Junior Golf Tournament: From Royal Malta Golf Club
The Junior Academy organised the first ever International Junior Golf Tournament at the Royal Malta Golf Club between October 29th and November 1st 2008. Boys with year of birth 1992 and later, from Britain, Belgium and Malta participated in a 36 hole strokeplay competition over two days.
The Xara Trattoria in Mdina provided the perfect setting for the Welcome Evening. The Organising Committee, officials, participating players, parents and friends enjoyed a sumptious meal in the open air, whilst admiring the impeccably dressed young participants making each others acquaintance, and making their short introductory speeches under the watchful eye of the TV camera. The Royal Malta Golf Club Team for this tournament was made up of Chris Bergedahl (captain), JJ Micallef, Truman Addison, Danny Holland, Luca Caruana, Bernhard Abele, and Thomas Frik.
The next day saw the visiting players making their first acquaintance with the course which was set up impeccably throughout the Tournament by Head Green keeper John Watson and his staff. The juniors soon discovered the trickiness of the small greens, as well as the difficulty of playing from the thick Bermuda rough. The official practice round was immediately followed by the Titleist / Cobra Longest Drive Competition which was observed by numerous spectators. The competition was won by Sedlescombe Golf Club boy David Wicks jnr whose whopping drive of 275 yards down the middle of the second fairway, just pipped the Royal Malta Golf Club player Chris Bergedahl’s effort. Not bad for a boy who has only just turned 15! Mr Ray Calleja of Strand Palace Agencies Ltd presented the winner with his Titleist prize immediately after.
The first day of the competition was played in warm but rather windy conditions. At the halfway stage Matt Greenfield had shot level par and was leading by one shot from Royal Malta Golf Club players Chris Bergedahl and JJ Micallef, and by two from David Wicks jnr. The back nine however was to prove more difficult for Greenfield and Bergedahl who shot 76 and 77 respectively. Micallef however, persevered and with a total of five birdies and an eagle at the sixteenth came in at level par 68. A great score which gave him a three shot lead over the nearest contender Truman Addison. Addison with a total of three birdies came in with a 71, and David Wicks with one birdie and an eagle at the seventeenth, came in with 73. Also worthy of note was Kyle Gaster’s four straight birdies from holes 14 to 17. At the end of the first day’s play the leaderboard read:
1) JJ Micallef (RMGC) 68
2) Truman Addison (RMGC) 71
3) David Wicks (Sedlescombe GC) 73
4) Kyle Gaster (Willingdon GC) 76
5) Nick Ward (Royal Eastbourne GC) 76
6) Matt Greenfield (Pyecombe GC) 76
7) Chris Bergedahl (RMGC) 77
The second day of the Tournament was played in brilliant sunshine and was to culminate in a story book ending. Like any final day of an important competition, controlling one’s nerves was going to be a major priority for the three players in the final group namely JJ Micallef, Truman Addison and David Wicks jnr.
The players were followed throughout by spectators, photographers and TV camera but the youngsters handled the situation admirably. Although Micallef’s play was not at the same high level as the previous day, he still carded a respectable 74. Addison shot the best score of the day, a 71 which included four birdies.
As the last group arrived on the 18th tee, a large gathering of spectators watched the proceedings anxiously, and none more so than the players’ parents who were visibly suffering. At this stage Addison was leading by one shot from Micallef. Both players had well placed tee shots on the fairway. Addison however, hit his short approach into the left hand side bunker and ended up bogeying the hole. Micallef grabbed the opportunity and by making his par ensured that both players ended with an identical total gross score over the two days of 142.
As the tournament rules stipulate, a sudden death playoff on the 18th hole was necessary to decide the overall tournament winner. Both players parred the hole in the first playoff, birdied it on the second, and parred it again on the third attempt. As light was diminishing rapidly the tournament committee with the consensus of both players decided that there would be a fourth and last playoff hole. Both narrowly missed their birdie putt and hence Truman Addison and JJ Micallef, both from the Royal Malta Golf Club, were declared joint winners to the applause of the numerous spectators witnessing this unprecedented spectacle.
David Wicks jnr with a total gross score of 146 was declared the overall runner up and the winner (net) with an impressive total net score of 128 was Sam Burgess on a countback from Tom Richardson. The Best Royal Malta Golf Club player was awarded to Danny Holland and the Best British player to Matt Greenfield. One must note that the tournament rules allowed only one prize per player. For more details of finals please click here
The well attended Presentation Evening was held at the Putters Inn. Steve De Domenico and his staff put up a fitting meal for the occasion. The atmosphere could not have been any better. The Juniors could be seen exchanging their experiences of the last three days and enjoying themselves, none more so than the elated winners of the prizes; proud parents admiring their ‘little’ heroes dressed smartly in their Club and County uniforms collecting the impressive prizes and making speeches for the occasion; the organisers, the sponsors and the RMGC officials totally satisfied with the outcome. The Sussex County Golf officials David Wicks and Alan Covey thanked the organisers and presented the RMGC Captain Ray Mountford with a memento of the occasion, a bust of Queen Victoria whose third son, the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Alfred Ernest Albert was one of the founder members of the Royal Malta Golf Club.
As the feedback from all quarters clearly shows, the Tournament was a truly memorable one, and this thanks to Tournament Organiser David Debono and his team comprising Matthias Fauser, Anne Thompson and the ball spotters, Vanessa Galea, Kim Borg, Andy Holland and Tony Bonello, as well as Theresa Delia and everyone at the RMGC who helped and encouraged throughout. We have proven that we have what it takes to organise international events successfully, especially when one keeps in mind that only five months had elapsed between the inception and the actual materialisation of this inaugural event.
An official DVD covering all stages of the Tournament will be available shortly.
A very special thank you to the Tournament’s main sponsors Malta International Airport and Business Meetings Malta and supporting sponsors Air Malta, Srixon (The Royal Malta Golf Shop), Titleist/Cobra (Strand Palace Agencies) and Bortex.