Yushira finishes fifth in US Junior Masters

Ole Ramsnes of Norway and Juliet Vongphoumy of the United States won the respective boys and girls events at United States Junior Masters golf tournament played on the Ocean Course at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Verdra Beach, Florida from 20 to 23 December.

SA Junior Yushira Budhram, carding 78, 76, 75 (+13) finished in fifth position.

Seventy-eight junior golfers from 20 different countries make up the field. PGA TOUR Professional Jeff Klauk and former European Tour Professional Anders Forsbrand served as honorary chairmen of the event.

Ole Ramsnes, age 17 from Norway, started the final day at 2 over par and shot even par to finish in a three way tie for the lead with Ju Hyuk Park of South Korea and Justin Thomas of the United States. Ramsnes sank a 35 foot birdie putt to win the second playoff hole and win the boys division of the United States Junior Masters.

Juliet Vongphoumy of Providence, Rhode Island began the day with a seven shot lead. With five bogeys and a 11 on hole three, Vongphoumy held off Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea, to capture the title in the girls division of the United States Junior Masters.

The juniors took part in many different activities such as touring the World Golf Hall of Fame, long drive and pitching contest, lectures from sports psychologists, and education on physical therapy and how it relates to golf.

The United States Junior Masters (USJM) is part of the World Junior Golf Series whose continuous mission is to create a competitive international arena for youth to promote good citizenship, benevolence and outstanding ethical conduct while providing juniors with valuable life experiences.

“We are very excited about hosting the tournament here in northeast Florida and giving these young participants from around the world an opportunity to play such a great course in a terrific location,” said Jeff Klauk, honorary chairman. “We truly have an impressive field of junior golfers who will test their skills on uncharted territory as this will be the first time they may have ever played a golf course in the United States,” he added.

The USJM is the last event of the 2009 series of competitions which also included the Icelandic Junior Masters and the Harder German Junior Masters. By 2011, the series will grow to 10 tournaments. The junior golfers participating are 13-19 years old. The field is comprised of 30 girls and 48 boys.

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