BRASELTON, Ga. -- Bass Pro Shops, recently selected by Sporting Goods Business Magazine as the #1 Outdoor Retailer in America, will sponsor the Bass Pro Shops Junior Open to be held Aug. 6-9, 2007, the American Junior Golf Association announced. The event will be held at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Mo.
The 99-player, 54-hole event will feature the nation’s top junior boys and girls, ages 12-18. The first round will be held Tuesday, Aug. 7, with the second and final rounds being played Wednesday, Aug. 8 and Thursday, Aug. 9, respectively. The Bass Pro Shops Fishing Contest will be held during the tournament cookout on Tuesday, Aug. 7.
“Bass Pro Shops is very excited about our new relationship with the American Junior Golf Association,” said Stan Lippelman, Bass Pro Shops Vice President of Marketing. “We are looking forward to showcasing the wonderful city of Springfield, Missouri. There is a natural synergy between golf and the great outdoors.“
Bass Pro Shops, also a major catalog and Internet retailer, is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. They currently have 40 retail locations in 23 states and Canada.
“The AJGA is very pleased to announce this new agreement with Bass Pro Shops, which will bring a national junior golf tournament to the Springfield area,” said Jason Etzen, AJGA Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. “This tournament will give our members in Missouri and the surrounding states another opportunity to gain exposure for college golf scholarships.”
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
For more information, please contact Tonya Oskarson (toskarson@ajga.org) in the AJGA Sponsorship Department at (678) 425-1743 or visit the AJGA Web site at ajga.org.
