Hunter Swanson, Kyle Leydon of First Tee GVR earn invites into inaugural First Tee National Championship
By Gary Baines – 4/29/2021
Two Colorado junior golfers — both from The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch — may one day have the opportunity to tell their kids that they were among the first golfers ever to compete in the First Tee National Championship.
Hunter Swanson of Denver and Kyle Leydon of Commerce City this week were named two of the 48 invitees to the inaugural First Tee National Championship, set for June 20-25 at Clemson University’s Walker Course in South Carolina.
The winners of the boys and girls competitions — fields of 24 players for each — will earn berths into the PGA Tour Champions’ PURE Insurance Championship, scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at Pebble Beach Golf Links near Monterey, Calif.
The plan is for the First Tee National Championship to be held annually at various college facilities around the nation.
Swanson, Leydon and the other participants were selected based on golf skill, competitive experience and handicap. Green Valley Ranch is one of four First Tee chapters with more than one representative in the boys national championship field.
Swanson was the 2020 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Boys Player of the Year. The 2020 Colorado Junior Amateur runner-up is also a fourth-year member of the CGA’s Hale Irwin Player Program.
Leydon won the JGAC’s first boys Tour event of 2021 earlier this month in Pueblo.
The First Tee is a youth development organization which aims to help young people learn life skills and build character through the game of golf.