Houchens Industries will sponsor the Houchens Industries Junior Open June 12-15, 2006, the American Junior Golf Association announced Tuesday.
“Providing the necessities of life to its employee owners and its customers, Houchens Industries is proud to be a supporter of the AJGA, and believes supporting the youth of today insures the successes of tomorrow at every level,” said Alan Larsen, merchandising and marketing director of Houchens Industries.
The 54-hole national junior golf event, which will bring 120 of the top juniors to Bowling Green, Ky., will be held at The Club at Olde Stone. The event will feature a qualifier on June 11, a practice round and Junior-Am (a fundraising tournament similiar to a PGA TOUR Pro-Am) on June 12, followed by three rounds of competition June 13-15.
The Club at Olde Stone was designed by internationally acclaimed golf course architect Arthur Hills and is set to fully open in the spring of 2006. The course features a combination of hills, flatlands, trees, grassland and water. The par-72, 7,400-yard layout features bentgrass fairways and greens with water hazards coming into play on five holes.
This event will mark the first time the AJGA has conducted an event in Bowling Green, however the Association is no stranger to the Bluegrass State as one of its longest-standing tournaments is conducted in Ashland, Ky., each year. The AJGA has also had stints in Lexington and Louisville.
“The AJGA is very excited about our relationship with Houchens Industries,” said Lee Pinchouck, AJGA vice president/regional director for the Midwest. “This event will give our juniors in the Bowling Green area and the Midwest another opportunity to play in front of college golf coaches. I am confident that the support of Houchens Industries and the Bowling Green community will lead to a very successful event.”
Houchens Industries, founded in 1917 by Irvin Houchens in rural Kentucky, employs more than 10,000 people in 13 states and is the largest 100 percent employee owned company in the United States. With interests in grocery, convenience stores, insurance, recycling, web-based management, manufacturing, construction, tanning supplies, agriculture and other industrial applications, Houchens Industries now conducts business in all 50 states.