Junior golf group tees off at state comp

THE region’s premier young golfers are heading to the state’s north today to take part in Golf Australia’s 2023 Victorian Junior Country Regions competition.

With 15 players and four reserves assembled from Ballarat District Golf’s 19 clubs, the team will tee off against members from six other combined regions.

BDG team manager Andrew Milligan said each player has been selected from previous tournaments.

“We’ve got our order of merit with competitions through the year and based on the person’s handicap, the team is built,” he said.

“The major events are the Ballarat Junior Open, the Ballarat Junior Classic, and the West Vic Junior Classic.

“In the leadup, most of the players played in the Junior Victorian Pennant Competition. We played four matches in that and Saturday week we played for the monthly medal at Belvoir Park which rounded out the preparation.”

Ballarat district members will go up against players from Golf Peninsula, and Golf South West while remaining competitors Gippsland, Hume, North West, and Western Vic are made up of two to four combined districts each.

Playing across 36 holes of stroke play, round one will begin at Heathcote Golf Club on Saturday while the second round will be at Ravenswood’s Belvoir Park Golf Club.

The assembled team is made up of players aged between 13 and 17 years old.

Mr Milligan said the local region’s junior golfers have a strong foundation, particularly when it comes to female involvement.

“In terms of girls, we’ve probably got the highest participation rate in country Victoria,” he said. “We’ve got a MyGolf girls squad which runs each summer and that’s grown to 28 players.

“There’s enough opportunities for boys between the clubs and junior activities. We’ve got strong numbers compared to most associations.”

Ballarat District Golf members are also sponsoring players Oscar Burke from Buninyong Golf Club, and Mount Xavier Golf Club’s Rex Hodge, who are competing in individual events for the competition.

The association was formed in 2015 following the merger of the Ballarat District Golf Association and Women’s Golf Ballarat District.