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Takudzwa Chitsiga Harare Bureau
THE 52nd edition of the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf tournament, which began late yesterday at the famed Donald Ross layout at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, in Florida, United States, will this year be graced by three Zimbabweans – Kieren Vincent, David Amm and Justin Kersten.

The three will be trying to emulate the late Lewis Chitengwa (Jnr) who beat Tiger Woods in 1992 to become the first African to achieve that feat.

Three-time major champion Nick Price of Zimbabwe is one of the most notable players who graduated from the Orange Bowl and later went on to be a world class player.

The event has also seen players like champions Woods, José María Olazábal, Andy North, Craig Stadler, Mark Calcavecchia and Bob Tway coming on from that tournament.

This year’s international field promises to fulfil the usual high expectations with Europe, Asia, Africa and South America competing against some of the best homeland juniors.

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, 17, returns to defend his title, a feat so far not achieved in the boys’ division.

Niemann from Santiago has had an impressive 2015 with wins at the Canadian Junior Challenge, the Junior World IMG (Torrey Pines) and the Chilean Junior Open.

He faces a multitude of top-level challengers, including Jakub Hrinda, a 15-year-old from Doha, Qatar, whose handicap at +3.4 is an indication of why he was an amateur invitee at this year’s European Tour Qatar Masters.

Others to look out for include Takumi Kanaya, the Japan amateur champion, Kristoffer Reitan, the Norwegian national junior champion, Italy’s Guido Migliossi who challenged strongly last year, Belgium’s Giovanni Tadiotto and South Africa’s Keegan McLachlan as well as Zimbabwe’s Vincent.