The First Tee® and PGA TOUR Champions announced today Drew Charter School rising senior Anthony Ford will represent The First Tee® of Metro Atlanta when he competes in the 2019 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee, an official PGA TOUR Champions event to be contested at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, California, September 24-29. The 16th annual event, which is hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, will be televised internationally on Golf Channel.
The PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee is the only event of its kind where 78 First Tee teenagers from across the country are paired up with 78 PGA TOUR Champions players and 156 amateurs during an official PGA TOUR Champions tournament. Ford will compete for the Pro-Junior Team title. He will join 77 other participants from First Tee chapters across the country. Participants were selected by a national panel of judges based on their understanding and application of the values and life skills learned through First Tee’s programs, as well as their playing ability.
The full junior field was revealed live on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive” today, including a video of World Golf Hall of Fame Member Jack Nicklaus surprising one of the First Tee participants. Other surprises by PGA TOUR players and Golf Channel hosts had been recorded over the last month and aired today as part of the PURE Insurance Championship announcement.
This year’s field of professionals will include World Golf Hall of Fame Members Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen, as well as defending champion and recent KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship winner Ken Tanigawa. Clint Eastwood serves as chairman of the PURE Insurance Championship.
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 Golf Links on Sunday, where 23 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.
“We are proud to continue our involvement with this prestigious event and help support the great work of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and First Tee,” said Katherine Frattarola, Chief Marketing Officer of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies. “The impact this event has on the incredible young men and women from the First Tee makes this sponsorship tremendously rewarding for our entire team.”
Anthony is a rising senior at Charles R. Drew Charter School in Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood. A resident at The Villages of East Lake, he has been a participant with The First Tee of East Lake, now The First Tee of Metro Atlanta, since he was in 6th grade. Anthony is an accomplished golfer with a USGA handicap of 1.9. He was selected as a member of the All-State golf team his freshman and junior years, won the GA Region 3 Championship and was one of 18 golfers to be invited to the 2018 Congaree Golf Initiative in South Carolina. In 2019, Anthony was the captain of Drew Charter School’s Varsity Golf Team that won the Class A Public State Championship, the first all African-American team to do so in Georgia. In addition to golf, Anthony plays the harp and wrote and co-directed a one-act play at Drew Charter School.
“I am thrilled that Anthony has been selected to participate in the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach,” said Nyre Williams, Program Director of The First Tee of Metro Atlanta. “Anthony has practiced very hard and is at the top of his game right now. He recently won the Georgia Class A Regional Championship and led his team in the High School Golf National Invitational. I am very excited for him to have this well-deserved opportunity to play with the best of the best.”
“I am so fortunate to have this opportunity to play in the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach,” said Anthony Ford. “I am grateful to participate in a First Tee program where I have been exposed to amazing opportunities and learned relevant life lessons, how to be a better person, and how important it is to “pay it forward.” I would like to be the kid who shows the world that through working hard and persevering, anything is possible.”
Nearly 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 in the field.
First Tee is a youth development organization dedicated to helping young people build character through the game of golf. On July 1st, The First Tee of East Lake and The First Tee of Atlanta joined to become the First Tee of Metro Atlanta. The First Tee of Metro Atlanta is one of 150 chapters around the world introducing the sport of golf and First Tee’s Core Values to kids, positively impacting their lives.
To learn more about the First Tee of Metro Atlanta, visit https://www.thefirstteeatlanta.org/.
For more information on the 2019 PURE Insurance Championship, visit www.pureinsurancechampionship.com.
For more information on Anthony Ford or to request an interview or photos, contact Catherine Woodling at cwoodling@eastlakefoundation.org or 404-550-7271.
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About Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Monterey Peninsula Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization which donates funds from the proceeds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA TOUR and the PURE Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee, a PGA TOUR Champions tournament. The Foundation focuses on improving the quality of life in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties.
www.pureinsurancechampionship.com
About PURE
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) is a member-owned reciprocal insurer dedicated to creating an exceptional experience for responsible high net worth individuals and families. PURE provides customizable coverage for high-value homes, automobiles, jewelry, art, personal liability, watercraft, flood, fraud and cyber fraud to more than 75,000 responsible, high net worth families throughout the U.S. Inspired by some of the finest policyholder-owned companies, PURE emphasizes alignment of interests and transparency. PURE’s low cost of capital, careful member selection and proactive risk management all contribute to highly competitive rates. In return for a fee, PURE Risk Management, LLC acts as Attorney-in-Fact for PURE. PURE membership is subject to an executed Subscriber’s Agreement & Power of Attorney. For more information or to find a local broker, visit pureinsurance.com. You can follow PURE on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 35 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. In 2019, the PGA TOUR Champions schedule includes 27 tournaments across the United States, Scotland and Canada, with purses totaling more than $56 million. The Charles Schwab Cup, which includes the Regular Season and the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, is used to determine the season-long champion. All events are televised in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Internationally, telecasts air in excess of 190 countries and territories, reaching more than 350 million potential households. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour and on Instagram @championstour.
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