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Ping to Host Top-Ranked Juniors at Karsten Creek

AJGA Invitational headed to Stillwater, Okla.

A new invitation-only event on the American Junior Golf Association schedule – the PING Invitational at Karsten Creek – will bring the nation’s highest-ranked boys and girls to Stillwater, Okla., the AJGA announced Wednesday. The event will be held Oct. 6-9 at Karsten Creek, home of the Oklahoma State University golf teams.

The 54-hole stroke play event will feature 84 juniors ages 12-18. The criteria for the event will be based primarily on the Rolex AJGA Rankings with international invitees as well. The exact breakdown of how many boys and girls to be invited is yet to be determined. The event will be the last tournament on the AJGA schedule before the Rolex Junior All-America teams are announced.

A Junior-Am fundraising event and practice round will be held Friday, Oct. 6 followed by the first round of competition Saturday, Oct. 7. The second and final rounds of the event will be staged on Sunday, Oct. 8 and Monday, Oct. 9, respectively.

“Our association with Oklahoma State University dates back more than 30 years, so holding an event for the game’s elite juniors in conjunction with the AJGA at Karsten Creek is a wonderful opportunity,” said John Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “Besides bringing golf’s best young players together to test their skills in a major tournament setting, the PING Invitational at Karsten Creek allows us to further our relationship with the game’s future stars. Hosting an event of this caliber at a facility bearing my father’s name is an honor to his legacy and one I know he’d fully embrace.”

Karsten Creek joins the AJGA schedule in 2006 as a first-time host of an AJGA event. The Tom Fazio-designed course opened in 1994 and quickly gained accolades when Golf Digest named it “Best New Course.” The praises of the course continue coming as it is ranked the No. 2 golf course in the state.

“With the support of PING and the AJGA, I believe we have an opportunity to host an outstanding junior golf event at Karsten Creek,” said Mike Holder, Vice President of Athletic Programs and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Oklahoma State University. “We appreciate this opportunity to showcase our golf course to some of the best junior players in the world.”

PING, a long-time supporter of junior golf, has been a sponsor of the AJGA since 1991, when it first sponsored the PING Phoenix Junior.