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)