Florida-based elite sports training institute IMG Academy has reached a deal to become the title sponsor of the Junior World Golf Championships from 2015.
Under the agreement, the IMG agency will add a matchplay event to the championships’ stroke play tournament, which is hosted by the San Diego County Junior Golf Association. The IMG Academy Junior World Golf Match Play Championship will be played in December in Florida.
“The Junior World Golf Championships and the San Diego County Junior Golf Association have significantly contributed to the development of youth players for more than 40 years,” IMG vice-president Gary Pluchino said. “With the development of student-athletes also being our core mission at IMG Academy for the past 35 years, we recognised the tremendous opportunity for impact by joining our two organisations in this way.”
The Junior World Golf Championships are a series of 12 individual stroke play tournaments for boys and girls in six age groups. The total field size exceeds 1,200 golfers from more than 56 countries. Past champions include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.
Equipment manufacturer Callaway Golf has held the title sponsorship of the Championships from 2002 to 2014. The length of IMG Academy’s commitment was not disclosed.