For three days 87 players from six countries were competing in the junior tournament 5 Stars International Cup, which took place on Turkish golf courses- Gloria Old Championship Course and Gloria New Course. On tee boxes we could admire young players representing Poland, Turkey, South Korea, Italy, Latvia and even Cambodia.
The competition had not only a very International cast but as well a very sporty character. As many as 13 players had handicaps lower than 0, and 21 players had a single-digit hcp. The rivalry was very fierce, so as the leaders of the general classification, which was counted to World Amateur Golf Ranking, were changing every day.
The first round was played phenomenally by a player representing Turkey- Can Gürdenli, who played the Gloria New Course with 65 strokes, thus gaining a three-stroke lead over the next player in the field, South Korean junior Kwak Seunggu. Also on the same day below par finished Tarik Aslan Ibrahim (-2) and the only one among the girls, Matylda Krawczyńska (-1).
On the second day, the players faced tougher conditions and the Old Course, whose higher difficulty compared to the New Course didn’t make it easy to play, resulting in slightly higher results. Only Danielle Daniy, from Turkey, played under par (-1), which put her in second place overall among the girls. Still ahead of her with a three-stroke lead was Matylda Krawczyńska, who finished her second day even (72).
In the leading position among the boys was Korean Kwak Seunggu for whom this was his first international tournament. After two days he was -2. He gained a one-stroke lead to Tarik Ibrahim Aslan and Can Gurdenli. Behind them, with a three-stroke loss, was Franciszek Dudek, who played 74 and 72 strokes.
The third round changed the classification again. Franek Dudek played the best round of the tournament – 67 strokes, 5 under par. He gained a two-stroke lead over Can Gurdenli & Kwak Seunggu and thus became the winner of the WAGR classification among the boys, as well as the 19-23 category. “I played steadily, getting better and better every day. I was also allowing myself more and more, I was getting freer in my movement. I knew that if I allowed myself a few more free swings it would work. A couple of putts fell in as well, and that makes a difference at the end,” said Franek.
Can Gurdenli played on the third day 72 strokes and Kwak Seunggu- 73 strokes, leading them to a playoff for the first place in the U18 group. It was won by the player from Turkey. “I was leading by three strokes after the first round,” Can Gurdenli reported. “The weather was bad, we played very early in the morning, it was cold and windy. On the second day I played very poorly, I made a 3-putt and the players who were behind me in the classification gained from that as well. On the third day I had a two-stroke loss and I wanted to play calmly and straight, but few mistakes didn’t let me win the whole category, however I’m happy with the second position.”, said Can.
Among the girls, Matylda Krawczyńska was unbeatable and finished on the first place in the WAGR classification with a seven-stroke lead. At the same time, she became the best player in the U18 group. Her final round- score of 69 strokes- gave her the lowest result of the competition- four strokes under par. “The final round’s score was the best, I played very well. I had the best ballstriking , only the putts were not going in… standard. Throughout the tournament I made stupid mistakes, for example instead of a bogey I made a double, and that doesn’t happen to me at all. I made a double while being with second on the green. These mistakes cost me a lot of shots. I am very close to playing regularly below par, I just need to improve my putts because the long game is already solid,“ said Matylda.
Franek was followed in the U23 group by Ibrahim Tarik Aslam and Kamil Nowak. In the same category among girls, the winner was a Turkish player Bay Sude, ahead of Cambodian golfer- Harmony Yin, with Zofia Rzeźnik on the third place.
In the U18 boys group, Tristan Kolasiński was third behind Can Gurdenli and Kwak Seunggu.
In the U18 girls group, second place belongs to Turkish athlete Danielle Daniy and third place to Nina Pitsch.
Among boys under 15 yo, the first two places belong to athletes from South Korea. Won Ki Tae was first and Min Junhwi was second. Third place went to Can Marko Ozdemir.
In the U15 group of girls, the first place belongs to Deniz Sapmaz from Turkey, second to Laetita Bona Fedeli from Italy and third to her sister Grace Margot Fedeli.
In the under-12 boys’ group, only boys from Turkey played. First place belongs to Rıfat Ali Evyap, second place to Emin Zulfikari and third place to Demir Özdemir.
This is the second edition of the 5 Stars International Cup tournament, which is gaining more and more attendance as well as sporting stature every year. Most of the foreign players have already announced their participation in the third edition of the tournament which will take place next year.