---

Think you can compete against the Attleboro area's best golfers?

Now is the time to prove it.

Applications are now available for the Attleboro Area Golf Association Open, to be held Aug. 20-23 at four of the region's top courses.

Unless you're already in, the qualifying round will be held Friday, July 31 at Heather Hill Country Club in Plainville. The fee is $40, and applications are available at myaaga.com. The deadline to register is July 24.

To qualify, players generally need to shoot in the low to mid-80s at Heather Hill. This will be the first year that Wentworth Hills Golf Club in Plainville will serve as the site for the tournament's final round. The short, tight layout is known for producing scores that can be low or quite high, depending on how accurate the player is. That could make things interesting at the end.

The tournament opens at Foxboro Country Club, moves to Highland Country Club in Attleboro for the second round and Norton Country Club for the third.

Now on sale

A reminder that tickets are now on sale for the 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship, the PGA Tour event that visits TPC Boston in Norton Sept. 1-7. The folks down on Arnold Palmer Boulevard say tickets will only be on sale until July 3.

The tournament also announced a partnership this week with MasterCard, enabling patrons to buy a "priceless" experience in a corporate box on TPC Boston's 17th hole. The price? $2,500 for 10 week-long tickets.

You can get more information or tickets online at www.dbchampionship.com, by telephone at 877-TIX-4DBC or in person at any local Stop & Shop grocery store. Ten percent of the proceeds from all tickets purchased at Stop & Shop will go to the Stop & Shop/Giant Family Foundation, a Founders Club partner of the tournament.

For the next generation

Speaking of Deutsche Bank, the PGA Tour sponsors are hoping to cultivate the next Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Jim Furyk by helping the American Junior Golf Association this summer.

The Deutsche Bank Partners for Charity Junior Shoot Out will be held July 20-23 at the Dedham Country and Polo Club. The 54-hole stroke play event will feature 99 of the nation's top male and female junior golfers, ages 12-18. It's the 10th year the AJGA has held a tournament in the Boston area.

Deutsche Bank joined the AJGA in 2008 as an endowing partner of the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program. The ACE Grant program was created by the AJGA in 2003 to ensure competitive golf opportunities are available to all young golfers, regardless of their financial resources. Since the program's inception, the AJGA has awarded 255 ACE Grants to 170 juniors totaling nearly $937,000. More than 200 former AJGA juniors - including Woods, Mickelson and Furyk - currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours, compiling more than 350 wins. "Deutsche Bank's partnership with the AJGA has benefited many worthy kids in New England and around the country, so we are proud to expand our involvement by supporting the Junior Shoot Out," said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas. "Through golf and the Deutsche Bank Championship, we have generated more than $14 million for children's charities, and this sponsorship further underscores our commitment."

Look who's buying

Moe Larocque of Bellingham used a six-iron to ace the 148-yard 17th hole at Wentworth Hills Golf Club on June 20. Know someone who's scored a hole-in-one? Just let me know.

MIKE KIRBY writes a weekly column on golf. Have some news for him? Contact him at 508-236-0344 or at mkirby@thesunchronicle.com.