11th World Kids Golf – 2nd Day
World Kids Golf
Tomas Mician dominates the Nick Faldo Course
Tomas Mician signed the best round of the 11th World Kids Golf and the second best score ever in the history of the tournament held at the two courses of the Amendoeira Golf Resort in Silves, which in 2019 features 80 players from 14 countries.
The Slovakian family-born Portuguese is competing in the U16 tournament and is therefore playing on the Faldo Course, designed by former world No. 1 Nick Faldo, considered the most difficult and exhausting of the two courses. But today (Wednesday) the young Algarve resident defied the field in 64 strokes, 8 under Par.
«There was no wind and this allowed me to attack the flags much more, because the greens are soft. I also made 2 eagles which helped me a lot. In hole 3 I put the drive in the green and did 2 putts and the one in the 18 was thanks to a great second shot. I played solid, with very few errors and my irons were not just aimed at the greens, they were close to the flags. Some players score low because of the good putting but this is not my case. I’m not that consistent in putts, but today I had irons and wedges so good that I got short putts, ”explained the Vilamoura Golf Club player.
Calvin Holmes is WKG Faldo Course Record Holder. Photo by Ramiro de Jesus
Tomas Mician leads the U16 tournament with a total of 135 (-9), 3 strokes ahead of Jamie Mann. This Scot, who won the Vilamoura Grand Trophy in December, could have been even closer to the leader had he not lost 4 shots in the 14th hole. But his reaction to the disaster was excellent, converting 3 birdies in the last four holes of the second round.
In 11 years of World Kids Golf, there has only been one better round than this one from Tomas Mician. Last year, the South African Calvin Holmes presented a card of 63 (-9). Holmes, however, received meanwhile the dual nationality and even chose to register for the tournaments as Portuguese. Calvin Homes won the under-16 in 2018 as South African, but this year already plays in the under-18 as Portuguese and shows up as 4th with 148 strokes, 4 over Par (75+73).
Tomas Mician is in a similar position to Calvin Holmes and dreams of playing for Portugal. The Luso-Slovak is in great shape. In this year’s Drive Tour, the FPG junior tour, he is the U16 # 1 ranked player with three titles!
Tomas Mician Leads Under 16 at 36 Holes. Photo by Ramiro de Jesus
«I started to train better and my mental approached has improved a lot. I no longer get frustrated after a mistake. Before I was really annoyed and that affected the next shot. Now I concentrate better on each blow. As it is summer, I am also training more and I have been working on my technique to be more consistent», he said.
«Mician is a Slovak name. But I was born in Portugal and have been livinghere all my life. I started learning Portuguese when I was 6 years old. It motivates me to know that I was born here and many of the tournaments I play are in Portugal, with Portuguese players. It made me think that it would be better to have dual nationality. I already have it and I really want to play for Portugal in the Portuguese national team, because I hardly play in Slovakia, ”he added.
Ines Belchior Girls U12
The leaders of the 11th World Kids Golf, after a second round characterized by Gabriel Sardo‘s (under-12) hole-in-one in the 3rd hole of the O’Connor Course, are as follows:
Under-9, Ffion Richardson (England) with 2 points stableford gross (9+15) and Francisco Reis (Portugal) with 40 (23+17);
Under-10, Eleanor Lichtenhein (England) with 46 points stableford gross (24 + 22) and Aaron Moody (England) with 65 (31 + 34);
Under-12, Inês Belchior (Portugal) with 51 points stableford gross (23 + 28) and João Crasi Alves (Portugal) with 70 (37 + 33);
Under-14, João Iglésias (Portugal) with 143 strokes (71 + 72), 1 under par;
Under-16 Emilie von Finckenstein (Germany) with 150 strokes (73 + 77), 6 over par, and Tomas Mician (Portugal) with 135 (71 + 64), 9 under par;
Under-18, Filipa Capelo (Portugal) with 154 strokes (76 + 78), 10 over par, and Peter Hov (Norway) with 144 strokes (69 + 75), Par.
