Muscat: Following the 10th and final event of the year the 2022 GOjuniors Tour drew to a close at Ghala Golf Club recently.
As part of its mission to grow the game of golf in the Sultanate the Oman Golf Association identified a lack of playing opportunities for younger golfers, as despite many children taking golf lessons at the clubs in Oman only a small percentage actively played on the golf course.
To provide an opportunity to not only compete but also to meet other junior golfers the GOjuniors series was developed.
The 2022 GOjuniors Tour featured 10 events throughout the year where the youngsters competed in three age divisions: under 18, under 15 and under 13, with events played on rotation at Al Mouj Golf, Ghala Golf Club, and Ras Al Hamra Golf Club. As well as awarding performances at each of the 10 events there was a season long Order of Merit which was contested by all age divisions, at both gross and net levels. This was hotly contested and in several instances was only decided after the final event. At Under 18 level the Gross (without handicap allowance) Order of Merit Winner was Ayman Al Busaidi, and Net Rohit Khimji, at Under 15 level the Gross winner was Adam Al Barwani and the Net winner Pransh Jagwani, and at Under 13 level the Gross winner was Jacobo Moreno and Net Krish Pawani.
Mundhir Al Barwani, Chairman of the Oman Golf Association is quoted as saying “We were delighted to be able to resume our junior tournaments in 2022 and we must thank our programme sponsor Oman LNG and partners Sohar Aluminium, Moore Stephens, and Shell Oman for supporting us in providing this opportunity to Oman’s young golfers as well as the golf courses and managers for hosting us. Events such as these are essential to grow the game but also provide a great opportunity for social development, I congratulate all the Order of Merit winners and look forward to seeing them return in 2023”.
To round the season off in fine style a special Junior Golf Clinic followed the final event. Held at Muscat Resorts, which will shortly re-open to the public, European Tour Professional Ben Stow who was in town, spent the afternoon chatting with the juniors about his experiences as a junior golfer and his journey through amateur golf into professional golf. After some demonstrations on the driving range the juniors also got the chance to play a couple of the newly renovated holes with Ben, a truly memorable and inspiring way to finish the year!
