Five young stars of the SA leave for Italy | TeamSA

Five of the country's most promising young talents will travel to Italy in early September to represent South Africa at the 12th edition of the Italian International Under-16 Championship.

Martin Vorster, Yurav Premlall, Casey Jarvis, Samuel Simpson and Kian Rose won the prestigious international tournament from September 4 to 6.

Vorster's triumph in Italy last year was the catalyst for his recent Junior Open victory. The championship and Southern Cape golfer will return to the Biella Golf Club, ready to embrace the pressure that comes in defending champion.

Premlall of Ekurhuleni, who finished 17th in his debut last year, is also back. Jarvis, the current reigning boys' champion of the Under-14 England team, won the Nomads SA Boys U15 title in January. In July, Ekurhuleni won his third SA Boys title when he returned to the Middelburg Country Club to win the Nomads SA Boys U17 championship

Simpson of the West Province has Converted Three Tight Calls to Victory in Nomads National Order of Merit In July, Rose, a native of Central Gauteng, runner-up in the Bridge Fund Managers junior series, was one of the stars of the winning GolfRSA team Junior at the 2018 Challenge Cup SA.

The quintet will play the Soldat Trophy Teodoro in the 72-hole Three of the juniors will be designated to represent South Africa in the 36-team team event of Nations Trophy, which is played at the same time as the first two rounds of the championship.

"Historically, we have sent four juniors to Italy since the championship was created in 2007," said Geoff Taylor, president of the South African Golfers Association

"thanks to the funding of the 39; GolfRSA national team, we are able to raise the number to five this year. International competitive experience is essential to advance and develop the skills of our junior golfers and we are excited to give five juniors the chance to compete in this highly rated International Junior Championship.

Grant Hepburn, CEO of GolfRSA, said The number of participants was motivated by the recent international success of the national GolfRSA team.

"When we launched the GolfRSA national team in 2015 with Mr. Rupert's sponsorship, our goal was to identify promising young players and help them in any case. "As we saw at international events in May, June, and July, international competition is vital to the continued development of our fans." Martin's success in St Andrews last week marked the fifth victory of a member of the national team GolfRSA this season.

"In the space of seven weeks, Jovan Rebula, Christo Lamprecht, Wilco Nienaber, Deon Germishuys and Martin have excelled. & # 39; Jovan, Christo and Wilco Nienaber had their first glimpse of the top-level competition in the Italian Under-16 International Championship, as did European Tour champions Brandon Stone and Haydn Porteous, who won the championship in 2008.

"Having this kind of exposure is immeasurable in terms of career. While our juniors compete with the best in the world in one of the best golf courses in Italy, we have the opportunity to observe how they measure themselves outside of their comfort zone and away from home. identify aspects of their games that require more attention.

The Under-16 Championship of Italy comprises 144 juniors from more than 20 countries

This year's championship includes representatives of the host countries Italy, South Africa, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Korea, Estonia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Morocco, Mauritius, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark.

GolfRSA Deputy Director (Golf Operations) David Younge and famous sports psychologist Theo Bezuidenhout will accompany the juniors. "I am very excited to see how the juniors are evolving in Italy," Younge said. "I knew Martin, Yurav, Casey and Kian very well at SA Cup Challenge, and they supported each other individually and I'm sure we'll see the same support for Samuel, who also had a very good season.

"We hope the guys will do well, but we are not just focusing on the results. We want to make sure that they derive all the possible benefits of the international exhibition against a highly competitive field, so that they can examine their own parts and determine areas for improvement, whether it is the strike ball, course management or the mental side.

"It will be a tough test for them and we are delighted to see how they compete against the best players in Europe and elsewhere."

Photo: Vorster of Southern Cape Action, by Ernest Blignault / GolfRSA