PGA Junior League Golf Continues to Grow in the Gateway Section
One of the staples in the youth pillar of the Gateway PGA REACH Foundation is PGA Junior League Golf. PGA Junior League Golf, was originally started in 2012 and is designed to serve as a “Little League Baseball Team type format” for golf for juniors ages 17 and Under. In 2018 over 50,000 boys and girls participated in PGA Junior League Golf across the United States. That’s up from 42,000 in 2017!
PGA Junior League Golf also grew substantially in 2018 in the Gateway Section. In 2018 124 teams participated in PGA Junior League Golf equating to approximately 1,500 juniors. That is a 21% increase from the prior year. Also equally exciting was that 65% of all golf facilities in the Gateway PGA Section were involved with PGA Junior League Golf; far and away the best of any Section nationwide (the next closest was at 55%). Finally, we were honored to have two All Star Teams participate in Regional play at the Country Club of Loch Lloyd this year headed by PGA Professionals Mike Suhre and Lance Flury.
Finally, 2018 was the first year juniors in the Gateway Section received scholarships to participate. 54 juniors were given scholarships and got the chance to participate who otherwise would not have been able too. Scholarship recipients included families in need, families in a military program, and Boys and Girls Club students. In total $4,050 were given out in scholarships!