CONTACTS:
Mike Puffer, Committee Chair (727)631-2786
Jeff Hollis, Executive Director (727) 893-7807
The First Tee of St. Petersburg, City Golf Courses Director
Jenelle Steeg, Information Specialist (727) 551-3300 office
The First Tee of St. Petersburg (727) 742-4062 cell

CELEBRITIES HELP LOCAL LPGA GOLFER SUPPORT JUNIOR GOLF IN ST. PETERSBURG    

Corrected to reflected adjusted clinic time of 11:45 a.m. and tournament start time of 1:00 p.m.

St. Petersburg, Fla. (October 31) LPGA golfer Brittany Lincicome will host the first annual “Brittany & Friends” Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament November 27, 2007, at St. Petersburg Country Club. Proceeds from the tournament and auction will benefit The First Tee of St. Petersburg junior golf program.

Festivities kick off with a pairings party, Monday, November 26, 2007, at a private residence, featuring Lincicome.  Other celebrities scheduled to appear include “Winky” Wright, former undisputed light middleweight world champion and current middleweight contender; former NFL punter Mark Royals; Tampa Bay Devil Rays Doug Waechter, B.J. Upton; and Scott Kazmir; along with LPGA professionals Angela Stanford and Hall of Famer Dale Eggeling.  The tournament gets underway Tuesday with a celebrity clinic at 11:45 a.m. at St. Petersburg Country Club, featuring Lincicomeand Angela Stanford, followed by a 1:00 p.m. shotgun start. The day’s activities wrap up with a live auction, featuring sports memorabilia autographed by Lincicome, Natalie Gulbis, Chris Leak, and Derek Jeter

Lincicome, a St. Petersburg city junior golf program after winning her first tournament at age 9 to become a star on
the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit.  A win at the Harder Hall Invitational and leading after the first round of the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur pointed her toward the big leagues.  After turning professional in 2005, Lincicome earned her first Tour victory at the 2006 HSBC World Women’s Match Play Championship, following that up with first place at the 2007 Ginn Open.  She was also part of the U.S. Women’s team that brought home the Solheim Cup.

“Brittany remembers her days as a junior golfer in our program and we are grateful that she generously gives of her time to help support The First Tee of St. Petersburg and the more than 1,200 children that participate in the program,” Jeff Hollis, Executive Director of The First Tee of St. Petersburg, said. “She is an outstanding role model as one of the LPGA’s up-and-coming bright stars.”

The city junior golf program was integrated into The First Tee of St. Petersburg when it became a chapter of The First Tee in April 2005; currently, the program has approximately 1,200 participants.  The purpose of the First Tee is to positively impact the youth of St. Petersburg by ensuring fair access to all and instilling life skills through the game of golf. As part of their instruction, participants learn nine Core Values (Honesty, Integrity, Responsibility, Courtesy, Sportsmanship, Confidence, Judgment, Perseverance, and Respect) that have significance in golf and life and play an important role in determining the future of our youth.  The mission of The First Tee of St. Petersburg is to be the leading youth development program in St. Petersburg by developing young men and women who exhibit the 9 Core Values of The First Tee.

The First Tee of St. Petersburg relies on fee-based programs, grants and donations to maintain its goal of bringing golf to every child in St. Petersburg and surrounding communities regardless of income.  In addition to a year-round schedule of fee-based after-school, weekend and summer programming, golf instruction and the First Tee Life Skills curriculum is provided on an on-going basis for Academy Prep, Special Olympics, home school and other community-based groups.

For more information, visit www.thefirstteestpetersburg.org or call (727) 551-3300.

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