TROUBLE AT KASKADA FOR OUR BOYS

31/07/2013

Bernhard Abele and Quint van Beek found trouble during their recent participation in the Czech Junior Open that was played at the Kaskada Golf Resort in Brno. The tournament was played over three rounds of 18 holes each with zero handicap allowance. A cut was applied after the second day play to allow only the best 20 players to continue playing the third round.

The starting field, in the boys’ category, contained 52 players, 44 of which were from the Czech Republic whilst the others travelled purposely for the tournament. The field consisted of players with quite a varied playing ability from the best handicap at +2.7 (who did not make the cut) right through -6.7. Our two boys unfortunately did not make the cut for the final round and finished respectively in the 44th and 47th place overall.

Playing on a very hilly and tiring course, most of the time to elevated or depressed greens from depressed or elevated tees or fairways lined with deep rough, Bernhard and Quint would feel solace in Martin Luther King’s words I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

Bernhard started his first round (on the 10th) with two pars, six bogeys and a double bogey six on the evil 18th hole. Another double bogey on the 1st was duly followed by two bogeys, two pars, bogey, par, double bogey on the par 3 eighth to a fine birdie finish on the par 5 ninth for a first day score of 86 (32 Stableford points on handicap). Quint’s first round consisted of two birdies one on the par 4 fourth and the other on the par 5 twelfth, five pars, seven bogeys, three double bogeys and a triple on the evil 18th also for a score of 86 (30 Stableford).

Both boys had their best string of holes on the front nine of the second day. Despite a quadruple bogey 8 on the second hole, Quint played four birdies, a par and three bogeys. Bernhard played par for the course with two bogeys, two birdies and five pars. Both players started the second day’s back nine with another par but then succumbed to the course with a series of bogeys and double bogeys to put them out of contention. A triple bogey on the evil 18th meant a gross 85 for Quint (33 points) whilst three double bogeys and five bogeys resulted in a gross 83 for Bernhard (35 points).

If one has a look at the boys’ best score on each hole over the two days (eclectic) Quint would have theoretically played 2 over par for the course; whilst Bernhard would have played 5 over par – totally in line with their average playing abilities. The tournament was won by Voytech Mitterwald a home boy with a handicap of 1.7 who returned a score of 223 – equivalent to 7 over par over the three days.

Below are the players’ thoughts of their experience.

The week that I spent in Kaskáda in the Czech Republic was a very memorable experience. We had a cabin on the golf course about 25 meters from the practice facilities which was extremely convenient. During the practice rounds we had to get a feel for the golf course, what clubs to hit off tees, what targets to aim at and most importantly get used to walking up all those hills.

I learnt a lot about my golf during the tournament. I did not do very well in the tournament however I still enjoyed it. On the first day I had a late afternoon tee time for my round in which I lost 4 golf balls, a bit too many I think. On the second day I managed to do a little better losing only 2 golf balls. The golf course is set on a huge hill so almost every hole is either incredibly uphill or downhill much different to what we play in Malta.

Sadly both myself and Bernhard did not make it to the last day; instead we went for a bike ride in the forest beyond the course, which was a nice way to relax but we still got lost – just like our golf balls on the course. All in all I had a great time and had a great golfing experience in the Czech Republic and would like to do it again. Quint

Playing the Czech junior open at the Kaskada golf course was a great experience. The Kaskada golf course was in a great condition and had great layout. The course had an average length for a par 72 but in my opinion the elevation of the holes made it feel a lot longer. We played two practice rounds to get used to the tricky course which were needed since the Kaskada golf course was very different from the RMGC. The greens there were a lot faster, fairways a lot harder, distances were longer and the elevation a lot greater than what we are used to in Malta.

When the competition started I was quite nervous and felt lots of pressure for the first few holes, which led to some unnecessary mistakes; but after I calmed down the mistakes lessened and I started playing decent golf, hitting many greens in regulation but still often 3 putting. During the second day of the competition I felt a lot more confident and had a great start with level par on the front 9 holes, but due to many stupid mistakes I messed up the last few holes. Overall I am pleased with my result since this was my first time playing this course and I had very little experience in playing international tournaments abroad. Bernhard

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. N Mandela