2013 NENY PGA Junior Golf Association

& Junior Tour Series

2013 Junior Golf Information & Welcome Letter

Dear Junior Golfer & Parents,

We’re excited to begin our 10th year of the Northeastern New York PGA Section’s, Junior Golf Association (JGA) and Junior Golf Tour (JGT) Supported by: American Express. If you’re a past junior member, we’re happy to see you back and if you’re a new member, we would like to welcome you to a distinct golfing opportunity for juniors! NEW For 2013

• You can complete the NENY PGA Junior Golf association Membership form on line at: http://neny.pga.com/juniortourmembershipinfo/

• ALL 18 year old boys and girls will be eligible to play in junior events, regardless if he/she has attended college.

• For families with three (3) or more siblings that join the Junior Golf Association, any additional children after the

first two, will receive a free annual membership. Also related to individual junior tournament entry fees: any additional children after the first two, will only be charged a $10/pp entry fee.

This policy cannot be used for cousin’s or nephew’s/nieces and must be immediate family members.

• Juniors playing in the 13-15 or 16-18 year old age division will be allowed to use distance measuring devises.

• For our Youngest Age Division (8-12) we will be utilizing a stableford scoring format in each tournament (i.e., points for a birdie, points for a par, points for a bogey, points for a double bogey, etc.). These points along with participation points will devise a points system for our Youngest Age Division. All juniors will be encouraged to pick up after a score of 10 on a hole and will not HAVE to hole out.

• Our first place winner in our Youngest Age Division (8-12) will also receive a sleeve of Titleist Pro V1s this year. All players will be provided with a bead counter to assist with keeping score and to alleviate parental involvement in scoring.

• Player of the Year points structure will be modified to include non-NENY PGA Junior qualifiers. We will have three “open” junior events on the weekends this Spring. Everyone is invited to play but you do not need to be a member of the Association to participate so bring a friend with you!! We will have 2-3 events for beginner juniors or juniors 7 years old or younger. These events will be three-hole events using fun formats and kid friendly clubs and balls. The young juniors are guaranteed to have fun in these events. The BASICS:

• Please ALWAYS refer to our junior tourney event webpage for info: each tourney link is a live, online registration for the event and is where you will find all starting times/pairings, results, cancellations, delays, etc!

• Junior Handbook will be posted online and this will have all rules & regs, player of the year point distribution list, etc!

• You must COMPLETE & submit a JGA Membership Application ($75 app fee). You can complete the form online at http://neny.pga.com/juniortourmembershipinfo/ (new for 2013).

• Eligibility for juniors: Any boy or girl, ages 8-18 that reside within the NENY PGA geographic section (Albany capital district and surrounding areas in New York state and Berkshire County in Massachusetts). Any junior that is 18 years old is eligible, regardless of college attendance (new for 2013).

• The membership fee is $75 per junior and benefits of joining include eligibility to play in all NENY PGA Junior Tour tournaments; free clinic workshop, a collegiate informational seminar, a USGA rules book, and more items to be announced. Families that have multiple siblings, a third child may join the Association with the paid membership of two siblings.

• Opportunity for discount junior golf course fees & range balls at participating NENY PGA golf courses & ranges from Malone, NY to Kingston, NY

• The NENY PGA Junior Tour consists of approximately 14 junior tourney playing opportunities! • Juniors compete in their own age divisions (Ages 8-12; 13-15; 16-18 for both boys and girls). • Individual Tourney Entry Fees: The youngest age division will play 9-holes with an entry fee of $35 per event

and the two older age divisions will compete in an 18-hole event with an entry fee of $45 per event (each event fee is inclusive of greens fee, range fee, and lunch). You must register for each tournament online or via the paper entry form. No phone entries will be accepted. For all paper entries, an additional $5.00 administrative fee will be added per event to the registration fee regardless if you sign up for all JGT events on one paper entry form. The family policy with three (3) children or more will be in effect (New for 2013).

• A winner will be determined in each age division for both boys and girls of all divisions of the two older age divisions (13-15 and 16-18). The top two finishers in EVERY age division of those divisions will receive a prize. A winner will be determined in each age division of the youngest age division (8-12) with the winner receiving a prize.

• Player of the Year system: Top 20 boy players and top 10 girl players will still receive points at each NENY JGT. NOTE: Age divisions for boy’s and girl’s 13-15 and 16-18 will be accumulating their own points towards the season ending 2012 Player of the Year award for each respective division. A points system will be created for our Youngest Age Division comprised of stableford event points and participation points.

• The NENY PGA Junior PGA Championship Qualifier and JGT Player of the Year Points eligibility. You must be registered into the NENY PGA Junior Membership prior to this event in order to be eligible to receive JGT points for the PGA Junior Championship Qualifier.

• The section will recognize a total of 4, 2013 Junior Player of the Year’s – (1) 16-18 Boy’s Junior POY; (2) 16-18 Girl’s Junior POY; (3) 13-15 Boy’s Junior POY; (4) 13-15 Girl’s Junior POY. The top 10 boys in both age divisions and top five girls will be eligible for the 2013 New York State PGA Junior Championship (where the top juniors from all 4 NY PGA Sections will compete).

• The NENY PGA will administer all events in a professional manner and will provide junior golfers an opportunity to compete at their highest levels. PGA professionals are the leaders of promoting golf in the capital district and the NENY PGA JGT is an avenue to showcase the top juniors in the area while growing interest in the game to our younger juniors.

• Our goals include promoting sportsmanship, etiquette, and playing by the Rules of Golf. • Once your application has been processed (online or paper form), you will receive an email notification from the

section with the junior’s ID # which will be used for all online registration. • TEE TIME REQUESTS: We make every attempt to accommodate starting time requests and car pooling

requests but we do ask that you give us prior notice for each event which may require such accommodations. • Players may register online by going to the specific junior tournament webpage and clicking on the link to

register. You can find these and any additional information on the Junior Golf Association and Tour events throughout the season as you can join any time and play in as many or as few events as your schedule permits. Some event fields may be limited so make sure to sign up in advance.

• LATE FEES: Any entry not received by the entry deadline but submitted for participation will have a $10 late fee added to the entry fee.

NEW: LITTLE LINKSTER “CERTIFIED” & “OFFICIAL” CADDY PROGRAM FOR 9-HOLE KIDS! We are offering a caddy program for our youngest age division (8-12 year olds) ONLY! A junior may have 1 or multiple “caddies”. To become a “Certified” caddy (most likely a parent or grandparent who will be accompanying the junior for the tourney) will take a brief rules of golf test and you will receive a golf rules book and a badge. Cost is $40 to be a “certified” caddy. If you want to give your junior golfer a “professional tour event” feel…then for $75, you can become an “official” caddy and receive a caddy bib with the junior’s last name!!! Cost is $75 to become an official “caddy”! Call us with questions. ONLINE TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION: Online registration for events opens on MAY 1st, 2013. You must have submitted your $75 payment for your membership application and received your customer ID# in order to register online.

If you should have any questions, feel free to call us at (518) 438-8645. Sincerely, Tracie L. Warner (Executive Director) & Doug Evans (Assistant ED/Tournament Director) Supporting Sponsor: