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Royal Colwood to host Junior World Cup qualifier in April

The top male and female U-18 golfers from six nations — Canada and five to be announced — will come to the Colwood course for the 2022 Toyota Junior World Cup qualifier.
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Some of the top juniors in the world will invade Royal Colwood Golf Club next month. (ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST)

The next Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Jon Rahm, Hideki ­Matsuyama or Camilo Villegas could be hitting off the Royal Colwood tees next month. They have all played in the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup, for which a six-nation qualifier will be held April 11-14 at the historic course.

“We are pleased Royal Colwood has another opportunity to partner with Golf Canada,” said club general manager Winston Michell.

He said Royal Colwood prides itself on looking out to the world and with its connections to the international game. The Junior World Cup qualifier follows the 2019 Astor Cup at Royal Colwood, the quadrennial championship for amateur female teams from the Commonwealth and Ireland, which was won by New Zealand.

Top male and female U-18 golfers from six nations — Canada and five to be announced — will come to the Colwood course for the 2022 Toyota Junior World Cup qualifier, with each of the winning boys’ and girls’ teams advancing to the 2022 Junior World Cup at the Hakusan ­Village Club in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The 2020 and 2021 World Cup events were postponed due to the pandemic and the 2011 event because of the Great Tohoku Earthquake.

The boys’ World Cup has been held since 1992 with South Africa the defending champion from 2019. The U.S. has won nine times, Japan four, England and Norway three times each and South Africa twice to lead the historical table.

Also with boys’ championships are Australia, Sweden, South Korea, Venezuela, Denmark and Argentina. Canada has five medals through one silver and four bronze.

Nolan Thoroughgood of Royal Colwood was a member of the Canadian team in the 2018 Junior World Cup, which came out of a qualifier held that year on the Bear Mountain Valley Course featuring Canada, Mexico, Guatemala and Puerto Rico. Others to have played in the Junior World Cup for Canada include Jeevan Sihota of Gorge Vale, Corey Conners and Adam Svensson.

The girls’ Junior World Cup was inaugurated in 2014 with Japan winning four times and the U.S. once. Canada tied for third place in 2018.

Sixteen male and 12 female golfers will compete in the 54-hole stroke play qualifier at Royal Colwood.

The boys’ division will consist of four golfers per national team with the lowest three scores per round counting. The team with the lowest combined score after the three rounds will qualify for the 2022 Junior World Cup.

The girls’ division will be made up of three golfers per team with the lowest two counting per round. The team with the lowest combined total after the third round will qualify for the World Cup.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com