ONE of the country’s most promising junior golfers, Ben Follet-Smith, lifted the country’s flag high in the United States after finishing an impressive fourth at the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship at the Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables, Florida, at the weekend.
Report By DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER
The locally based young golf prodigy finished the 54-hole tournament on four under par 209 after a sizzling four-under-par 67 in his final round which saw him jump nine places on the leaderboard.Follet-Smith, however, finished a massive 10 shots behind the eventual champion England’s Patrick Kelly who overcame illness to emerge triumphant after finishing on 14-under-par 66-199.
Argentina’s Jamie Lopez-Rivarola finished seven shots behind the eventual champion on seven under par 206, while American Corey Pereira was in third place on five-under par 208.
The only other Zimbabwean in the 70-man field found the going tough, but still managed to finish a respectable 39th.
Follet-Smith’s perfomance at the weekend is set to attract a lot of interest from colleges and universities in the US who use the Orange Bowl International Golf Championship to scout for talent. Only last week, Follet-Smith produced another impressive display to finish tied on ninth place at the 2012 Doral Publix Junior Golf Classic in Miami.
His performance at the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship is one of the best performances by a local junior golfer at the annual event.
