Christina Carroll among The First Tee selection of 81 junior golfers to compete in PURE Insurance Championship on PGA TOUR Champions

BY AAGD STAFF

OCTOBER 4, 2018 — ST.  AUGUSTINE, Florida –PGA TOUR Champions and The First Tee announced today the 81 junior golfers selected to play in the 2018 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee. The annual event, hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, will be held September 24-30 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, California, and will be televised internationally on Golf Channel.

Among the youth selected is 16-year-old Christina Carroll of Bear, DE.  Christina began playing golf at 10 and was influenced by her father.  “Because in life you are always going to have challenges. It is very important to fight through them to move forward,” she says, as one of her core values.  Christina is active in her community and volunteers at her church and serves as an usher.  “I love golf because there is always something that you can improve upon, and there is no limit to how good you can get. Golf is not easy, and I love the challenge it brings.”

Notable is the fact that Christina was the first African American female to qualify for the High School Golf State Champs in Delaware during her freshman year.  She credits her success in and out of golf to The First Tee.

The most substantial obstacle that she had to overcome is being a minority in the golf community. She recalls the many times she went to tournaments and saw no one that looked like her.  She also felt she was not as fit for golf as her white counterparts. Her father also told her that it is important to pave the way for other African Americans, like herself, who want to play the game of golf.  She holds her head up high, walks with poise, and speaks with intelligence because she knows there are little girls who look up to her and she wants to set an example for them, the way LPGA pro Mariah Stackhouse set an example for her. Her goal is to make it as a professional golfer so that she can encourage people to overcome personal obstacles to become who they want to be; no matter their race.

Christina just recently returned from playing in the PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California. The tournament is an official PGA TOUR Champions televised internationally on Golf Channel. Christina was selected by a national panel of judges based on playing ability and application of the Nine Core Values and life skills learned through their involvement with The First Tee’s programs. She was paired with golf legend, Bernhard Langer.

When Christina is not playing golf, ” I have a love for track. I got tenth at states for the 800 in the 2017 indoor season for Delaware. My best is 2:27. I also ran cross country last year with a best time of 21:53.”  

Her future goals: “My future goals are to get a scholarship for golf to a Division I school. My major will be electrical engineering,” says the animal lover who has two cats, two guinea pigs and a fish.  She also plays the piano, bass clarinet and guitar.  Quite a list of accomplishments for the busy youngster.

In her life, the most significant time, thus far, has been “The first one is when I broke my school record for the lowest 9 hole score as a sophomore. The second is when my family and I went on a vacation to Florida. Going somewhere that Ihave never been before meant so much to me. It was a special time, and we all had fun together.”

The PURE Insurance Championship is the only event of its kind in which 81 junior golfers are teamed with 81 PGA TOUR Champions players and 162 amateurs during an official PGA TOUR Champions tournament. The juniors, ages 14 to 18, compete for the pro-junior title. Representing 22 states, the juniors were selected by a national panel of judges based on playing ability and application of the Nine Core Values and life skills learned through The First Tee’s programs.

The junior field was announced this morning on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive. The show included PGA TOUR winner Jason Gore, Web.com Tour member Cameron Champ, Arizona State University football coach Herm Edwards, Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais and Golf Channel host Charlie Rymer, with 11 junior golfers receiving surprises informing them of their selection.

“We are proud to be a part of such a prestigious event that supports so many deserving young men and women from The First Tee throughout the country,” said Katherine Frattarola, Chief Marketing Officer of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies. “They are what make this tournament so special, and it’s humbling to be a part of something that has such a profound impact on their lives both on and off the course.”

As of July 11, players committed to compete in the PURE Insurance Championship include defending champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer, as well as fellow World Golf Hall of Fame members Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara and Sandy Lyle. Players have until Friday, September 21 to commit, with additional commitments to be announced in the coming months.

“We are proud of the junior golfers selected to play at this year’s PURE Insurance Championship,” said Keith Dawkins, Chief Executive Officer of The First Tee. “These 81 teens, and the event, embody The First Tee’s beliefs around the importance of fan engagement, diversity and inclusion and having a sense of civic responsibility that is expressed through our Nine Core Values.”

In this 15^th tournament year, more than 870kids from The First Tee have played in the tournament, meeting and learning from PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs in the field while showcasing the Nine Core Values and the leadership and life skills they have acquired at The First Tee chapters.

“My most significant achievement is when I broke the school’s record this year as a 10th grader,when I shot a two under par,34.,” said Christina.

Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has introduced the sport of golf and The First Tee’s Nine Core Values to more than 15 million kids, positively impacting their lives along the way. The First Tee’s Nine Core Values are: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. The PURE Insurance Championship is one of 10 national opportunities provided by The First Tee headquarters to encourage and motivate kidsas they progress through the program and toward high school graduation.

Clint Eastwood is chairman of the event. Play will be conducted on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course on Friday and Saturday, with the final round contested solely at Pebble Beach on Sunday.

For more information on the tournament, please visit PUREInsuranceChampionship.com.

To learn more about The First Tee, please visit TheFirstTee.org.

The First Tee participants selected to play in the 2018 PURE Insurance Championship:

Alphabetical by state