ACE junior golfer David Amm (14) became the youngest ever player to qualify for the flagship Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open after booking his spot during an 18-hole pre-qualifier for non-exempt players at Chapman Golf Club yesterday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER
Amm announced his arrival on the local golf scene in style after carding a solid level par 72 to finish tied for second place with local professional Ryan Lang.
Kenya’s Anderson Stephen Engel shot one-under par 71 to finish first in the qualifier where eight players qualified for the 2014 Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open which tees off at Royal Harare Golf Club on Thursday.
Jaison Jackson also qualified after carding one-over par 73 while Kenyan Njuguna Ngugi (74), Stephen Ferreira (74), Shane Johnson (74) also qualified while Scott Ferguson (75) booked his place after a playoff.
The star of the show was, however, Amm, who lowered the previous record set by Tanaka Mhere who qualified for last year’s Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open at only 16. Amm, whose dream is to one day play on the US PGA Tour stole all the limelight away from some seasoned professionals in the field.
Amm, who had former Zimbabwe Rugby Union boss Themba Sibanda on his bag during the round said he was looking forward to playing in the Zim Open.
“I just told myself to go out there and enjoy myself. I wasn’t expecting to play this well and it feels good to qualify for Zim Open. I played good golf throughout my round, I made some good putts. If it wasn’t for my putting I wouldn’t have shot low as I did today but my putting was really good,” said Amm.
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Zimbabwean golf development stalwart Roger Baylis, who coaches Amm said he was happy for the you “It’s always exciting when a promising youngster comes along like what Amm has just done. To just come out of the blue and qualify for Zim Open is amazing. The boy is just 14,” said Baylis.
“He will be joining one of my other players who I worked with in the juniors during the Zim Open in Scott Vincent who only yesterday (Sunday) was second in an NCAA tournament in Augusta. So it will be exciting to see how the two play as well as all the other amateurs in the field,” Baylis said.
Amm’s qualification takes the number of amateurs to play in the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open to six together with Scott Vincent, Thembelani Vundla, Jack Allard, Christian Mbanga and Clive Nguru.
