Mattie Weidenbach of First Tee-South Dakota is Selected for PGA TOUR Champions’ PURE Insurance Championship

First Tee — South Dakota Teen Selected for PGA TOUR Champions’ PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee at Pebble Beach

Mattie Weidenbach heads to Pebble Beach this September

Sioux Falls, SD (July 11, 2022) – First Tee and PGA TOUR Champions announced today Mattie Weidenbach will represent First Tee — South Dakota when she competes in the 2022 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee. The event, in its 19th year, will bring teens from First Tee chapters to Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course for the PGA TOUR Champions tournament, Sept. 20-25. The annual event, hosted by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, is televised nationally on Golf Channel.

Mattie, a high school senior at Harrisburg HS, is very excited for this opportunity to represent South Dakota on this national stage. Mattie helped her high school girls golf team to an AA State Championship this past June, with a 6th place individual finish. Mattie plays in several SDGA events throughout the summer and will also be playing in the AJGA this weekend at Bakker Crossing. Mattie also attended the First Tee National Participant Opportunity called the Innovators Forum in San Jose last October.
Mattie has been involved with First Tee – South Dakota for 12 years. Mattie will be entering her senior year at Harrisburg HS. Mattie enjoys spending time with her large extended family, cheering on her classmates at their sporting events, active in youth group at Central Church, and volunteering at the First Tee. When not golfing, she enjoys working at the Country Club of Sioux Falls as a bag room attendant

Throughout the week, the teens apply their character strengths and life skills learned from First Tee programs during the one-of-a-kind event where they are paired with a PGA TOUR Champions player and amateurs from the business world. Mattie will compete for the Pro-Junior Team title. She will join 77 other teens from First Tee chapters across the country and – for the second year in a row – a participant from First Tee — Morocco. 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.

The full junior field was revealed live on Golf Channel’s “Golf Today.” Several players and legends of the game helped surprise select participants with the news of their selection, including World Golf Hall of Fame Member Jack Nicklaus; PGA TOUR players Stewart Cink, Cameron Champ, and Austin Smotherman; PGA TOUR Champions player Ken Duke; and No. 1 APGA Collegiate Player and Duke University stand-out Quinn Riley.

“Congratulations to Mattie who has been selected to play and represent First Tee — South Dakota on a national stage,” said Greg McLaughlin, First Tee CEO. “ Her hard work and commitment to academic and personal growth through our program has secured this opportunity. Thank you to our partners − PURE Insurance, PGA TOUR Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel − for their commitment to young people and helping us provide this opportunity to these deserving teens.”

This year’s field of PGA TOUR Champions players will feature World Golf Hall of Fame Members Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh, as well as three-time PURE Insurance Championship winner Kirk Triplett. 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 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.

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 in the field.

“Supporting these incredible young men and women along with the great work of First Tee through this sponsorship is tremendously rewarding for our entire team,” said Katie Krum, Chief Marketing Officer at PURE Insurance. “I know firsthand the impact and value that participating in youth sports can have on one’s development, personally and professionally, so I am particularly proud to be part of an organization that lends support to such a worthy cause.”

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.