Tee-it up for Optimist Junior Golf

For Optimist Clubs, the Spring season brings Easter egg hunts, scholarship contests, youth appreciation activities, and so much more, including junior golf. The PNW District-Optimist International is fortunate to have two separate qualifying tournaments for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships, one in Canada and one in the US.

The first takes place this month, April 22, 2018, at King's Link Golf Course, Ladner, British Columbia. Coordinated with the help of the Vancouver, BC Optimist Club, it is part of the Junior Linkster Tour, and non-members are welcome to participate. Tour members registration fee is $75 and non-members fee is $85.00. For more information, contact Mike Riske.

In the US, the Hillsboro, Oregon Optimist Club organizes the qualifying tournament. It will be held May 19, Forest Hills Golf Course, Cornelius, Oregon. The registration fee is $50. More information is available from tournament director Al Young.

Both tournaments welcome boys and girls in the following divisions: Boys 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-18; and Girls 10-12, 13-14, 15-18. In order to be eligible, the golfer must not turn 19 on or before August 1, 2018. Any golfer who has attended college is no longer considered a junior golfer and is not eligible to participate. 

There are a limited number of golfers in each division who will advance to the international championships provided they shoot the minimum qualifying score. Financial support to attend the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships will be advised by the tournament director. 

The Optimist International Junior Golf Championships will take place July 17-August 1, 2018, PGA National Resort and Spa, Palm Beach Gardens, US. Find out all about THE OPTIMIST, with more than 600 international junior golfers competing each year. 

Photo credit: (top) Michelle Fedosoff, (bottom) Jack Thornton