WESTFIELD CENTER, Ohio -- Defending champions Joe Monte of Chantilly, Va. and Brittany Altomare of Shrewsbury, Mass., headline a 156-player field in the 32nd Westfield Junior PGA Championship, which will be conducted Wednesday, July 11, through Saturday, July 14, at the Westfield Group Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio.

The field in the summer’s premier junior championship is composed of one boy and one girl champion from each of the 41 PGA Sections, winners of selected national junior tournaments conducted earlier in the year, special invitees and past Junior PGA Championship winners who have not reached their 19th birthday and have not begun college.

Included in the field are more than 30 golfers ranked among the top-50 golfers in the country. The boys’ division features Andrew Yun of Tacoma, Wash., who is currently No. 4 and No. 11 in the Polo Golf and Golfweek rankings, respectively.

Monte, currently ranked 36th in the Polo Golf Rankings, is bidding to become the first repeat boys’ champion. Yun and Monte were each members of the 2006 Junior Ryder Cup Team.

Joining Yun and Monte are Luke Guthrie of Quincy, Ill., who was the 2006 Callaway Golf Junior Series Player of the Year (16-18 age division) and currently ranked 28th in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings, John Hahn of Hudson, Ohio, Connor Driscoll of Encinitas, Calif., and Wesley Bryan of Chapin, S.C., who are currently ranked No. 12, 22, and 23, respectively, in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings.

Altomare and Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Fla., head a talent-rich girls’ division. Altomare is ranked No. 28 in the latest Polo Golf Rankings. Hurst, who missed the cut at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open by two-strokes, is ranked No. 2 in the same poll.

Also competing this year are fellow 2007 U.S. Women’s Open Championship competitors Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs, Fla., Kimberly Kim of Pahoa, Hawaii, who in 2006 became the youngest Women’s Amateur Champion and Courtney Ellenbogen of Blacksburg, Va., who finished just one stroke shy of the cut line this year and recently won the 2007 Rolex Tournament of Champions.

The Westfield Junior PGA Championship, which has traditionally produced stellar golf performances for more than three decades, brings together the best junior golfers to compete for the Jack Nicklaus Trophy in the boys’ division and the Patty Berg Trophy to the girls’ division champion.

Since 1976, the Championship has been a stepping stone for competitors to either collegiate or Tour professional careers. The list of past Champions includes some of the most prominent current Tour professionals: Billy Andrade (1981), Billy Mayfair (1982), 2001 PGA Champion David Toms (1984), Sean O’Hair (1998), reigning U.S. Women’s Open Champion Cristie Kerr (1995), Trevor Immelman (1996), Grace Park (1996), Aree Song (1999, 2000), In-Bee Park (2001, ’02) and Angela Park (2004).

Since 2001, Westfield Group Country Club, owned by title sponsor Westfield Insurance, has been home to the Westfield Junior PGA Championship. The site features the most Tour-like experience in junior golf for players and attendees.

Golf Channel will present a highlight show from the Westfield Junior PGA Championship at a date to be determined.

The PGA of America is the world’s largest working sports organization, comprised of 28,000 men and women golf Professionals who are the recognized experts in growing, teaching and managing the game of golf, while serving millions of people throughout its 41 PGA Sections nationwide. Since its founding in 1916, The PGA of America has enhanced its leadership position in a $62 billion-a-year industry by growing the game of golf through its premier spectator events, world-class education and training programs, significant philanthropic outreach initiatives and award-winning golf promotions. Today’s PGA Professional is the public’s link to the game, serving an essential role in the operation of golf facilities throughout the country.