Volunteers of America Classic Partners with the Texas Junior Golf Alliance in Competition for Exemption into the LPGA Tournament

Molly Rawlins • October 2, 2019

The Colony, TX (October 2, 2019) - The Volunteers of America Classic – the only LPGA event in Texas – is partnering with Texas Junior Golf Alliance in a series of competitions where youth female golfers can earn an exemption spot into the LPGA event at Old American Golf Club.

The existing relationship between the Volunteers of America Classic and the Northern Texas PGA was key in this partnership with the Texas Junior Golf Alliance. Together, the group is excited to embark on this journey to promote the sport of golf and to encourage golf engagement with youth overall in the state of Texas.

Formed in 2012, the goal of the Alliance – consisting of Northern Texas PGA, Southern Texas PGA, Houston Golf Association and Texas Golf Association – was to allow junior golfers a clear path to compete in the best tournaments the state of Texas has to offer. Each regional organization conducts tournaments that serve as qualifiers into the statewide Legends Tour events – operated by the Texas Golf Association Foundation.

“We are extremely excited to partner with The Volunteers of America Classic on this initiative to promote and grow the game in Texas” said Stacy Dennis, Executive Director of the Texas Golf Association. “Each Texas Junior Golf Alliance partner will have young ladies represented in the Match Play Championship. This is yet another example of our collective partnership working extremely well for the betterment of junior golf in Texas.”

Starting in 2020, the Volunteers of America Classic Match Play Championship will give junior female golfers from the state of Texas the opportunity to play their way into the LPGA Tour’s Volunteers of America Classic. The Match Play Championship will be conducted at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas in the late summer of 2020. The Match Play Championship will feature 16 female junior golfers; 7 from the Legends Tour, 4 from NTPGA All American Tour, 4 from STPGA Prestige, and 1 from Houston Golf Association Performance Series. Details for the qualifying events and guidelines will be announced in February of 2020.

“Most of these participants will have an opportunity to play collegiate golf and play amateur golf at an elite level. Most of them have aspirations of playing professionally. To get a firsthand shoulder-to-shoulder look at that and to be able to do it through their local tours, they don't have to travel all the way across the country every other weekend,” said Stacy Dennis, the executive director of the Texas Golf Association and the Legends Junior Tour. “They have the opportunity right in their own backyard to earn this chance. I can't imagine a young girl with those aspirations not wanting to sign up for everything they can and do whatever they can do to make it into this field.”

For the team at the Volunteers of America Classic, the opportunity to help inspire the next generation of LPGA Tour players was something that fit right into the tournament’s mission.

“Mike King, CEO of Volunteers of America, he is very passionate about growing the game for young women,” said Tournament Director Brooke Lee. “This partnership, when we brought it to him and talked to him about it, he's super excited and super thrilled to have this. We're excited to see the young women get the experience and get out here and do well.”

Numerous LPGA Tour players competed in these Texas Junior Golf Alliance organizations during their junior careers, including Kristen Gillman, Cheyenne Knight and Angela Stanford. For more information, visit https://www.txga.org/tljt-texas-junior-golf-alliance.html and www.VOAClassic.com

About the Volunteers of America Classic
The 2019 Volunteers of America Classic, formerly the Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic, will return to Old American Golf Club in The Colony, TX for the second consecutive year. The official LPGA Tournament will feature 144 of the world’s best female golfers in a four-day stroke-play event vying for a $1.3 million purse. In 2019, the tournament will embrace a new week, taking place September 30 through October 6, allowing for a stronger playing field and the opportunity to create new and unique programming for fans and the surrounding community. Be sure to follow along online, and on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for the latest Tournament news.

About the Texas Junior Golf Alliance
Formed in 2012, the goal of the Alliance was to allow junior golfers a clear path to compete in the best tournaments the state of Texas has to offer. Each regional organization conducts tournaments (NTPGA's All American Tour, STPGA's Prestige Tour and HGA's Performance Series) that serve as qualifiers into the statewide Legends Tour events - operated by the Texas Golf Association

About the LPGA
The LPGA is the world’s leading professional golf organization for women. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla., the association celebrates a diverse and storied membership with more than 2,300 members representing more than 30 countries. With a vision to inspire, empower, educate and entertain by showcasing the very best of women’s golf, LPGA Tour Professionals compete across the globe, while the Symetra Tour, the official development and qualifying tour of the LPGA, consistently produces a pipeline of talent ready for the world stage. Additionally, LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals directly impact the game through teaching, coaching and management.

The LPGA demonstrates its dedication to the development of the game through The LPGA Foundation. Since 1991, this charitable organization has been committed to empowering and supporting girls and women through developmental and humanitarian golf initiatives, such as LPGA*USGA Girls Golf.

Follow the LPGA on its television home, Golf Channel, and on the web. Join the social conversation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and on Instagram and Snapchat at @lpga_tour.

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