J.J. Micallef and Chris Bergedahl placed second and third respectively in the U-18 division of the official qualifying event for the 2010 Nick Faldo Series that was played at the Dunes Course in Costa Navarino, Greece, last week.
With the Dunes Course set at 6,634 yards, equivalent to it being 21 per cent longer than the Maltese golfers’ home club and with a rating of 142, compared to Royal Malta’s 117, the results achieved by Micallef and Bergedahl are considered to be next to special.
In fact, out of all participants only one golfer played under par for the course. The tough conditions resulted in a standard scratch score of 75 for both days of the tournament equivalent to three over par for each day.
Micallef started his first round on the par-3 hole 10 with a double bogey. He had a bogey on the par-4 15th and another double bogey on the par-4 sixth hole. A birdie on the par-4 second and pars on all the other holes meant a first round score of four over par.
Bergedahl started with a par on the 10th. He then had a bogey on the 11th, 17th, third, fourth and eighth holes. Birdies on the first and 16th were negated with a triple bogey on the par-3 fifth hole for a first round score of six over par.
These scores placed Micallef second and Bergedahl third after the first 18 holes, chasing a two-over par score posted by Uri Bogoslavsky.
These three youths were drawn together for the second day round. Bogoslavsky, of Israel, continued to play steady and shrugged off the Maltese challenge by the first nine holes.
He returned an overall score for the Championship of six over par.
Micallef had seven pars, eight bogeys and three double bogeys whilst Bergedahl had 11 pars, four bogeys and a very unfortunate six over par on the par-3 17th. These scores were sufficient for the top three to retain their positions.
Concurrently playing in the U-16 division, Daniel Holland found the course tougher for his younger legs.
He managed 13 pars, nine bogeys, 10 double bogeys and three triple bogeys for an overall score of 37 over par for the tournament and a 13th place in his division.