Among those who have already confirmed include former tournament winners Craig Stadler, Scott Simpson and Jeff Sluman. Others scheduled to compete include Tom Watson, John Cook, 2010 U..S. Senior Open champ Fred Funk, Tom Kite, Mark Calcavecchia and Monterey Peninsula native Bobby Clampett.

Overall, 78 pros will be teamed with 78 select juniors and 156 amateurs as they compete on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte GC. Play will be held on both courses Friday and Saturday, with the final round held at Pebble Beach on Sunday (Sept. 5).

Volunteer positions for the tournament are also still available. For more info, please visit www.thefirstteeopen.com or call 800-541-9091 or 649-1533.

Another event is headed for Bayonet/Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside.

Late last week, the facility announced that Bayonet has been selected by the Champions Tour to host a Q-School regional, November 2-5.

The Champions Tour Q-School event is the fifth USGA, PGA Tour or Champions Tour tournament to be held at Bayonet/Black Horse this year. In June, Bayonet hosted a local qualifier for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Other events slated for the facility include the Tuesday qualifier (August 31) for the Champions Tour Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach , the Monday qualifier for the Frys.com Open at Cordevalle (October 11) and Stage Two PGA Tour Q-School (November 15-20).

“Bayonet has reached critical mass as a venue for hosting high-level, professional golf tournaments,” said Dick Fitzgerald, project director for owner/operator Seaside Resort Development. “The Champions Tour is becoming more and more competitive each year with the addition of players like Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia, and Bayonet should provide a stern and strategic test.”

Bayonet and Black Horse re-opened in December 2008 after a $13 million renovation by architect Gene Bates. In 2009, both layouts were included in Golf Digest’s ‘Best New Courses’ issue in the ultra-competitive ‘Renovation’ category.

Juniors hoping to play in the upcoming Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach are taking a different route to get into the tournament this year.

Unlike the past, the selection process for potential juniors for the 2010 tournament does not include a 36-hole on-the-course proficiency event nor any in-person interaction. Instead, potential juniors are being evaluated strictly through paper applications sent to The First Tee home office.

Students are being judged on criteria including: a letter of recommendation from a Chapter coach or executive director, community involvement and extracurricular activities, awards and recognitions received, golf handicap and playing resume, short answer essay questions, phone/video interviews and interview summaries conducted at the potential juniors’ Chapter prior to submission of the application.

According to The First Tee tournament director Laura Orlen, the change occurred due to the First Tee Open not having a sponsor earlier in the year. National Association for Home Care and Hospice, the nation’s largest trade association representing the interests and concerns of home care agencies, hospices and home care aide organizations, was named the tournament’s new sponsor June 14. The four-year contract between previous sponsor Walmart and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which operates the event, ended with the 2009 tournament.

“We were not able to move forward with the planning of the in-person selection process due to not having a sponsor,” Orlen said. “Hopefully, we’ll return to that format in 2011 The in-person process is a much more fair process in determining who gets to go to Pebble Beach.”

The deadline for this year’s paper application process was July 6. From that process, 70 The First Tee juniors will be selected to compete in the tournament, which is again slated for Labor Day weekend and features juniors competing side-by-side with members of the Champions Tour. Another eight juniors will receive exemptions into the tournament given by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.

The junior field for the Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open will be announced July 30.