MOSSEL BAY GOLF NEWS - Five of the country's most promising young golfers will travel to Europe in early September to represent South Africa in the 12th Reply Italian International U16 Championship.
The South African Golf Association (SAGA) named Martin Vorster of Mossel Bay, Yurav Premlall, Casey Jarvis, Samuel Simpson and Kian Rose to fly the national flag in this prestigious international tournament from 4 to 6 September.
Vorster's three-shot victory in Italy last year proved the catalyst for his winning performance in the recent Junior Open Championship and he will be heading back to Golf Club Biella, ready to embrace the pressure that comes with being the defending champion.
Yurav Premlall from Ekurhuleni, who tied for 17th place in his debut last year, also returns for duty.
Jarvis, the current reigning English Boys U14 champion, won the Nomads SA Boys U15 title in January.
In July, the Ekurhuleni resident picked up his third SA Boys title when he came from behind at Middelburg Country Club to win the Nomads SA Boys U17 Championship.
Simpson, from Western Province, converted three close calls to victory in the Nomads National Order of Merit in July, while fellow Bridge Fund Managers Junior Series finalist Rose from Central Gauteng was one of the standouts for the victorious GolfRSA Junior team in the 2018 SA Challenge Cup.
The quintet will challenge for the Teodoro Soldati Trophy in the 72-hole Individual Competition, while three of the juniors will be nominated to represent South Africa in the 36-hole Nation's Trophy team event, which is played concurrently with the first two rounds of the stroke play championship.
"Historically, we've sent four juniors to Italy since the inception of the championship in 2007," said South African Golf Association president Geoff Taylor.
"Thanks to funding from the GolfRSA National Squad, we are able to raise the number to five this year."
The Italian International U16 Championship features 144 juniors from more than 20 countries.
Besides South Africa, the field for this year's event includes representation from Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Korea, Estonia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Morocco, Mauritius, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark.
GolfRSA assistant manager - golf operations David Younge and renowned sports psychologist Theo Bezuidenhout will accompany South Africa's five juniors.
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