Golf course owners told to groom juniors
Golf course owners told to groom juniors
JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the National Sports Council, Wismoyo
Arismunandar, urged golf course owners to set up clubs and
recruit national golfers in a bid to improve their performance at
international events.
"Many golf courses have been built in the country at the
expense of lots of people. Yet we have not seen our golfers
perform commendably," Wismoyo said while receiving the junior
national team for the Asia Pacific championship yesterday.
"It seems that the Indonesian Golf Association does not pay
enough attention to its athletes' development," he said.
Wismoyo asked the association to arrange competitions among
clubs and part-time members of golf courses.
Charlie Pelupessy, team manager and coach of the junior
golfers, agreed with Wismoyo, saying that the country's junior
players have suffered from the indifference of the association.
Indonesia will send five boys and a girl to the junior golf
tournament, being held from May 21 to May 24 in Hong Kong.
Golfers from 33 countries will take part in the tournament which
serves as a qualifying event for the world championships in
England in August.
The team is made up of Roy Mashud (10-11 age group), Alga
Topan (11-12), Indra Hermawan (13-14), Firmansyah and Iin
Setiawan (15-17). Freska de Leon, the only girl in the team, will
compete in the 15-17 age group.
All of the golfers are the children of Pondok Cabe golf course
employees and foster children of Minister of Social Services
Inten Soeweno.
Indra has the best record among the juniors. He placed sixth
in the 1992 world rankings in his age group after winning the
world championships in Japan. He also won the Greg Norman Master
championships in Australia last year.
"Indra always finishes first in national events," Charlie
said.
Firmansyah chalked up his best score with a third place finish
in the Bob Hasan junior championships in 1994, while Iin
triumphed in the 13-14 age group at the 1994 Greg Norman Master
championships in Australia.
Freska was a runner-up at the 1994 Greg Norman Master
championships in Australia. She won the Indonesian Ladies Open
last year. (yan)