Two teen golfers selected for The First Tee Champions Tour Challenge in Florida

Contact: Tyler Smies Executive Director Office: 616-965-6633 Email: [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GRAND RAPIDS, MI – February 13, 2018 – Two local teens are getting away from the winter cold and bringing their golf clubs to compete in The Golf to Paradise – First Tee Champions Challenge in Naples, Florida. Robert Butler, a junior at East Grand Rapids High School and Lindsay Reens, a junior at West Catholic High School are being sent by the local non-profit The First Tee of West Michigan. The First Tee teaches students values and life skills through the game of golf and has had Butler as a participant since 2015 and Reens since 2013. In conjunction with the Chubb Classic, a Champions Tour event, 12 affiliates of The First Tee from across the country have been invited to participate. The Challenge will be hosted at The TwinEagles Club in Naples, Florida on February 15-18. Butler and Reens were two of just 24 students from across the country selected for this event. They will compete in three different playing formats against pairs of students from other First Tee chapters. “We worked with 900 students at The First Tee of West Michigan in 2017, and Robert and Lindsay are two of our finest young people. They are strong golfers, but more importantly exemplify the Nine Core Values we teach, especially the value of perseverance. We are ecstatic that they will represent our chapter on a national stage while also getting to meet Champions Tour players and other students from around the country,” said Executive Director Tyler Smies, who will accompany the students. Butler and Reens will compete against nine other teams from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia throughout the weekend. For more information on The First Tee of West Michigan, contact 616-965-6633, email [email protected] or visit firstteewestmichigan.org. ###