The Women’s Division of the Maryland State Golf Association was notified in early February that they were selected to receive a $5,000 grant, courtesy of ANA Airways and the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). This is the second $5,000 Gateway City grant awarded to the MSGA-WD, the first in 2017. Over the past two years, seventeen different girls have given back $110,000 to local golf associations.
The top-ranked girls in each of ANA’s eleven North American Gateway cities — Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington D.C. — qualify into the ANA Junior Inspiration tournament through the ANA Priority Mileage Points Standings. The junior girl from each Gateway City is then given the opportunity to give a local golf association that has impacted their life a grant of $5,000. Aneka Seumanutafa, from Emmitsburg, Maryland qualified for the ANA Junior Inspiration event on March 22-25, 2018 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California and selected the MSGA-WD to receive the grant. Aneka will compete with forty-seven other junior girls from around the world for an exemption into the ANA Inspiration.
“I’m honored and privileged to play in the ANA Junior Inspiration for three years in a row. Getting to represent the Washington D.C. area means so much to me. I couldn’t have done any of it without the support of my family and Maryland State Golf Association. MSGA has been there for me ever since I moved away from Hawaii. Maryland State has given me so many memories with so many different people. I would like to thank the MSGA for expanding my knowledge and passion for the game of golf”. – Aneka Seumanutafa
Aneka, a junior in high school who has verbally committed to Ohio State University, is a three-time ANA Junior Inspiration participant, and finished tied for 18th in 2017 after rounds of 76-74-75. Aneka had quite a year in 2017, with highlights including a win at the prestigious North & South Junior Championship at Pinehurst Resort, placing second in the 2017 Rolex Tournament of Champions in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and winning the Maryland Junior Girls Championship for the third consecutive year.
MSGA-Women’s Division President, Deb Watkins’ take on the ANA Junior Inspiration grant:
“We are extremely grateful to receive the $5,000 grant. The ANA Junior Inspiration grant will allow the MSGA-Women’s Division to enhance our Junior Development Program by expanding our Junior Girls Season Opener, an event established to bring together beginner golfers in the Washington D.C. and Maryland area to learn about all aspects of the game of golf, free of charge. In 2018, our goal is to have 100 girls participate in a Junior Girls Season Opener. A special thanks goes to Aneka for selecting the MSGA to receive this grant. She has been an inspiration to golfers of all ages as we’ve watched her on and off the golf course over the last four years. She is very involved with the MSGA, playing in tournaments, helping us at our junior girl fund raisers and sharing her knowledge at our Junior Season Openers with young girls trying to enter into golf. We wish her good luck as she competes in the ANA Junior Inspiration next month.”
