| Location | Date |
| North Hertz | August 1st |
| Toryglen | August 23rd |
| North Hertz | September 18th |
| Toryglen | October 14th |
| North Hertz | October 16th |
| Toryglen | November 15th |
We are currently yet to confirm a venue for the north of England.
Please note: if you would like to attend a specific game, email nicole.montoya@firstpointusa.com and include your name, preferred date and location.
Congratulations to former FirstPoint USA golf scholarship recipient, Russel Knox, who tied 45th at the U.S Open Golf Championship this weekend!
Knox, who will turn 28 later this month and is ranked 398th in the world, was tied for fourth on the US Open leaderboard by the time he had completed his delayed first round at Merion on Friday morning.
A score of 69 bettered the early efforts by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and was proof of the Scot’s continuing progress. By the end of round two Knox’s aggregate had slipped to four over par but he is still comfortably in the weekend field. Which is more than can be said for some more famous names – Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari, Angel Cabrera and Darren Clarke among them.
“It was as tough a course as I’ve ever played,” Knox said. “This morning I played nice and holed some nice putts and this afternoon I holed nothing. Then once some bad things happen, you get in the rough with a bad lie and you three-putt. I’m trying hard not to be mad at myself for shooting five over because I feel like I played pretty good.
“I feel like I have been playing well and could have a good week at any moment. Hopefully it can be this weekend. Let’s be honest, making the cut was the main thing.”
This hardly hints at trepidation from a player who booked a place in this event by taking part in sectional qualifying in Maryland. “It is mayhem here,” he said. “Especially with the weather and the transportation and whatnot, I mean, it’s unbelievable. It’s as good as I would have ever hoped.”
Knox was a promising junior golfer at the Scottish Highland club of Nairn Dunbar before transferring his membership to nearby Inverness, his home town, when still a teenager.
At that stage the only potential hindrance to Knox’s development seemed a diminutive frame which limited his ability to find distance from the tee. What he had then, as remains the case now, is a terrific level of accuracy both with driving and approach shots. Last year his greens in regulation level was the fourth best on the PGA Tour.
The golfer has always stressed that he considers himself “100% Scottish” but, as the son of an American father and Scottish mother, attended Jacksonville University and relocated permanently after his family did likewise.
Despite struggling to make a meaningful impact on big amateur events in the United Kingdom, he was part of Scotland’s team in the 2006 European Youths Championship. Knox has referenced that event, and the appreciation of just what level he had to reach briskly, as a crucial point in his career. Five years later he was more than holding his own on the Nationwide Tour.
“I miss Scotland and the UK obviously but it is easy to live in Jacksonville,” Knox said. “My parents live here in Jacksonville also and my sister is in Glasgow.
“I’ve got a good crowd with me this week – my parents, my coach and a few people supporting me, so it is nice.”
The former Culloden Academy pupil did not retain his full PGA Tour card for 2013 but a glance towards his 2012 season demonstrates the financial attraction of the United States to European golfers, even at his level.
Knox claimed $512,584 (£327,000) in prize money last year, largely by virtue of two top-10 finishes and making the cut in more than half of his 23 events. “I didn’t get down on myself because, if you do, you can train-wreck and end up missing the cut, so I’m proud of myself,” Knox said. And so he should be.
Do you think you have what it takes to secure a golf scholarship to study in the USA? Apply now for your assessment!
Congratulations to Justin Rose, who yesterday clinched his maiden major title to become the first Englishman for 43 years to win the US Open. The 32-year-old won by two shots from now six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson and Jason Day on a gripping final day. Rose, also the first Englishman to win a major since Nick Faldo in 1996, fired a level-par 70 to end one over as overnight leader Mickelson carded 74.
Rose, the world number five, looked up to the sky with tears in his eyes after he tapped in his final putt, and admitted later to thinking of his father and long-time mentor Ken, who died from leukaemia in 2002.
“It wasn’t lost on me that today was Father’s Day,” said Rose of his gesture when he was presented with the trophy on the 18th green.
“A lot of us come from great men and we have a responsibility to our children to show what a great man can be.
“For it to all just work out for me, on such an emotional day, I couldn’t help but look up to the heavens and think that my old dad Ken had something do do with it.”
Rose, who was born in Johannesburg but brought up in Hampshire, burst onto the wider scene as a 17-year-old amateur when he finished in a tie for fourth in the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale.
He went on to miss 21 consecutive cuts when he joined the paid ranks, before winning his first professional event in 2002. His biggest victory to date was the WGC Cadillac Championship last March.
Rose’s previous best major finish was tied-third in the US PGA behind Rory McIlroy last year, while he has had six other top-10s in majors.
He becomes the third UK winner of the title in four years after Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (2011) and Graeme McDowell (2010).
Do you think you have what it takes to secure a golf scholarship to study in the USA? Apply now for your assessment!
The Princeton Review recently assembled the top 10 colleges with the best quality of life. The schools ranged from large university Kansas State, to small, private, Agnes Scott, proving that any campus can have a good quality of life if you let it. Check out he list below:
4. Kansas State University, KS
5. Claremont McKenna College, CA
9. Washington Uni, St Louis, MO
10. Franklin W.Olin College of engineering, MA
Do you think you have what it takes to secure a scholarship to study in the USA while playing your favourite sport? Apply now for your assessment!
Wimbledon is nearly upon us! In the run up, we take a look at how long it's been since a Brit last won Wimbledon, could this be the UK's year?
Do you think you have what it takes to secure a tennis scholarship to study in the USA while playing your favourite sport? Apply now for your assessment!
Each month we profile a FirstPoint USA Staff Member to give you some insight into what we are all like, what we do and what experience we have.
The majority of our staff have all been through the American scholarship process themselves and have studied and played sport to a high level in the States.
James Beggs, from our Clearing Department is certainly no exception! James secured a soccer scholarship to University of Mobile, Alabama, in 2004, joining the FirstPoint USA clearing department earlier this year.
We caught up with James to find out more about his experiences:
1. Can you tell us a bit about your sporting background (how you got into the scholarship, the college you chose, what you’ve done since etc)
My sporting background is Football(soccer). After playing in the Scottish First and second division for Clydebank F.C I spent the next 3 years in the Scottish Junior Football League playing for St. Anthony’s JFC. It was here where I met FirstPoint MD Andrew Kean and Joined the First Point program in 2002. After working with FirstPoint for a little over a year I chose to go to go out to a Junior College called Wallace State Community College in 2003 which is located in North Alabama. I spent 1 year at Wallace State and transferred out to NAIA 2002 National Champions, University of Mobile where I became incoming sophomore starting goalkeeper and helped lead the team back to the National Championships in 2004. In 2007 I graduated from Mobile with a B.S degree with distinction in Sports Management and Exercise Science. After graduating, I continued with my education earning my Maters degree in Communications in 2010 at Mississippi College while coaching the Women’s soccer team. After graduating from Mississippi College I moved to Memphis Tennessee where I coached soccer and worked for one of the U.S largest payroll companies in the U.S called Paychex before returning to the UK in December 2011. Since returning to the UK I have lived and worked in Bristol as a Project Executive for GDS who organize international Summits and Conferences before joining First Point in April 2013 where I have joined the Clearing Department Team.
2. What were your impressions of the quality of U.S facilities, coaching etc? How do they compare to those in the UK?
The U.S college facilities are second to none. The Soccer fields I played on for Mobile were the nicest I have ever played on in my career. As well as this, the first College American Football game I went to was at the University of Mississippi (Ole’ Miss) where I saw how big the college game was. Over 100,000 fans inside and outside of the stadium. Also, the indoor soccer field on campus was state of the art and the other sporting facilities on campus rivaled any professional facilities in the UK and in Europe.
3. What was the highlight of your time in the USA?
The highlight of my time in the U.S was both of my graduations. There is only 1 other person in my family who has a degree and I was the first to earn a Masters. It was something I never dreamed of doing before going out to the U.S
4. What did you achieve academically and athletically whilst in the U.S?
My Athletic achievements in the U.S include being part of the University of Mobile team that reached the National Championships in Kansas in 2004. Also, I was part of the coaching staff that helped the Mississippi College women’s Soccer team reach their conference tournament in 2007. In 2010 I also kicked a 65 yard field goal to win the State Championship for the local high school team posing an 18 year old graduating senior.
5. How did you balance and manage your time between your studies, training and social life?
During the Fall, There was not much time for social activities as I was primarily focused on soccer and studying. The season is very demanding with all the training, games and traveling to tournaments, so any spare time I had, I spent in the library studying for exams. You have to be very disciplined to make it through the fall and come out with the medals and grades.
6. What advice would you have for any young athlete considering a sports scholarship to the USA?
My advice to anyone considering perusing a U.S scholarship would be to be prepared to work hard, not only on sport but in the classroom as well. Your primary focus should be going to the U.S to attain a degree that will benefit you after you are finished playing your sport.
7. What made you want to work for FirstPoint USA? What is your role at the company? What is your favorite part of the job so far?
I wanted to work for First Point USA as I have been part of the program and have seen how the experience has changed my life and I wanted to help young athletes live their dreams and help them towards a life which will open the doors to endless opportunities. My role involves finding colleges and Universities which suit the athletes specific ambitions and needs so I spend a lot of my day communicating with U.S Universities which I find very rewarding as the daily interaction with Americans is something I miss very much.
8. Do you think you made the right choice by studying in the USA?
There is no doubt that I made the right choice is studying in America. Through the experience I have made thousands of friends, seen more of the world that I could have ever dreamed of and since I have returned home to the U.K, I have found myself in a very good position professionally through the knowledge and experience I gained in my time in the U.S.
9. What do you think are the benefits of having a USA Scholarship experience compared to a UK education?
The benefits of U.S education over a U.K education is that it shows employers that you are open to new experiences and willing to work hard and work independently. You will also find that your network of professional and personal colleagues will expand far beyond what you would have by staying in the U.K.
Do you think you have what it takes to secure a scholarship to study in the USA while playing your favourite sport? Apply now for your assessment!
