South Brunswick High School golfer Ashley Sloup will take a break from her fall sports season to compete in the 10th Nature Valley Fest Open at Pebble Beach, Calif.
She will join 81 young men and women, ages 14 to 18, representing 54 chapters of The First Tee program, who were selected by a national panel of judges that evaluated participants’ playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and character education learned through their involvement with The First Tee. Almost 150 applications were submitted.
“An invitation to this event is a goal many teenage participants at our chapters set, and it is exciting to see their hard work and perseverance rewarded,” Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., chief executive officer of The First Tee, said. “We are thankful for our partnership with Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Champions Tour and Nature Valley that brings the once-in-a-lifetime golf and leadership opportunity alive for these young people.”
The juniors will be teamed with 81 Champions Tour players and 162 amateurs as they compete for the pro-junior title at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course. Sloup was hoping to get a chance to play with the legendary Fred Couples, but her senior mentor is still yet to be determined.
The senior from Southport has already racked up a few wins amongst her competitors in the Mideastern Conference after leading the Cougars to a sixth-place finish in the 3A state tournament last year. As a sophomore in 2011, Sloup placed second at the East Regional and was five shots back in a third place showing at the state tournament during her junior campaign in 2012.
She has also played in a number of tournaments this year, which included a third-place finish at the Preseason Junior at St. James Plantation and a fifth-place spot at the Carolinas Dogwood Junior Championship.
Sloup left for Pebble Beach, Calif., earlier this week and will begin play in the Coca Cola Challenge on Thursday afternoon. The Nature Valley Fest Open will be shown live on the Golf Channel, with first-round action on Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Second-round play will also be shown from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, with the final round airing 7-9:30 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, visit www.thefirstteeopen.com. To learn more about The First Tee, visit www.thefirsttee.org.
