The Zimbabwe junior golf national team is currently in Japan in search of glory at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup which tees off at Chukyo Golf Club in Toyota on Tuesday.
By Munyaradzi Madzokere
Zimbabwe Junior Golf Association (ZJGA) president Brian Maphosa headed the six-member travelling party that included captain Jack Allard, Justin Kersten, Kieren Vincent, David Amm as well as manager Simon Murungweni that left Harare on Thursday.
With Kersten and Vincent going to the flagship global junior golf showpiece for the second time, Zimbabwe is hoping to improve on their dismal showing at last year’s tournament when they finished bottom of the standings by a country mile.
Speaking at a sending-off ceremony at Royal Harare, team captain Allard assured of the team’s preparedness ahead of the World Cup while emphasising the team’s desire to outdo African rivals South Africa.
“Most of us are used to this sort of competition; we have played in quite big tournaments so we are used to that sort of pressure and we are well-prepared,” he said.
“As a team, I think we would like to beat South Africa because they are overconfident every time we play them, it’s one of our goals to beat them,” said the player who is also among the top amateurs in the country.
Fifteen-year-old Chapman prodigy David Amm, who along with his captain are going to the World Cup for the first time, is relishing the opportunity to rub shoulders with the best golfers from right round the world.
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“It’s a great opportunity to be able to participate. Only 15 countries are there so to be one of those countries is a great privilege. I really would like to exhibit my best golf at the tournament hopefully I can just have my swing going right and scores going well,” Amm said.
While Kersten — one of the two players who graced the event last year — is looking to finish among the top 20 golfers at the conclusion of the tournament, his companion Vincent is aiming even higher after overcoming back injuries in the last few months.
“The experience I got last year is priceless. I hope I am going to carry it over this year. I had a couple of back injuries in recent weeks so I am not as prepared as I could be, but I do feel my game is good enough to be able to compete well,” he said.
Zimbabwe will be competing with 14 of the world’s best golfing countries namely defending champions Norway, Italy, Sweden, Scotland, Japan, Korea, China, US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa.
Today all teams will warm up for the World Cup with a junior or amateur competition titled — the Long Drive Contest — at the tournament venue.
