A Legacy Continued - 42nd Annual Jim Hitch Memorial Golf Tournament

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Left) Alvin Gotcher, GHS class of 1971, presents Stephanie Chapman, PTCI Marketing/PR Representative, with a framed Longest Drive Sponsor Flag from the 2013 tournament.

The Hitch Family started the Jim Hitch Memorial Golf Tournament in memory of their son Jim, a Guymon High School student who passed away in his sleep from walking pneumonia in 1970.  Students from all over Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas come to Guymon to play in the tournament each year. Recently,  Jim Hitch’s classmates and other graduates of Guymon High School have dedicated themselves to keep this legacy going for many more years to come.

Tournament Chairman Steve Braley, along with other event volunteers, worked hard to secure funds for the tournament through 100% donations. Braley said, “It is one of the oldest and becoming one of the most prestigious junior tournaments in the country because it has been played for 42 years consecutively.”

“In the past, the tournament has only been for high school boys, 15- through 18-year-olds,” said Braley.  Two new divisions were added this year. A younger boys division 12- through 14-year-olds and a girls division 14- through 18-year-olds played in the 2013 tournament. Braley says winners and runners-up of the Jim Hitch Tournament have the opportunity to play in other well-known golf tournaments.  The winners in each division were given an exemption by Oklahoma Golf Association to play in the Oklahoma Junior Tour Championship at the end of the year.  The Texas Professional Golfer’s Association (PGA) has also given an exemption into the Texas West Championship.

Interested individuals and businesses can contact Steve Braley by calling 561.310.2555 or Mike Kinslow at 512.718.2301.  The Jim Hitch Memorial Golf Tournament can also be found online at www.jimhitchtournament.com and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JimHitchTournament

PTCI was a contributor for the 2013  Jim Hitch Memorial Golf Tournament and has helped sponsor many youth events in our service area throughout the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles.