WINNIPEG – Golf Manitoba is excited to announce a new presenting sponsor for the July 12-14, 2020 Manitoba junior women’s and junior men’s provincial golf championships to be contested at Selkirk Golf & Country Club. Starting this year, this annual event will be known as the Manitoba Junior Women’s & Men’s Championships presented by the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation.
In addition to recognizing the incredible support for Manitoba junior golf provided by the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation through the re-naming of these events, we are very pleased to announce that there will be funding from the Foundation towards subsidizing event entry fees in 2020 for all competitors. For ages 12 & under athletes, entry fees will be reduced from $140 to $90 and for 13 & older athletes entry fees will be reduced from $185 to $120.
“We wanted to acknowledge and honour Mr. and Mrs. Colonello in the naming of these championships and we cannot think of a better way to recognize the contributions that they both had on our sport and also what the Foundation will mean for the future of junior golf in Manitoba,” said Jared Ladobruk, Executive Director of Golf Manitoba. “The naming of these championships are just one of many ways that their legacy will continue on in our golf community and will be a perpetual reminder of the commitment of the Colonellos to junior golf in Manitoba. Reducing the entry fee for this season is consistent with the spirit of why Mrs. Colonello established the Foundation and that is to increase accessibility and to promote junior golf participation at all levels. We are encouraged that this will help to achieve that outcome.”
Additionally, the Golf Manitoba junior women’s and junior men’s bantam championships will also be re-named the Junior Women’s and Men’s Bantam Championships presented by the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation. The 2020 championships will be contested June 27 and 28 at the Portage Golf Club. Entry fees will also be subsidized by the Foundation and reduced by $50 per player.
Under the government of Manitoba Restoring Services pandemic and economic recovery strategy, golf has been permitted to operate under enhanced health and safety guidelines. In recognition of these guidelines, all championships, including our junior women’s and men’s events, will operate under strict protocols and conditions of competition to ensure the health and safety of all competitors.
In 2018 at the age of 94, Peggy Colonello established the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation with a mandate to support junior golf in Manitoba. To support that endeavor, Mrs. Colonello created an endowment of $3 million dollars that will aid in the development of junior golfers through grassroots golf initiatives and high-performance programming. Since 2019, the Foundation has committed $120,000 to junior golf programs including the Future Links Golf in Schools initiative, provincial junior women’s and junior men’s team development and the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s and men’s golf programs.
Registration for both the junior and bantam championships are now available at golfmb.ca.
For more information:
Jared Ladobruk
Executive Director
Golf Manitoba
jared@golfmb.ca
204.291.8032