The Junior Golfing calendar is packed full of opportunities these school holidays, commencing with the Cobra Puma Junior Championships tomorrow at Cottesloe Golf Club. A strong field of 90 Juniors will compete over two days in this 36 hole championship event.
Eyes will be on 2019 Boy’s Champion Joondalup’s Aldrich Potgieter who will be competing against some strong talent in the field. Josiah Gilbert from Gosnells has been in tremendous form of late, as has Joe Buttress, Tom Addy and Ian Pienaar. Unfortunately due to a recent competition in Queensland, Sheridan Clancy, Celine Chen and Amie Phobubpa will be missing from the field quarantining at home. All three would have been top picks at this years competition, but the field is still strong with talent such as Mount Lawley’s Valerie Khuu, Ruby Fry and Royal Perth’s Mai Julius.
The weather is looking challenging for tomorrow’s start, and a gentle reminder that masks must be worn by all competitors over the age of 12. We ask politely that social distancing is observed at all times. Food will be available on a takeaway basis only from the club.
The Sun City Junior Open will follow promptly on the 7th July, smartly followed by the Gosnells Junior Open on the 9th July. With a few days for recovery, the Drummond Golf 54 Hole Classic will run from 14th -16th July at Capel, Dunsborough and Busselton. The Crunch and Sip South West Classic will run alongside the 54 hole event, offering a Stableford, modified stroke and tiger tee competition.
With so many tournaments in this period, we chatted today to Alex McKay, teaching professional at Mount Lawley Golf Club who coaches many juniors across the state. Alex is the State junior coach for WA, and he has offered some simple tips to assist all the kids competing in the next few weeks.
Thanks Alex (www.amacgolf.com.au) for sharing these – read on kids!
- Creating an edge in the wet
There are two major keys to finding your edge in the rain. Firstly, prepare to be over prepared. Extra towels, wet weather gear, umbrella, hand warmers and having a rain cover for your bag. Secondly, stay patient and stick it out! Accept that scores will increase when the weather is poor and others will also be doing it tough! - Keep Doing What You Do!
Poor shots in the rain aren’t generally caused by issues with maintaining a good hold on the club. They come from players rushing through their pre shot routines in the effort to stay dry! Trust that you are prepared to get wet and stick to your routines! - An Aggressive Approach Is A Silly Approach at Capel and Busselton (54 hole tournament locations)
The average tour putting green sits at around 27 meters wide. The average green width of both Capel and Busselton’s greens is just over 15 meters! With that, question whether you need to be firing at flags located close to the edge of the green when aiming for the middle of the green will leave you only roughly 15 ft from the flag! - Do Your Homework
Organise a time to chat with your coach or mentor about upcoming events and the courses they are being played at! Arrive to the event prepared knowing that your strategy has been laid out before you tee off! I have recently created hole by hole course logs for Cottesloe, Sun City and Gosnells which anyone is welcome to watch via the AMAC Golf website.
