adminCool Sports Writer
Zimbabwe’s Junior Golf Team made a last day comeback at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup to finish in 12th place in the 15-team tournament at the Chukyo Golf Club in Japan.
After a slow start that kept them securely in last place of the tournament throughout the first three days of the tournament, the four-man team hit a fantastic collective -4 par last round to edge past China, Brazil and Italy and finish in 12th place. Zimbabwe’s final team score was +16 over par for 868 points on the leader board, a marked improvement over their +33 over par last place finish in last year’s championship.
St John’s College student Kieran Vincent was the top Zimbabwean golfer in the tournament who scored 71-70-69-71 in four rounds for an overall -3 par, missing the top 10 by a single stroke and finishing tied in 13th place of the 60 golfers. Teammate Justin Kersten of Falcon College was a distant second from Zimbabwe with an overall +10 and finishing tied in 44th place. Teammate David Amm (16) shot an impressive 70 stroke, -1 final round to move from 56th place after round three to finish 50th in the tournament. Team Captain Falcon student Jack Allard finished in 58th place with a +19 overall score.
South Africa, the other African team in the World Cup, finished in eighth place with an aggregate 851 points, -1 under par. The Junior Golf World Cup was won convincingly by hosts Japan with an overall -25 par, with Sweden in second, South Korea in third and the USA in fourth. Zimbabwe returns home, not only with a better overall and individual performance than in 2014, but also with solid experience and preparation for next year’s tournament, proof that junior golf development in Zimbabwe is paying off.
Online Reporter