Twenty-four junior golfers in the Leisure Hour Jr. Golf Program will play in the regional annual Western States Golf Association junior tournament Aug. 4 -6 in Oakland, Calif.
Pioneered in California, the WSGA will celebrate its 30th annual tournament this year in Oakland, CA. Portland junior golfers will compete among 120 junior golfers from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington. Junior golfers aged 7 to 12 will play at the Marina Bay Golf Course. The Metropolitan Golf Course will host the junior golfers aged 13 to 17 during the multi-day tournament.
President of the Leisure Hour Jr. Golf Program and Portland native, Debra Moaning, has also been appointed Junior Chair of the WSGA. As Jr. Chair, Moaning's duties include strategic planning operations management and overseeing annual tournament play.
"The junior golfers have been practicing very hard to qualify on a local level for this tournament and I am thrilled that they have this opportunity to participate in the 30th annual WSGA tournament," said Moaning. "This regional tournament will be able to showcase the diverse talent of junior golfers and selected junior golfers will be recognized at the dinner banquet for their community involvement."
The Leisure Hour Jr. Golf Program was founded in 1947, in Portland, Oregon with a commitment to help youth in the community learn the game of golf. Thirty-two years later the program has an enrollment of more than 120 golfers ranging in age from seven to twenty-three. The program provides classroom instructions, one-on-one instructions with mentors and professional golfers and access to several golf courses in Portland.
The Western States Golf Association was founded in 1954 and incorporated in 1972 in the State of California as a non-profit tax-exempt corporation. Its purpose is to consolidate Black Organized Golf Clubs located in the Western United States under one umbrella. The WSGA currently consists of 31 golf member sites.