ST. ANDREWS, NB –Two golfers from Texas are heading north to compete against top amateur players from around the world at the Barrett Amateur Championship.
Kelly Kraft and John Peterson are currently the 1st and 2nd ranked amateur golfers in Texas.

New Brunswick Golf Association president Pierre Arsenault credits Kraft and Peterson with bringing “another intriguing dimension to the Barrett field.”
“Texas has a long history of producing some of the best players in the game and we have no doubt that even in a field as strong as the Barrett, these will be players to watch," Arsenault says.

Kraft, who is 86th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, won the 2008 Texas Amateur at the Houston Country Club in Houston, TX. He recently completed his freshman year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
Peterson was runner-up in the 2008 Texas Amateur. He finished the championship with a 3-under 285 total, just two strokes behind Kraft. Peterson recently completed his freshman year at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA.

“Both of these young men are excellent players and fierce competitors,” says Texas Golf Association spokesperson Jim Spagnolo. “They uphold the values and traditions of the game and will doubtless represent the state of Texas with honour and distinction.”

Spagnolo says the Barrett Amateur is certain to be unlike any tournament Kraft and Peterson have attended to date.

“Playing amateur golf at the highest level is all about learning to adjust to different courses and conditions while maintaining one's composure during the heat of competition. The Barrett Amateur certainly provides that and more - it gives many players their first look at the best players from around the world, and the opportunity to develop new friendships that will last a lifetime.”

The Barrett Amateur takes place Aug 2-4 in St. Andrews, NB. Golfers play the Fairmont Algonquin Golf Course, a century old 18-hole course ranked by Score Magazine as one of the top 100 golf courses in Canada.

About the Barrett Amateur
In 2007, the Barrett made its debut as a counting event on both the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and Golfweek’s Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR). The Barrett finished the year as the highest ranked Canadian event on the WAGR. The champion of the Barrett Amateur will receive an exemption into the 2008 Canadian Amateur.