Lauren Beaudreau of Lemont Earns Dream Ticket to Compete
for a Spot in LPGA’s First Major – ANA Inspiration
All Nippon Airways (ANA) contributes $5,000 to 11 Gateway City golf foundations in honor of
ANA Gateway City Qualifiers for the ANA Junior Inspiration
RANCHO MIRAGE, California – The ANA Junior Inspiration announced Lauren Beaudreau of Lemont, Illinois as the Chicago Gateway City Qualifier and in her honor ANA’s Gateway City Grant has donated $5,000 to the Illinois Junior Golf Association (IJGA).
The ANA Junior Inspiration, a partnership between the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and All Nippon Airways (ANA), will be held March 22-25, at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. The AJGA invitation-only field will be tested for 36 holes on the Pete Dye Challenge Course before playing the final round on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course with LPGA Legends. During the final round, each pairings group will feature one LPGA legend and two juniors. Juniors will compete for the stroke-play title and participate in a fun competition among pairings groups in a best-ball format with the legends.
Forty-eight of the top junior girls in the world earned entry into the ANA Junior Inspiration, an official AJGA Invitational. Juniors, such as Beaudreau, qualified through the “ANA Priority Mileage” point system, which is based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings, with 11 spots given to the top qualifiers in ANA’s gateway cities of Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington D.C.
Beaudreau is No. 76 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and will be making her first appearance at the ANA Junior Inspiration. The junior at Benet Academy has two AJGA wins and is verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame.
“Seven years ago I played in my first golf tournament and fortunately for me it was with the IJGA,” Beaudreau said. “I had no idea what to expect and had the IJGA not done such an outstanding job, I may not be playing competitive golf today. Over the years, I continued to play in numerous IJGA events and had nothing but great experiences. The IJGA has always treated me like family and has gone out of its way to offer a word of encouragement along the way. The IJGA was my introduction to golf and has given me so many memories that I will cherish forever.”
After qualifying as a representative of one of ANA’s gateway cities, each Gateway City Qualifier chose a golf association in their Gateway City to receive a $5,000 grant from the ANA Junior Inspiration. Beaudreau chose to give the Gateway City Grant to the golf association that helped her grow into the golfer she is today, the IJGA.
“This contribution from ANA and the AJGA means a great deal to the Illinois Junior Golf Association,” said IJGA Executive Director Jordan Abdel-Haq. “Grants of this amount are very rare for our association and they are so impactful in helping us achieve our mission of ‘Better People through Junior Golf.’ With so many professional golf events raising tremendous sums of money for deserving charities, it is wonderful to see ANA recognize the need to support state and regional junior golf associations to ensure the health and future of our game. We also would like to thank Lauren Beaudreau for selecting the IJGA as her designated beneficiary. She has always been well respected by not only our entire staff, but her peers and fellow competitors as well. Lauren is a phenomenal young woman that we are excited to watch as she transitions to the next level.”
Since the Gateway City Grant program began in 2017, the ANA Junior Inspiration has donated $110,000 to local golf associations throughout the country. Giving back to local junior golf organizations is mission-critical for the AJGA. Since the AJGA began in 1978, more than $3 million has been donated to more than 400 junior golf organizations worldwide.
“The AJGA is once again thrilled to support ANA in giving back to local golf associations in its North American Gateway Cities,” said AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin. “The AJGA has always recognized the importance of local, state and regional golf associations in the development of junior golfers. We are proud to continue our support of these organizations with the ANA Junior Inspiration and look forward to seeing this grant money in action across North America.”
“Entering into the 2018 ANA Junior Inspiration tournament, we could not be more excited. As the title sponsor of the ANA Inspiration, we wanted to continue to inspire aspiring golfers and have the most exciting tournament in junior golf,” said Mr. Hideki Kunugi, Senior Vice President of the Americas, ANA. “For ANA, it is vital that our sponsorship leaves a lasting legacy and not only inspires the players of today but the future stars of tomorrow – especially in our gateway cities such as Chicago. As Japan’s largest airline we are in the business of connecting people so we are thrilled to continue to help connect young players from around the world as they start their inspirational journey in the game.”
About the ANA Inspiration
The ANA Inspiration is golf’s first major and one of the LPGA Tour’s most prestigious events. Previously known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the tournament was founded in 1972 by David Foster and Dinah Shore and earned the designation as a major championship in 1983. Contested at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., since its inception, the ANA Inspiration holds the distinction of being the second oldest golf tournament continuously held at the same course. For many, the event is most distinguished by one of golf’s most beloved traditions: the champion’s leap into Poppie’s Pond, located adjacent to the 18th green. In 1988, the first champion’s leap into Poppie’s Pond was taken by Amy Alcott, and since has become one of the most anticipated and memorable traditions in golf. For more information on the ANA Inspiration, please visit ANAinspiration.com or call 760-834-8872. On social media, visit facebook.com/ANAinspiration, twitter.com/ANAinspiration or instagram.com/ANAinspiration.
About the AJGA
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2018, 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 provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 6,900 members from 50 states and 60 foreign countries. Through initiatives like the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, a financial assistance program, Leadership Links, a service-oriented platform that teaches juniors charitable-giving skills, and the Internship Program, which provides career development for future golf professionals, the AJGA fosters the growth of golf’s next generation.
TaylorMade-adidas Golf became the AJGA’s National Sponsor in 2016 after more than 25 years of support and is the Official Ball of the AJGA. Rolex, which is in its fourth decade of AJGA sponsorship, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2017, adidas joined the AJGA as a Premier Partner, serving as the Official Apparel and Footwear of the AJGA.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 900 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Ariya Jutanugarn, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Anna Nordqvist, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson.
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