MALTA BOYS TO PLAY IN US KIDS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP IN SCOTLAND

27/05/2011

The Malta Golf Association has once again been invited to send young golf players to the prestigious US Kids Golf European Qualifying Championship round being held between May 31 and June 2 over four historic East Lothian links courses in Scotland. The tournament now in its 4th year attracts children of all abilities aged between 5 and 18 years to compete for a place in the U.S Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst Golf Club in California.

This year Luca Caruana, John Micallef Stafrace and Quint Van Beek will be representing Malta - testing their golf skills against some 450 of the world’s best junior players hailing from 30 different nations. This would be Quint’s second participation in this tournament but for Luca and John this would be their first experience in tournament play overseas.

The three young Malta boys are regular playing members at the Royal Malta Golf Club and over the season have faired well in competitions at their home club. John started his season by winning the MGA Shield and saw his handicap drop from 26.0 to a current 10.7. Quint also improved his handicap by five shots from the previous year and now plays off 10.3. Luca also dropped 4 strokes to a current 12.3 despite playing lesser rounds due to his examinations.

With golf becoming increasingly popular with children around the world, especially with exciting young players like Rory McIlroy doing so well in the big competitions, the challenge is to harness that interest and encourage more youngsters to play the game for themselves. Through such event, US Kids hope to show children how they can learn positive life lessons and develop friendships through the game of golf.

The top finishers in each category will then compete in the Van Horn Cup – a showpiece event, modeled on the Ryder Cup, where the best European players are pitted against the top non-Europe golfers.

On behalf of the players, the MGA acknowledges the support of the Maltese Olympic Committee, the RMGC, Virtu Ferries and Mr Ray Calleja.