Golfer’s success in Vietnam
Canterbury golfer Hiroki Miya had no qualms about slopping through mud during his quest to succeed in the Faldo Series Asia regional final in Vietnam.
A member of the Russley Golf Club, Miya secured the under-18 boys’ title at the tournament in Hue last week by an emphatic 12 shots, and in doing so booked his ticket to the Faldo Series Grand Final.
He also secured an invitation to play in an Asian Development Tour professional event.
After equalling his own lowest score of 64 in the first round, Miya had a few difficulties in the last nine holes of round two, posting a level par round of 71, and dropping to second overall.
He may take a while to forget his par save on day-one at the par-four 10th.
With one of his few false strokes during his round of 64, he had pulled his approach shot at the 409-yard dog-leg into the ditch short of the green.
Although his ball came to rest on a patch of dry mud, in order to execute the 50-yard shot Miya had to take off his shoes and socks and wade into foot-deep mud.
‘‘I considered taking a penalty drop, but eventually decided to give it a go,’’ said Miya, who made clean contact and watched his ball stop two feet from the flag.
He duly tapped-in for a par. A solid round of two underpar 69 on the final day secured his age grade title, conceding the overall title to the form Japanese player, Suzuka Yamaguchi.
Two other Kiwis also acquitted themselves well.
Kazuma Kobori (Rangiora Golf Club) finished fourth in the
under-16 boys’ grade and Juliana Hung (Russley) came fourth in the under-16 girls.
Having won their places at the New Zealand qualifying event at Clearwater Golf Club last December, they were pitted in competition with golfers aged from 12 to
21 from 19 other countries in the Asian region.
All were trying to secure a place in the Faldo Series Grand Final in Europe in November
2018. New Zealand has been represented for each of the last four years in Asia.
Amelia Garvey (Kaiapoi Golf Club) and Jordan Woodall (Cambridge Golf Club) secured second placings in the 2017 finals.
One of the highlights of the Faldo Series Asia finals is the opportunity for all players to engage in coaching clinics with six-time major champion Sir Nick Faldo.
For Miya and Hung this was their second chance to learn from Faldo, thanks to sponsorship of New Zealand Golf and Todd and Marion Heller.