By Bobbet Bruce
Tae-Won Ha won the premier Boys 15-18 years old division and garnered the slot to the 40th North and South Junior Championship in Pinehurst, North Carolina, at the recent 2019 USCC Philippines Summer Junior Challenge hosted by US College Sports Camp (USCSC) Asia.
Run by their local partner representative, USCC Philippines, the three-day tournament and the 2019 USCC Philippines Summer US College Golf Camp were the follow-up events to the very successful US College Golf Camp held last November 2018, a groundbreaking event in Philippine junior golf where US college coaches ran golf camps in the country for the first time.
The tournament was held from May 29 to 31 at the Southlinks Golf Course, and the Orchard Golf and Country Club with the camp held right after the tournament also at the Orchard Golf and Country Club on June 1 and 2.
Jed Dy finished second to Ha followed by Josh Jorge, Coby Rolida and Santino Laurel. Tae Soo Kim ruled Boys 13-14 ahead of Zachary Castro, Francis Lanuza, Rico See and Emilio Carpio. Dylan Castillo won in Boys 11-12 edging Tae Won Kim, Zach Blanco, Mikelson Lee and Ethan Flores. Patrick Tambalque dominated Boys 9-10 ahead of Eno Cham, Seth Koa and Gabriel See. Ayeesha Ong (15-18), Jody Castillo (13-14), Stevie Umali (9-10) and Nicol Gan (7-8) topped their respective Girls division.
The camp gave the participants a college training day experience in a small group setting directly under the US coaches. Each camper received in-depth expert instruction on full swing, short game, course management, tournament preparation, mental game, fitness and instruction.
The tournament, which was open for all camp participants, saw more than 50 junior players compete in Boys and Girls Division for 15-18, 13-14, 11-12, 9-10 and 8 under age groups. The tournament was the first junior event outside of the events of the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) that awarded World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points.
It is the only local junior event that had Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) ranking and Global Junior Golf Ranking (GJGR) event and the only event in the country in Bluegolf.
The tournament also served as a qualifier for the Boys and Girls 15-18 years old to the 40th North and South Junior Golf Championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina next month.
The camp was handled by US NCAA Division I coaches, Richard Church, the golf director for Men’s and Women’s Golf at Southern Utah University; Lisa Strom, the Women’s head coach at Texas State University; and Katie Brophie-Miles, the former head coach for Women at Georgetown University.
“It is our advocacy to grow the game and fill in gaps in the golf ecosystem,” said Atty. Bobbet Bruce of USCC Philippines
“We want to broaden the horizon of our local junior golfers to include the possibility of going to the US on golf scholarships. We have the talent. It’s just a matter of matching these talents with the more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the US,” he added.
In other sports, USCC Philippines plans to have camps this year in football, tennis and swimming, to hold periodic UTR events in tennis, a coach’s upgrade seminar in football, a cohosting of a regional tryout for a Major League Soccer team and the selection of a Filipino footballer to attend the MLS Division II Draft Combine.
Other participants were Jona Magcalayo, Joaquim Yu, Cedric Aunzo, Joaquin Gomez, Miguel Fusilero, James Luguban, Kenn Aquino, Iseah Malsi, Sam Sagaral, CJ Alcantara, David Gaungko, Damien See, Robin See, Mathew Lee, Mickelson Chua, Jacob Chua, Rey del Rosario, Tejawn Mercado, Jose Radovan, Dominic Villamor, Pocholo Medina, Dylan Recto and Dustin Recto.
The events were made possible by US College Sports Camps Asia in cooperation with Netlogic Solutions Asia Inc., Golf Globally, Llc., J.L.M. Hotel and Food Management, Inc. (Jollibee-Lopez, Quezon), G & W Clubshares Inc. and venue benefactor, The Orchard Golf and Country Club and Southlinks Golf Course.