Greensburg C.C. golfer Izzy Aigner to play Pebble Beach event, opting out of WPIAL individual postseason

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 | 3:01 PM

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Wave-crashing scenes from iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links have only been pictures on the web or in golf magazines to Izzy Aigner.

“The views are magnificent,” Aigner said.

But later this month, she will see them up close. Very close. As in, she will get to play the course with some of the game’s big names, in front of thousands of fans and television cameras.

Yes, this is really happening.

Aigner, a senior at Greensburg Central Catholic, was selected to play in the pro-junior tournament at the PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee on Sept. 19-24, on the Monterey Peninsula in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Eighty junior golfers from First Tee chapters across the country will partner with PGA Tour Champions players in a best-ball event, which coincides with the regular tournament on the tour stop.

The field will play Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill Golf Course.

It costs over $600 to play 18 holes at Pebble Beach, a public layout that has hosted the U.S. Open six times and had the U.S. Women’s Open this year. But Aigner won’t pay a dime. She can save that to use as a ball marker.

“You go there and it’s all real,” Aigner said. “I want to go and have the time of my life. It gives me chills just thinking about it. We’re just like rookies out there playing with legendary people.

“I’m excited and nervous.”

Aigner had to make a sacrifice when she accepted her invitation to the tournament. The WPIAL individual postseason begins the week of the event with section play.

She will not play in the sectional, which means she cannot qualify for the WPIAL championship. She was one of the favorites in Class 2A after the graduation of Quaker Valley star Eva Bulger, a four-time champion.

Aigner, who lives in Ruffsdale, is leading the Centurions with a 38 average. She shot a 3-under 34 in Wednesday’s win over Southmoreland.

But this once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity was too good to pass up.

“We tried everything,” said Aigner, who will try to defend her Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championship on Thursday at Champion Lakes Golf Course. “We discussed me playing (in the sectional) and catching a red-eye flight (to Pebble Beach). But then I would miss the practice rounds and opening ceremony. And we asked the WPIAL if I could play in the boys’ sectional, but I wasn’t able to do so.

“With Eva gone, the championship is kind of up for grabs. I thought I could make a run at it.”

That also means Aigner is foregoing a chance at winning a PIAA championship.

“We have a really good team and we have a good chance to win the WPIAL championship, so I hope to go to states that way,” she said. GCC has won eight straight WPIAL team titles.

Aigner has been part of First Tee-Pittsburgh, which is headquartered at Schenley Park and includes the Arnold Palmer Learning Center at Bob O’Connor Golf Course, since she was 7. Her game has progressed to the point where she is considered one of the top players in the state. The PURE event, though, brings together golfers who excel on the course and in the classroom.

“She rises to the occasion,” GCC girls golf coach Bob Statler said of Aigner. “It doesn’t surprise me that she qualified. I think she will do very well in the event, and also meet a lot of interesting people.”

Junior golfers who participate in The First Tee learn about the game and how it can help them become strong, confident adults. As they make their way through the program, their goal is to contribute to the growth of the game and pass on the skills they have learned.

But playing golf is the basis, and the ultimate on-course goal is to land a spot in the event to play alongside legendary players on the 50-and-older circuit.

After a lengthy entry process that rivals applying to a college or spiffing up a resume for a job, Aigner was selected out of 138 players nationally.

There were several long and short essays that asked different questions such as the meaning of leadership or where the players see themselves in five or 10 years.

A national panel selects the finalists. Applicants are ages 14-18 and have seven or more years of experience in the First Tee. Generally, they have a grade-point average of 3.95 or better and a handicap less than 2.

“This is like the finale,” Aigner said. “It’s what everyone dreams about going to.”

Aigner, who is perusing college golf opportunities that align with her nursing major, woke up one morning in July and checked her email on the phone.

“It said, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been selected …,” Aigner said. “I jumped out of bed and went running to tell my mom and dad. They have been a huge part of this process. I was so excited. It had been about a month since I sent in all of my information. I probably drove my parents crazy with all of the changes I kept making to the essays.”

Not long after that, she received a golf bag in the mail with her name stitched into it.

At Pebble, each player will be paired with one pro. Aigner said she has heard organizers attempt to form pairings with players who have similar local ties.

The top 24 teams make the 36-hole cut and play in Sunday’s final round.

“Last year, Ethan (Dai of Quaker Valley) was paired with Jim Furyk,” she said. “Rocco Mediate is supposed to play. I met him before and he said his sisters went to GCC, and he went to Hempfield. That would be nice to play with him.”

Steve Flesch is the defending champion. Actor Clint Eastwood is the tournament chairman.

Dai played in the WPIAL sectional last year before making a frantic flight to California. Another local player, Patrick Bush of Belle Vernon, also played in the PURE tournament last year.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C.