Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Chairman Jonathan Cernek recently welcomed Tiger Woods to the Coushatta Casino Resort as part of the Notah Begay II Junior Golf National Championship.

Koasati Pines at Coushatta hosted the event which featured the nation’s best junior golfers competing for the top honors in their respective class, including Tiger Woods’ son.

The tournaments will air Dec. 7 and 8 on the Golf Channel.

“It was inspiring to see Tiger Woods embrace his role of being a proud father to Charlie during his visit to the Coushatta Tribe,” Cernek said. “The importance of family and the strength of the bond between father and son could be felt throughout the three-day tournament.”

This year’s tournament has grown, expanding into two separate tournaments: junior girls and junior boys.

“As parents, we put such a high emphasis on teaching our children the valuable tools they need to grow into adults,” Cernek said. “It was in this moment that I saw Tiger Woods as a dad doing the exact same thing for his son. The inclusion of family, mentorship and competition with one of the greatest athletes of all-time made for an exciting week at the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.”

The Notah Begay II Junior Golf National Championship also provided Cernek the opportunity to present Woods with a cultural handwoven pine needle basket from the tribe,

Woods thanked Cernek for the artifact as they discussed the love and dedication that goes into the handiwork, as well as the similarities of the basket to the work of other tribes around the country.

“It was a surreal moment to know that I was meeting and having a conversation with the greatest golfer in the world,” Cernek said. “There was a level of reverence that is hard to put into words after having watched Tiger dominate the golf world his entire career.”

The Notah Begay II Junior Golf National Championship is in its third year and aims to grow the game of golf by providing a platform for players to compete against the best juniors in the country in a true, open qualifying series.