First Tee Juniors Earn $22,000 for Chapters at Pebble Beach

Eighty First Tee participants competing at the PURE Insurance Championship helped raise $22,000 for their local chapters this week, the result of a closest-to-the-pin contest held at Pebble Beach's short course, The Hay.

How did the contest work?

On Tuesday, the junior golfers played the nine-hole routing at The Hay, which includes a hole modeled after Pebble Beach's famous par-3 seventh. Chevron sponsored a closest-to-the-pin competition on that hole, playing about 100 yards, with the top five boys and top five girls each earning $2,000 for their respective First Tee chapters.

The girls' competition ended in a tie for fifth place, and Chevron matched the additional prize rather than split it, pushing the total raised to $22,000.

What else did Chevron announce?

That evening, at the tournament's pairings party, Chevron announced a separate $125,000 donation to First Tee. The gift is part of a partnership between the company and the youth golf organization that stretches back 16 years and totals more than $5 million, including support for First Tee's College Scholarship Program, which launched in 2020 and has helped more than 143 students with mentorship, professional development and financial assistance.

Who has the scholarship program supported?

Aarya Shewale of First Tee – Greater Houston is starting his freshman year at Texas A&M, where he plans to study aerospace engineering. After eight years in the program, Shewale earned First Tee's Ace certification and founded the Katy Chess Academy, a youth service project. Carlie Matengula of First Tee – Greater Austin begins studying political science at Baylor this fall after seven years with the program, most recently as a junior coach. She created Tee Her Up, a golf clinic that introduced the game to 100 girls in her community.