CHUN LEADS FIELD FOR QUALIFIER MEDALIST HONORS
Allare fires personal low to clinch top honors

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. — Jason Chun, 16, of Virginia Beach, Va., finished the day with a lead score of 6-under-par 65 to earn a four-stroke victory in the Boys Division to qualify for the Golf Pride Junior Classic. Katie Allare, 17 of Scottsdale, Ariz earned a spot in the tournament field by turning in a lead score of 72 for her first-ever qualifier victory at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club.

The Srixon Qualifier for the Golf Pride Junior Classic was an 18-hole event conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and featured 98 players representing 22 states 36 from the native state of North Carolina. Ten boys and three girls qualified for the three-day tournament at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club.

Being only four strokes off the course record, Chun, ended his day with an overall score of 32-33—65 to lead the qualifier field to earn a spot in the Golf Pride Junior Classic. Coming into the day, Chun had a goal of playing it safe throughout the round.

“I wanted to play it from tee to green all day long,” Chun said. “I knew the field would be hard and I just wanted to play safe golf.”

Chun explained that his irons were one of the keys to his victory.

“I stuck everything today and it saved me,” Chun said. “I could have gone lower or higher because the greens were tough, but my irons came through for me.”

Allare finished her round with three birdies and 11 pars to lead the Girls Division by one stroke. Carding a 72, she explained that her strategy for victory was key to her game.

“I just tried to par every hole,” Allare said. “I lost concentration on Nos. 7 and 8, but I just told myself that I am a great competitor.”

After qualifying with her top score, Allare said that the golf course had a huge impact on her game.

“This course is awesome,” Allare said. “It's traditional and very straight forward and it plays to my game.”

Also qualifying for the Golf Pride Junior Classic were Billy Parrott of Johnson City, Tenn., Jacob Colley of Holly Springs, N.C., Chris Gilbert of Wake Forest, N.C., Jin Chung of Duluth, Ga., Garrett Whitmore of Midlothian, Va., Grant Gaugler III of Bradenton, Fla., Michael West of Huntersville, N.C., Will Almand of Cary, N.C., Trevor Sahn of Bronxville, N.Y., Courtney Gunter of Matthews, N.C., and Eugene Ahn of Chapel Hill, N.C.

Garrett Arnold of Concord, Mass., John Welden of Pilot Mtn, N.C., Ben Heisey of New Bern, N.C., Stani Schiavone of Bangor, Pa., and Courtney McKim of Raleigh, N.C. decided to have a tournament exemption added to her Performance Based Entry status in lieu of playing in this week's tournament.

SRIXON Sports USA, Inc., based in Norcross, Ga., has been distributing premium golf balls and equipment in the U.S. since 1997 and is a subsidiary of SRI Sports. SRI Sports is one of the world's leading patent holders in golf ball technology and manufactures several golf balls played in the United States. SRI Sports-made balls have won 73 PGA TOUR events since 1989, including seven majors. For more information about SRIXON, please visit www.srixon.com

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 30 foreign countries.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiles more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Mike Weir, Charles Howell III, Jim Furyk, Grace Park, Cristie Kerr, Candie Kung and Paula Creamer.

The first round of the Golf Pride Junior Classic will be held Tuesday, August 8 at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club beginning at 7:00 a.m. off the No. 1 tee. For more information please contact tournament headquarters at (910) 692-7111.