SA woes continue at Junior Golf World Cup
South Africa’s campaign at the TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup in Japan took another knock as the team’s backward slide continued in the third round at Tokyo’s Chukyo Country Club.
The prestigious international championship is turning into a tough school for the 2014 All-Africa Junior Golf Championship winners, who slipped to 13th in the 15-nation field on Thursday.
South Africa was handily placed after a five-under-par 208 in the opening round, but tough pin placements, humid conditions and a tricky layout has taken its toll on the top SA juniors over the last two days.
The team slipped to ninth after a 215 on Wednesday and find themselves in 12th place on two over 641 after a third round 218.
Jovan Rebula has emerged as the team’s top performer at the 54-hole mark.
The Southern Cape golfer followed rounds of 72 and 71 with a 70 and joined team mate, Hennie du Plessis from Limpopo, in a tie for 17th in the Individual Competition.
“It was Jovan’s lowest score for the week, and he was the only member of the team to dip below par,” said South African Golf Association vice-president, Gerhard Conradie.
“Hennie had another tough day over the opening stretch and turned in three over, but he fought hard to complete the back nine in three under for an even-par 71.”
Altin van der Merwe from the Western Province completed the course in 78 strokes, while Ekurhuleni’s Kyle McClatchie battled a cold putter to a non-counting 78.
“Most of the countries in the line-up here this week enjoy regular international competition and they are seasoned travellers,” Conradie said. “Our players have struggled with the heat and humidity and they are showing fatigue. It would probably be a good idea to get them to Japan a day earlier next year, so they can adjust properly.”
Conradie said he would like to see the team fight their way back into the top 10 on Friday, but he cautioned that the focus of the trip to Japan was not just about the scores.
“We are a long way off the pace with one round to go,” he said. “I have told the boys not to put pressure on themselves to catch the leaders, but to focus on every shot and to take as much as possible away from this experience.”
Venezuela carded a 202 to overtake the United States and leads by three shots on 18 under 621.
Zimbabwe, the silver medallists at the All-Africa Junior Golf Championship, combined for a third round 226 to finish on 32 over 671.
Sweden’s Linnea Strom carded an even-par 72 to move one shot clear of Haruhi Nakao, whose 71 helped Japan to a third round 142 and a five shot lead over the United States in the team competition.
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THIRD ROUND BOYS TEAM STANDINGS
621 (-18) Venezuela 205 214 202
624 (-15) United States 205 210 209
625 (-14) Norway 213 209 203
628 (-11) Australia 210 211 207; Italy 209 208 211
631 (-8) France 211 211 209
632 (-7) Mexico 208 219 205
633 (-6) Canada 211 213 209
635 (-4) Chile 204 214 217
639 (lvl) Japan 207 213 219
640 (+1) Korea 215 212 213
641 (+2) South Africa 208 215 218
649 (+10) Thailand 213 216 220
650 (+11) Argentina 218 217 215
671 (+32) Zimbabwe 224 221 226
THIRD ROUND BOYS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top five)
196 (-17) Jorge Garcia VEN 64 68 64
204 (-9) Brett Coletta AUS 68 69 67; Cameron Young USA 65 67 72
205 (-8) Joaquin Niemann CHL 65 69 71
207 (-6) Alvaro Ortiz MEX 71 68 68; Guido Migliozzi ITA 66 70 71; Renato Paratore ITA 72 67 68
South African Scores
T17 – 213 (lvl) Hennie du Plessis 67 75 71; Jovan Rebula 72 71 70
T45 – 220 (+7) Altin van der Merwe 69 74 77
55 – 227 (+14) Kyle McClatchie 79 70 78
Zimbabwe Scores
42 – 219 (+6) Stuart Krog 71 72 76
T52 – 224 (+11) Mbogeni Mpahosa 77 72 75
58 – 231 (+19) Kieren Vincent 76 77 79
T59 – 236 (+23) Justin Kersten 80 81 75
THIRD ROUND GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS
430 (-2) Japan 142 146 142
435 (+3) United States 139 152 144
437 (+5) Sweden 143 146 148
440 (+8) Korea 145 150 145
448 +16) Colombia 148 149 151
THIRD ROUND GIRLS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top three)
212 (-4) Linnea Strom SWE 70 70 72
213 (-3) Haruhi Nakao JAP 71 71 71
214 (-4) Amy Lee USA 66 75 73
NOTE
South Africa has only tasted success once in the 21-year history of the event, with SA major winners Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel helping the country to victory in 2001.
The TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup is the only junior golf championship in the world where the winning nations qualify to compete for the world championship title. Nearly 70 national teams participated in the regional qualifying events held on six continents.
This is the first year that both the champions and silver medallists of the All-Africa Junior Golf Championship – South Africa and Zimbabwe – qualify for the TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup and it is the first year in 22 editions that the World Cup features a Girls Division.
In addition Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, Masters Champion Trevor Immelman was also a former participant in this event. Other notable former participants include Brendon de Jonge from Zimbabwe, Henrik Stenson from Sweden, Americans Anthony Kim, Kyle Stanley and Hunter Mahan, Ryuji Imada from Japan, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, Justin Rose from England and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas.
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.