ZIMBABWE’S leading junior golfers will get some valuable exposure on the world stage in June after their second place finish at the All-Africa Junior Golf Championship in Zambia on Thursday saw them qualify for the prestigious Toyota Junior Golf World Cup to be held in Japan.
DANIEL NHAKANISO
The four-man national junior golf team comprising of Stuart Krog, Jack Allard, Kieran Vincent and Justin Kirsten combined for a final round 230 to end the week with a total of 908.
They were 35 points shy of regional powerhouses South Africa, who successfully defended their title with a cumulative gross score of 873 over four days at Chainama Hills Golf Club in Lusaka.
Hosts Zambia claimed third on 923 ahead of Reunion (931) and Uganda (942) who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
After failing to end South Africa’s dominance of the All-Africa Junior Golf Championship, Zimbabwe could have missed out on a place at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.
However, unlike previous years where only the winner qualified for the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup, this year Zimbabwe will qualify for the prestigious competition.
Joe Malangi, the Africa Golf Confederation confirmed that both the champions and runners-up will be competing in Japan this June.
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Krog, who finished as the highest placed local player on the individual leaderboard with a four-round total of 294 after rounds of 78-71-70-75 said he was happy with the team’s perfomance.
“The team performed brilliantly under immense pressure on a very tough golf course and we earned valuable experience for Japan,” Krog told NewsDay Sport in an interview yesterday.
“It’s been a dream goal for us all to qualify for the Junior Golf World Cup and we are really excited to get this really rare opportunity. We are going to relish the opportunity that we have been given and make sure we put Zimbabwe golf on the world map,” an elated Krog said from Zambia. As Zimbabwe’s highest ranked player Krog once again set the tone for Zimbabwe with a 75 in the final round.
He was supported by Vincent, who carded a 76 and Kersten, who signed for a 79 while Allard posted a non-counting 81.
