Two Zimbabwean budding golfers, Grant Hudson and Bret Krog, will spend Christmas in the United States where they will represent the country at the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship and Doral Classic competitions in Miami, Florida.
The promising golfers earned the right to represent Zimbabwe after finishing first and second respectively in the Zimbabwe Junior Golfers Association (ZJGA) Order of Merit for 2011.
The Doral Junior Golf Classic, which is the premier tournament with a field of over 680 junior golfers from around the world, teed off yesterday while the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship takes place from December 26-30 at the Baltimore Golf Course in Florida.
Eighteen-year-old Hudson is a student at TUKS Sports High School in Pretoria, South Africa, while Krog — who has done well in local competitions — is a student at St George’s College.
Hudson was part of the TUKS golf team that dominated South Africa schools competitions this year after winning the Dainfern Schools Challenge, Gauteng North Schools Championships, the South African Schools Championships and the Sun International.
Zimbabwe’s best performance at the prestigious tournament came in 1992 when the late Lewis Chitengwa made history by beating Tiger Woods when they were both still amateurs. ZJGA president Roger Baylis told NewsDay Sport he was confident the two youngsters would do well in the US.
“We have two young golfers, Grant Hudson and Bret Krog representing Zimbabwe at the Orange Bowl and Doral Classic.
They finished as the two leading junior golfers on the ZJGA Order of Merit.
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“Hudson is coming from a very successful season in South Africa with the TUKS Academy in Pretoria while Bret, who is a student at St Georges College, has been doing well in local and regional tournaments.
Hopefully they will do well there as it will open a lot of opportunities for them as there will be many coaches scouting for talent,” said Baylis.
Baylis was in Malawi over the weekend where the Zimbabwe Junior Golf team did the nation proud by winning its third consecutive Tri-Nations Junior Golf Tournament in Lilongwe.
The junior golfers ended at the top of the log with 27,5 points, followed by Zambia with 22, while Malawi finished third with 12 points.
Meanwhile, the traditional season opener, the Dugmore Trophy, at Bulawayo Golf Club, will open the 2012 national golf calendar which was released by the Zimbabwe Golf Association.
The Dugmore Trophy, which attracts all the country’s leading amateur players, takes place from January 21 and 22 which will be followed Julius Robinson Trophy at Wingate Golf Club in February.
