MOSS CREEK AND LPGA LEGEND ROSIE JONES TO HOST SC JUNIOR GIRL GOLFERS Mentoring Takes Center Stage at Annual Fund-Raising Tournament, Sept. 28-29
Hilton Head, SC (September 3, 2024) - Junior girl golfers from across South Carolina will take on the challenge of Moss Creek Golf Club in Hilton Head in the Women's South Carolina Golf Association (WSCGA) Vicki Hillen Junior Golf Foundation 2024 High School Girls Invitational & Mentoring Weekend, hosted by LPGA Golfer Rosie Jones, September 28-29.
The field of 72 players includes 15 teams and 12 individual golfers will compete over 36 holes in two days at the Fazio-designed Devil's Elbow South Course. The field includes teams representing all regions of the Palmetto State-from North Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head-that will interact with Jones, a 13-time LPGA Tour winner, seven-time U.S. Solheim Cup competitor, and a resident of Moss Creek. LPGA Tour Legends Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Donna Andrews, Leta Lindley, Laura Diaz, Yvonne Cox-Holmes, and Michelle McGann will join Jones for the weekend's program, playing in the pro-am with sponsors and mentoring the junior golfers.
The weekend program celebrates the game of golf through mentoring, competition, clinics and hospitality. The skills of these emerging young golfers will be displayed to the gallery and sponsors, including Morgan Stanley, CRAB: Coastal Restaurants and Bars, Seaquins Ballroom, V. Jan Middlebrooks, Newsletter Station, Churchich Recreation & Design, Front Light Building Company and The Heritage Classic Foundation.
The weekend kicks off with the sponsor pro-am, each group paired with an LPGA Legend. The junior girls will play two rounds of competition and attend a mentoring dinner on Saturday night, featuring keynote speaker, 2023 LPGA Professionals Coach of the Year and Clemson University women's golf coach, Kelley Hester, who has led the Tigers to unprecedented success in her first eight seasons as head coach. Hester will also conduct a clinic for the participants prior to Sunday's final round.
Net proceeds from the tournament support the Rosie Jones Mentoring Fund that distributes grants to help prepare student-athletes for success on and off the course. This one-on-one, mentor-to-mentee program provides scholarships to South Carolina's top high school girl golfers to achieve their goals of playing in college and beyond. The girls are paired with current and former women's golf coaches, tour members and professional instructors who serve as role models and resources for South Carolina's young girl golfers beyond the golf course, paving the way for future success.
According to Jones, the fund's namesake, "The program's mission is to help prepare student-athletes for success on and off the course while helping them become more effective players as well as positive, confident and productive adults."
The new program is the latest assistance offering from the 501c3 non-profit WSCGA Vicki Hillen Junior Golf Foundation designed to help provide South Carolina's competitive girl golfers with access to instruction, equipment and golf courses.
About Moss Creek Golf Club
Moss Creek has a long history of supporting and hosting girls' and women's golf events at all levels. The Moss Creek Women's Invitational was an official LPGA Tour event from 1976 to 1985. Hollis Stacy won the tournament in 1980 and 1983. In 2018 the community hosted the WSCGA Junior Girls Championship. And the SEC and other intercollegiate women's contests have become annual calendar highlights.
Golf Digest refers to Moss Creek Golf Club - South as "a beauty with a bite." Much of the nationally famous Devil's Elbow South Course stretches past lovely salt marshes along the Intracoastal Waterway and Mackay Creek, which brush along the northern reaches of the property.
Considered one of George and Tom Fazio's best efforts, the par-72 golf course measures approximately 6,878 yards from the back tees, with a rating of 73.9 and a slope of 136. While not long, it is an exacting golf course with tight greens on almost every hole.
The South Course, built in 1975, plays longer and is considered more difficult than Moss Creek's North Course. Since 2012, the North and South Courses have achieved the status of being Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries.
Shaded by live oaks draped with Spanish moss, the Moss Creek natural environment is unique, and residents take pride in celebrating and protecting it. In 2022, Moss Creek was recognized and certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Community Wildlife Habitat.