By: Fred Altvater
In the tradition of Francis Ouimet, Chick Evans, Bobby Jones, Frank Stranahan and many other great American amateur golfers, the Amateur Golf Alliance wants to further amateur golf in this country, as well as internationally.
The Amateur Golf Alliance (AGA) was founded in 2014 after the first Concession Cup was held at the Concession Club in Florida. The Concession Cup is a biennial competition featuring a team of Mid-Amateur and Senior Golfers from Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) versus a team from the United States. Every participant enjoyed the competitive matches and camaraderie from that initial event, thus the decision was born to create the AGA to continue the Concession Cup, as well as, enhance amateur golf.
The Concession Cup is named for one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship ever witnessed. Jack Nicklaus conceded a three-foot putt to Tony Jacklin on the final hole of the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale, to allow the match to end in a tie, with the Ryder Cup a 16-16 draw. Team USA retained the cup, but that was the first time the matches had ended tied.
Jacklin, who had won the Open Championship earlier that year, would have been crucified by the British media if he had missed the putt and caused GB&I to lose the match entirely.
Nicklaus said at the time,
“I don’t think you (Jacklin) would have missed it, but I wasn’t going to give you the chance, either.”
It is in that spirit of sportsmanship that the Amateur Golf Alliance promotes and enhances amateur golf.
The AGA is an independent organization, which depends solely on donations from individuals to operate. They have identified several areas in the game that need attention and are working to fill those gaps.
One such area is the lack of one association in the United States responsible to provide financial assistance to exceptional young golfers. The USGA conducts tournaments, keeps handicaps and administers the Rules of Golf, but no organization is responsible for establishing a national golf program.
One of the main tenets of the AGA is to provide talented amateur golfers with opportunities to gain experience through competition in national, as well as, international competition.
Other countries have a national golf program that identifies talented players at an early age and provides the assistance necessary to foster their growth in the game.
In the United States, local junior golf programs and the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) provide a series of tournaments, in which to compete. Some financial assistance is available such as, the AJGA’s ACE Grant, but talented young golfers, worthy of a college scholarship and or even the next Tiger Woods, could be falling through the cracks and prevented from pursuing their dreams, due to a lack of funding.
These are the young people that the AGA has targeted to help in its effort to promote amateur golf and they have already registered two success stories.
Chandler Phillips, a member of the Texas A&M golf team, was ranked sixth in the nation by Golfweek. He had won two collegiate events, plus compiled a 69.5 stroke average. Chandler’s goal was to qualify for the Palmer Cup team, because selection was based solely on collegiate events, in which Texas A&M could cover his expenses. A spot on the Palmer Cup team could bolster his ultimate goal of earning a berth on the Walker Cup team.
Both of his parents work and his brother is autistic, which puts an additional strain on the family budget. Extra funds were not available for Chandler to travel to non-collegiate sponsored amateur tournaments, to qualify for a spot on the Walker Cup Team.
The AGA was made aware of his situation and following all NCAA and USGA regulations provided the funds necessary for Chandler to compete. He finished tied for sixth in the Northeast Amateur, plus garnered a fourth-place finish in the Trans-Miss Amateur. He did not earn a spot on the 2017 Walker Cup team, but was able to chase his dream with the help of AGA.
The second player that has received financial assistance from the AGA, Matt Parziale won the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and earned spots in the 2018 Masters, U.S. Open at Shinnecock and the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach.
After a successful collegiate career, Parziale tried professional golf, but decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and became a fireman in his hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts. Matt regained his amateur status and continued to play in local amateur competitions, but aspirations of competing in larger national amateur tournaments did not fit his budget.
The AGA was made aware of Parziale’s talent and helped him enter several national events, which allowed him to prepare to compete in USGA events.
Parziale told us,
“I could never have been able to compete at the level I achieved at the U.S. Mid-Am Championship without the help of the Amateur Golf Alliance.”
The funding allowed him to compete in two events in Florida over the winter. When the snow melted in Massachusetts, he won the Massachusetts Amateur Championship, as well as, the Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament, before adding a USGA Championship to his 2017 accomplishments.
AGA President Alan Fadel told us,
“Our hope is that the Amateur Golf Alliance can foster the development of amateur golf worldwide. Through research, creation of competitive golf tournaments and funding talented golfers, the amateur game will continue to grow and prosper, in both the United States and internationally.”
In addition to supporting talented amateur golfers, the AGA is involved with creating future amateur tournaments, plus providing additional funding for research and other organizational initiatives to benefit amateur golf.
To learn more about the Amateur Golf Alliance or make a Donation visit: http://www.amateurgolfalliance.org/
