Royal Opportunity for Junior Presidents Cup Participants
Royal Melbourne Golf Club has been confirmed as the venue for next year’s Junior Presidents Cup.
To be held on December 8-9, the Junior Presidents Cup will precede the 2019 Presidents Cup, which will also be contested at Royal Melbourne Golf Club later that week.
The 24 best junior boys from the US and around the world, excluding Europe, will reunite Down Under for a two-day competition between the two teams of 12 to kick-off Presidents Cup week.
Junior Presidents Cup participants will have the unique opportunity to compete at Royal Melbourne prior to their golfing heroes taking centre stage in the Presidents Cup, which commences on December 12.
The US Team captured the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup in 2017 at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, by a score of 14-10, with three Americans going undefeated in the three sessions.
David Toms led the US Team, while South African Trevor Immelman captained the International Team. Honorary Captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were on hand during the singles matches to provide added encouragement and inspiration and distribute medals to both teams.
Three Australians – Joshua Armstrong, Fred Lee and Karl Vilips – all qualified for the International Team.
“It was a great experience – I learnt a lot out of it,” said Armstrong. “Having the 2019 edition at Royal Melbourne is a great initiative to keep everyone at the same venue. It’ll draw some more crowds for the juniors, which would be a great thing and be a great build up to the Presidents Cup.”
Lee was also thrilled to be a part of the 2017 edition in New Jersey. “When you get chosen to represent your country and play against the world’s top juniors, you really identify the weaknesses as well as the strengths in your game,” said Lee.
“For me it was a real eye opener and encouraging knowing that I had some game against the top juniors in the world.”
Additional information including eligibility criteria and qualification deadlines will be made available at a later date.
Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are headed to Melbourne as captains of the US and International Teams, respectively, for the 2019 Presidents Cup.
The star duo will be joined by the biggest names in golf for the team match play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top golfers – 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe.
The Presidents Cup is held every two years, and since 1996 has alternated between United States and international venues. It will be third time the event has been played at Royal Melbourne.
The Presidents Cup is unique in that there is no purse or prize money. Players are not paid for their participation, but each competitor allocates an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice.
Since the event’s inception, more than US$49.1 million has been raised for charity from event proceeds, as well as contributions made on behalf of the Presidents Cup, including a record charitable donation of US$10.7 million from the 2017 event alone.
