Young Hopefuls Ready to Tee It Up In World Event

When the Enjoy Jakarta World Junior Golf Championship hits the capital this week, the Indonesian Golf Association hopes it is only the start of a renaissance for young players.

Damai Indah golf course in Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta, will host the event, which runs from today through Friday.

Sudrajat, the secretary general of the association, or PGI, said four more junior tournaments would take place this year in an attempt to help junior golfers hone their skills and gain some competitive experience.

“It’s a good event to strengthen their mentality, as the golfers will play against top junior golfers from other countries like Australia, South Korea and Taiwan,” he told state-run news agency Antara. “The event will be a good tryout before they play in the World Junior Championship in July.”

California’s Torrey Pines course will host the world championship from July 13-16.

The PGI plans to send 10 youngsters to the tournament.

In addition to this week’s event, Sudrajat said three other junior tournaments would take place in June.

Jagorawi in Bogor, West Java, will host the Indonesia Junior Open Golf Championship from June 8-11, while the Java Junior League will hold two tournaments — the first in Yog­yakarta from June 27-28 and the other from June 30 to July 1 in Surabaya.

“Those are prestigious events for the youngsters in the PGI calendar,” Sudrajat said.

Organizers say this week’s event in North Jakarta will feature 144 golfers from 15 countries — Australia, Burma, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Indonesia.

Indonesia will field 45 golfers competing for honors in the boys and girls A (15 to 17 years old), B (13 to 14), C (11 to 12) and D (10 and under) divisions.

Last year, Thailand dominated the event, winning seven of 10 titles, including the boys A division championship, won by Poom Saksanin, and a sweep of the top three boys B division spots.

Tatiana Jacqueline Wijaya gave Indonesia its only title by winning the girls C division, shooting an 11-over 227 in the four-day tournament at Damai Indah golf course in Tangerang.

Mulan Sukrisno and Natasha Andrea Oon finished second and third in the girls D division, the best Indonesian finish other than Tatiana’s.

Theodore Rahardja and Timothius Tirto Te­mardi took second and third in the boys D division. The only other divisions Thailand did not win were the girls D, which went to a Singaporean golfer, and the boys C, which went to a Malaysian.

Antara, JG