Runaway Kalz junior champ
A FINAL round 69 at Thirteenth Beach yesterday capped off a remarkable four days for Glenelg teenager Jackson Kalz at the Junior Vic Open.
Kalz, 17, blew away his rivals to record a 14-under par score, 10 shots off his nearest rival.
Despite consecutive 67s on the first two days, Kalz — who had his dad on his bag — led by just one shot at the halfway point of the tournament.
But while his opponents crumbled, the budding star relished the pressure to hole back-to-back 69s to finish well in front.
Kalz’s tactics heading into day one were simply to avoid hitting bogies, but an eagle on the second hole and a birdie on the third got him off to a flying start.
“I felt like I hit it pretty good all day, I just had to keep that up for the next three days and keep playing smart, conservative golf,” he said.
“The whole week I just tried to stick to the game plan, because obviously it was working. The nerves were there definitely at the start of today, but they eased off as I got through the round.
“I played well all week, nothing felt like it could go wrong, but to take it out by 10, I didn’t expect that coming into the week for sure.”
The win bookends a terrific calendar year for Kalz, who took out the Victorian Junior Masters in January as well as finishing fourth in the Junior World Titles in July.
Meanwhile, Hannah Jihye Park (New South Wales) prevailed by four shots on the girls’ side of the tournament, shooting 10under par.