GRAND RAPIDS, MI – March 2, 2020 – Two local teens got away from the winter cold and brought their golf clubs to compete in The Golf to Paradise – First Tee Champions Challenge in Naples, Florida.
Participants from across the country posing at the end of a great week.
Jack Seufert, a junior at East Grand Rapids High School, and Alex Karhunen, a junior at Jenison High School were sent by the local non-profit First Tee of West Michigan. Both are Eagle Level participants, with Seufert a participant at First Tee of West Michigan since 2014 and Karhunen since 2013.
In conjunction with the Chubb Classic, a Champions Tour event, 12 affiliates of the First Tee from across the country are invited to participate. The Challenge was hosted at Lely Resort in Naples, Florida on February 14-16.
Seufert and Karhunen were two of just 24 students from across the country selected for this event. They competed in three different playing formats against pairs of students from other First Tee chapters and took 2
nd place out of the 12 First Tee teams. They also received instruction from Champions Tour Professionals when they arrived and volunteered at a local food bank.
Alex Karhunen and Jack Seufert with Executive Director Tyler Smies on day 1 at Quail Creek GC.
“We worked with more than 1,200 students at The First Tee of West Michigan in 2019, and Jack and Alex are two of our finest young people. They are strong golfers, but more importantly exemplify the Nine Core Values we teach, especially the values of judgment and perseverance. We are ecstatic about the way they represented 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. Smies accompanied the teenagers on the trip.
Alex Karhunen and Jack Seufert on day 2 at Quail Creek GC.
Seufert and Karhunen competed against eleven other teams from Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington D.C. throughout the weekend.
For more information on The First Tee of West Michigan, contact 616-208-1177, email
[email protected] or visit firstteewestmichigan.org.
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Jack, left, and Alex, right, with Champions Tour Legend Bernhard Langer hitting range balls in the middle. 
Jack at the local food pantry volunteering
Alex at the local food pantry volunteering
Jack and Alex with Executive Director Tyler Smies on the Naples Sunset Cruise.
