | First Tee – Tennessee |
| Benjamin | Williams | First Tee – Piney Woods |
| Nathan | Williams | First Tee – Piney Woods |
| Bryce | Wolf | First Tee – Fort Worth |
| Jackson | Wolfe | First Tee – Central Arkansas |
| Skyler | Woods | First Tee – Four Corners |
| Jack | Workman | First Tee – Fort Worth |
| Norah | Yang | First Tee – Silicon Valley |
| Anne | Yost | First Tee – Four Corners |
| Riley | Yount | First Tee – Greater San Antonio |
| Andre | Zhang | First Tee – Greater Sacramento |
For more information on the tournament, visit PUREInsuranceChampionship.com. To learn more about First Tee, visit FirstTee.org.
