Alabama Power to host Junior Clinic Tuesday at Barbasol Championship in Opelika

July 8, 2016 - More than 100 children from the area will join four PGA TOUR golfers on Tuesday, July 12, for a Junior Clinic at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National, sponsored by Alabama Power and the Barbasol Championship. Bobby Wyatt, a professional golfer from Alabama, will be joined by Georgia's Lee McCoy, Barbasol's Martin Piller and Michigan's Justin Hicks for the golf demonstration. They will compete in this year's Barbasol Championship with 128 other players. 

During the interactive clinic, the children will learn about the game of golf and how it promotes core values, including honesty, integrity, responsibility, courtesy, sportsmanship and respect.  The Alabama Power Junior Clinic will be at 10 a.m. on the Driving Range at RTJ Grand National. The Barbasol Championship will be played July 14-17.

“Alabama Power is thrilled to support the Junior Clinic, which will showcase the important lessons that golf can provide our children,” said Leslie Sanders, vice president of Alabama Power’s Southern Division. “We’re excited to have Bobby, Martin, Justin and Lee with us to help host the event.”    

Mobile's Wyatt became instantly famous in the golfing world after firing an unheard-of 57 at the 2010 Alabama Boys State Championship. He went on to become one of the Crimson Tide's top players the moment he arrived on campus at the University of Alabama. He was selected to the United States 2013 Walker Cup team where he led all scorers with 3.5 points as the USA proved victorious. Wyatt was named a first team All-American by Golfweek in 2013 and a second-team choice in 2012. Professionally, Wyatt's best PGA TOUR finish was playing as a sponsor in invite at the rain-shortened Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2016. He finished the tournament tied for fourth. Wyatt has competed in 12 PGA TOUR tournaments over the past three years.

A Texas native and Texas A&M graduate, Piller is part of today's golf power couple. A professional golfer since 2008, both Piller and his wife are professional golfers. Gerina Piller plays professionally with the LPGA and is in the Top 20 on the Rolex Women's Golf World Ranking. Martin is sponsored by Barbasol and finished tied for 19th in the 2015 Barbasol Championship. He has five professional wins on the Web.com Tour including two victories last year in the Albertsons Boise Open and the Digital Alley Open. This year, the Dallas resident posted four sub-par scores at the Valero Texas Open to finish at 9-under 279 and tied for fourth with four others, his first top-10 finish in 35 starts on the PGA TOUR. At the same time, Gerina was en route to tying for third place at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Hicks is in the hunt for his first PGA TOUR victory. Hicks placed second in the 2014 Barracuda Championship and has two wins on the Web.com Tour: at the 2010 BMW Charity Pro-Am and the 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. The Michigan native turned professional in 1997. He shot a 68 on the first day of the 2008 U.S. Open to take the lead but finished 74th in the tournament. Hicks tied for 10th in the AT&T Byron Nelson in May and hopes to bring the Barbasol Championship trophy to his home in Florida.

After a great collegiate career at the University of Georgia, McCoy has turned professional and accepted a sponsor exemption for the Barbasol Championship. In 2016, McCoy was chosen as a PING First-Team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America. McCoy capped his collegiate career with a sixth-place finish in the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in May. He was First-Team All-America in 2015 and honorable mention in 2014.He won seven tournaments as a Bulldog (one shy of the school record), including two during the 2015-16 season. He was chosen as the 2016 SEC Player of the Year and highlighted the All-SEC First Team after claiming medalist honors at the league tournament. McCoy wound up as Georgia’s record holder for career (70.87) and single-season (70.00) stroke average.

In case of inclement weather, the clinic will move to the Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel & Conference Center at Grand National. For details, please contact Mike Jordan at 334-832-3309.

For more information on the Barbasol Championship, visit www.barbasolchampionship.com. Tickets for children under 15 and for current and retired military are free. Day tickets are $20 per day. Parking is free.