Golf tourism in St. Lucie County keeps getting stronger. PGA Golf Club, A Perfect Drive Villas and Hilton Garden Inn at PGA Village will be hosts to the 11th Annual PARS Florida International Junior Golf Championship to be held December 26th-31st on the Ryder and Dye Courses.
"We hope to make PGA Village the tournament's home for years to come," said Brian Rous, the tournament director.
This event had been housed at PGA National for 8 years before moving to Orange County National and Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando last year. It is a nationally recognized ranked event on the Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golfweek rankings. It is a 54 hole event, with no-cuts allowing all players to play the entire tournament. Players 10 and under also play 18 holes each day, but they are given a golf cart and have their parents caddy while the 11 years and older crowd get to walk and carry their own clubs.
To be successful, the tournament requires strong community support. A variety of sponsorship opportunities are available, please check out their website for more information on the opportunities available.
Parental Assistance Referral Service boasts competitors from around the world. They expect over 150 registrations for the 3-day competition. Potentially generating over 1,500 room nights for St. Lucie County and generating close to a million dollar economic impact to the area.
PARS has helped close to 300 kids reach their golf dreams. It was while coaching at St. Thomas University in Miami that founder Brian Rous realized the better golf players couldn't get to the better Universities due to lack of financial assistance.
One such star PARS was able to help is Julieta Granada who is now a successful Professional. She recently won the ADT Championship at Trump International Golf Club million dollar first place prize two days after her 20th birthday.
PARS is also responsible for the recruitment to the University of Florida of Camilo Benedetti and his cousin Camilo Villegas who recently came in second at the Honda Classic is also one of the hottest bachelors in Golf.
Local celebrities, seniors at the University of Louisville in Kentucky and soon to play at the Ginn sur Mer Classic; Derek and Daryl Fathuer's first win was at PARS at TPC Heron Bay and they participated in PARS' Virgin Islands event.
St. Lucie County is located 1½ hours south of Orlando's International Airport and 1 hour north of Palm Beach International Airport on Florida's east coast. It is comprised of two major cities: Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie. For more information, visit www.visitstluciefla.com or call 800-344-8443.
Here is what you need to know about this tournament:
Program ages: 6 and under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12,
13-14, 15-17 and 18-19.
Style: 54 holes, no-cut
Prize: Exemptions granted to:
Bubba Conley Invitational
Starburst Junior Golf Classic
Pepsi Little Peoples Golf Championship
Texas-Oklahoma Junior
Junior World Championship
Doral/Publix Junior Championship
Web site: www.parsjuniorgolf.com