The first-ever Central Oregon PGA Junior League all-star team will be taking on the Northwest’s best today at Rock Creek Golf Club in Portland.

Eight Central Oregon all-stars — selected from teams representing Bend courses Awbrey Glen Golf Club, Bend Golf and Country Club, Broken Top Club and Tetherow Golf Club — will take on the Portland-West all-star team in the first round of the 2013 PGA Junior League sectional championship.

The Central Oregon squad includes William Fleck and brothers Jake and Matthew Seals, all from Awbrey Glen; Forrest Reinhart, Lucas Ngo and T.J. Lawrence, all from Bend Golf and Country Club; Hayden Klein from Broken Top; and Miles Sanchez from Tetherow.

The Central Oregon/Portland-West winner — decided by four matches of two-person scrambles — will play the winner between Portland-East and Tacoma, Wash., later today to decide the section championship.

Regardless of the outcome today, the inaugural season of the PGA Junior League in Central Oregon has been a success, says Tim Fraley, the head pro at Awbrey Glen, which won the Central Oregon league.

“It has been a lot of fun meeting other kids and parents from other clubs,” says Fraley, who spearheaded the effort to bring the junior league to this region of the state.

The PGA Junior League is a 3-year-old PGA of America initiative modeled after Little League Baseball.

The idea of the program is to introduce boys and girls, age 13 and younger, to golf in a team setting in which each player represents a club for a weekly match under the direction of PGA and LPGA professionals. Central Oregon’s league started small with just four teams this season, but Fraley predicts rapid expansion.

“The growth of this program has been instrumental in linking less-skilled golfers with seasoned juniors,” says Fraley of the national growth of the program from a handful of teams in four cities in 2011 to a nationwide program with more than 900 teams in 2013. “The format is a blast, and next year I expect to see it double in size (in Central Oregon).”

The winning team at Rock Creek will advance to a regional championship Aug. 17-18 at Haggin Oaks in Sacramento, Calif. The winner there moves on to the PGA Junior League Golf Championship, set for Sept. 7-8 at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga.

For more information: www.pgajrleaguegolf.com.