First Tee National Opportunities for Teens: Events, Scholarship and How to Apply

Three different things, and each works differently. One happens at the chapter. The other two are national and decided by selection.

• At the chapter. First Tee’s programs page lists an Age 14+ group. In an article from January 2026, First Tee says: “Many First Tee Chapters offer junior coaching opportunities for teens to work with younger players”. It adds that many chapters also offer “competitive playing opportunities, junior advisory boards and other ways to keep teens engaged with the program”. First Tee’s Ace program belongs here too. The programs page calls it “A capstone program for high school teens that points them toward exploring, investing in, and building a clear plan for their next step.” First Tee’s page for it describes four hands-on projects and says to learn how to get involved “by contacting your local Chapter”. None of this is a national application. What a chapter offers is that chapter’s decision, so ask it.
• National events, by selection. First Tee headquarters runs these with sponsors. Its January 26, 2026 announcement listed seven for 2026 and said: “First Tee’s national participant events serve more than 300 teens annually.”
• College support. The First Tee College Scholarship Program is for graduating high school seniors who are active members of a chapter.

The national opportunities serve different purposes. This table sorts the 2026 list by purpose, using First Tee’s own descriptions:

These are 2026 examples. First Tee had not published a 2027 list when we read its pages on October 11, 2026, so read this as last cycle’s lineup and not as a schedule.

Each block below comes from First Tee’s own pages, read on October 11, 2026. The 2026 rows are history. Every application window those pages list has closed, the last on July 15, 2026. The 2027 row says what First Tee has published for the next cycle. On that date it had published nothing. One row adds a date from the tournament’s own site, and says so.

First Tee National Championship: National Championship page

PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee: PURE Insurance Championship page

Both rows lean on First Tee’s 2026 releases as well as its event pages: its June 22, 2026 release for how the National Championship field was chosen, and its July 7, 2026 release for the PURE Insurance Championship field. Both rows are marked completed. The July 7 release says the National Championship “was held at the University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf Club in June”, and the PURE Insurance Championship’s own Tournament Info page lists a 2026 champion.

The other five events on First Tee’s 2026 list are about leadership, mentorship and service. They are set out the same way, from First Tee’s own pages as read on October 11, 2026, in date order. The last two are dated October and November 2026. Their rows give the dates as First Tee lists them and do not say whether the event has been held.

First Tee Leadership Series in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore: described on the National Teen Opportunities page

First Tee Game Changers Academy: Game Changers Academy page

First Tee Leadership Summit in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore: Leadership Summit page

First Tee Girls’ Academy: Girls’ Academy page

First Tee Innovators Forum: Innovators Forum page

The Leadership Summit row also uses First Tee’s August 3, 2026 release.

First Tee names the teens selected for each event on its event pages. We do not repeat any name here.

First Tee gives the same instruction in its announcement, on its list of opportunities and on each event page. Its National Teen Opportunities page says: “Ask your local chapter about applying for any of the following opportunities.” Its January 26, 2026 announcement says: “Interested teens and parents should reach out to their local First Tee chapter for application information.” None of the event pages carries a public application link. Each one tells the reader to reach out to the chapter.

The pages state three things:

• Who may take part. “These opportunities are only available to youth involved in chapters of First Tee.” A teen who is not in a chapter starts by joining one. First Tee’s Locations page lists them and says: “Our 150 chapters deliver programs throughout the year at different locations.”
• How places are decided. “Most of the events and programs have a selection process that includes an application reviewed by a committee.” The Leadership Summit page says the same of the summit.
• What an application can ask for. Only the Girls’ Academy page lists materials. For 2026 it asked for essays, an activities chart and “a chapter letter of recommendation”. That letter comes from the chapter, which is one reason to ask early.

And they leave five things unstated:

• An age range for five of the seven events. The other two give one: 14 to 18 for the 2026 National Championship and 15 to 18 for the 2026 PURE Insurance Championship.
• What it costs to apply, and what a selected teen’s family pays for travel, lodging or meals.
• How many teens applied, or what share were selected.
• A score or handicap figure for the two golf events.
• How many teens one chapter may put forward, and whether a chapter sets its own earlier deadline.

Each of those is a question for the chapter. The next section lists them.

Take this list to the chapter’s program director or your teen’s coach. Each question comes from something First Tee’s pages state, or from something they leave out.

1. Does our chapter put teens forward for First Tee’s national opportunities, and who handles the applications? First Tee sends families to the chapter for application information.
2. Which opportunities is my teen eligible for this cycle? Ask about age, since the pages give an age range for only two events. Ask whether the chapter is in a PGA TOUR Superstore market: the Leadership Summit is only for teens in those chapters who have attended the Leadership Series.
3. When do applications open and close this cycle, and does the chapter need my teen’s part earlier? The 2026 windows are in the timeline below. They are last cycle’s dates.
4. What does the application ask for? The 2026 Girls’ Academy asked for essays, an activities chart and a chapter letter of recommendation. The other pages list no materials.
5. What does the chapter look at when it supports an application? First Tee’s scholarship page names chapter involvement and volunteerism among its criteria. Ask whether attendance, junior coaching and volunteering at the chapter count for the events too.
6. For the two golf events, what should the golf record show? First Tee said the 2026 National Championship field was chosen on golf skills and competitive golf experience, and its PURE Insurance Championship page names a golf resume. Neither page gives a score or a handicap figure.
7. What does it cost our family if my teen is selected? Ask about travel, lodging and meals. The pages we read do not say.
8. Who travels with my teen, and who supervises? First Tee’s announcement says that for some teens these events are a first time traveling on their own.
9. What does the chapter offer teens locally this year? Ask about junior coaching, competitive play, a junior advisory board and First Tee’s Ace program.
10. For a high school senior: when does the College Scholarship Program application open and close, and what does the chapter provide? First Tee’s scholarship page gives no dates.
11. If my teen is not selected, can they apply again, and can a teen attend the same event twice? The pages we read do not say.

Write the answers down with the date and the name of the person who gave them. For its own process and its own dates, the chapter’s answer is the one to act on.

This is what First Tee’s pages show for 2026, set out by month, with our suggestion for what to ask at each point. It is last cycle’s timing. It is not a prediction of 2027: First Tee sets the dates for each cycle, and it had announced none for 2027 when we read its pages on October 11, 2026.

Two things follow from that calendar:

• The first deadline came early. In 2026 the National Championship, Game Changers Academy and the PURE Insurance Championship all closed on March 18, before any of them took place. A family that first asks in the summer has missed that cycle’s golf events.
• The Leadership Summit has a step before it. A teen has to attend the Leadership Series first, and in 2026 the series ran in March.

For a high school senior, First Tee’s scholarship page gives no application dates at all. Our suggestion is to ask the chapter at the start of senior year. That is our advice, not a date First Tee has published.

First Tee’s National Teen Opportunities page calls this “An official PGA TOUR Champions event at Pebble Beach Golf Links” that pairs teens from First Tee with a PGA TOUR Champions player and amateurs. First Tee’s page for the event adds that each teen competes for the pro-junior title. The tournament’s own Tournament Info page describes “a 54-hole golf event, featuring 80 PGA Tour Champions professionals, 80 First Tee juniors, and 160 Amateurs”. That page says nothing about how the juniors are chosen. Teens apply through First Tee, and First Tee’s pages describe the selection in three places:

• The National Teen Opportunities page: “To be selected, juniors are measured in both golf ability and their knowledge of the First Tee life skills curriculum.”
• The event page: “Golf resume, personal growth through First Tee and socioeconomic need are all considerations in determining the field.” It also says First Tee and PURE Insurance “are committed to ensuring teens from underserved communities have access to this event”.
• The July 7, 2026 release: the 80 teens came from 52 chapters and “were selected based on both their golf ability and their growth through First Tee’s youth development program”. It gives the age range: “Participants age 15-18 will compete for the boys’ and girls’ pro-junior titles.”

There was one other way in for 2026. The June 22, 2026 release said First Tee “could also award two exemptions” into the event at its National Championship. The July 7 release said two members of the field “earned exemptions into the tournament by finishing Top 5 at the First Tee National Championship”.

On format, the July 7 release said tournament play would begin on Friday, September 18, 2026, on both Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and: “Following Saturday’s rounds, the top 24 juniors will advance to Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach”.

The same release said members of the 2026 field had been involved with First Tee for 7.5 years on average. That describes one year’s field. No page we read sets a number of years in the program as a requirement.

The pages give no score, no handicap figure, no number of applicants and no weight for each consideration. This guide reports selection and format only. It makes no claim about what playing in the event leads to.

A teen applies through the chapter. The 2026 window ran from January 7 to March 18, 2026 and is closed. On October 11, 2026 First Tee had not announced a 2027 window, field or schedule for the week. The tournament’s own site listed tournament dates of September 24 to 26, 2027 when we read it on October 11, 2026. That is the tournament’s announcement, not a First Tee application date.

First Tee uses the word scholarship for two different things. Keep them apart.

Help with chapter fees. First Tee’s FAQ says “chapters offer full scholarships or reduced fee programming for those who need it”. That is about the cost of a chapter’s own classes, and the chapter decides it. Our junior golf grants and financial assistance guide covers that kind of help and the national grants for competitive juniors.

The First Tee College Scholarship Program. This is money for college, for selected alumni. What its page said on October 11, 2026:

The program selects among the seniors who apply. Being eligible is not an award. First Tee’s Innovators Forum page also lists an opportunity to earn scholarships among that event’s past highlights, and gives no amount or terms.

Neither is the same as aid from a college. For how a golf offer, academic aid and need-based aid fit together, see our golf scholarship guide. For the financial aid forms, see FAFSA, CSS Profile and college golf. A teen who caddies has a separate route: the Evans Scholarship is a full tuition and housing scholarship for caddies, run by a different organization with its own requirements. For how a teenager starts caddying, see how to become a youth golf caddie.

A paid camp, showcase or national event run by another company is a different purchase from a First Tee national opportunity. Check three things before you pay for one:

1. Who runs it? First Tee lists its national opportunities on its National Teen Opportunities page, and a teen applies through the chapter. If an event is not on that page and your chapter does not handle it, ask the chapter whether it is a First Tee opportunity at all before you treat it as one.
2. Is entry by selection or by payment? First Tee says most of its opportunities have a selection process that includes an application reviewed by a committee. An event that anyone can enter by paying the fee is a different thing. Know which one you are looking at.
3. What is the total cost, and what are the refund terms? Get both in writing. Ask the chapter the same question about a First Tee opportunity, because the pages we read do not state what a family pays.

Our college golf camps guide has the fuller list of questions to ask before paying for a camp.

This page is about what First Tee offers a teen who is already in a chapter. If you are still choosing a program, two guides compare First Tee with the alternatives: PGA Jr. League vs First Tee vs U.S. Kids Golf sets out what each organizer says about itself, and Youth on Course vs First Tee vs PGA Jr League covers cost and access to a course.

The First Tee Girls’ Academy is a First Tee event for teens in its chapters. LPGA*USGA Girls Golf is a separate program with its own sites and its own enrollment, and our LPGA*USGA Girls Golf guide explains it.