New Tampa Teen Scores Shot at First Tee Open Championship

Terese Romeo knows what it takes to persevere.

After a gymnastics injury forced her to play golf with just one hand, Terese, an 11th-grader at Freedom High School, helped her team win regionals.

Now, the 16-year-old is headed to the 2013 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach Sept. 27-29.

It’s an official Champions Tour event that will be televised internationally on the Golf Channel. It features 81 Champions Tour players and 81 junior golfers ages 15-18 who have been selected from chapters of The First Tee.

There are 188 chapters of The First Tee worldwide. One of those is The First Tee of Tampa Bay, a program of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA. The Tampa Bay program was founded in 1999 and provides more than 40,000 children and teens with hands-on, interactive golf experiences each year, according to a YMCA press release.

Terese has participated in The First Tee of Tampa Bay for seven years.

“(Terese) was selected to appear on the Golf Channel to represent The First Tee after persevering through two wrist surgeries in the past year,” the release states.

She’ll be teamed with a Champions Tour player and an amateur on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course on Friday and Saturday, according to the release. The final round will be played Sunday on Pebble Beach where the Champions Tour winner will be crowned and the top 23 pro-junior teams will compete for their own championship.

“This is such an honor to be selected to play in the Nature Valley First Tee Open with Senior PGA professionals and other The First Tee Juniors from around the world,” Terese said in the release.

For pairings and scores during the tournament, visit the PGA Tour online.

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Y Wednesday highlights the programs and events of the New Tampa YMCA each Wednesday.