16 June 2010: Alan Kronfeld and Nina Pegova can both look forward to an exciting trip to the Lough Erne Resort, Northern Ireland, this September after winning their age group titles at the Faldo Series Russia Championship staged at Le Meridien Moscow Country Club and supported by the Ryder Cup European Development Trust.
Kronfeld and Pegova both put the older competitors in the shade when they recorded impressive two under par 54-hole aggregates of 214 to win the Boys’ Under-16 and Girls’ Under-16 categories with Kronfeld claiming the overall prize as a result of a fine four under par final round of 68.
They will be joined at the Faldo Series Europe Grand Final, scheduled to be played at Lough Erne Resort on September 21-23, by three other age group winners Evgeniy Volkov (Boys’ Under-21), Dmitry Mateshin (Boys’ Under-18) and Polina Vorobieva (Girls’ Under-21) after three days of intense competition from a strong field comprising more than 100 golfers from Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany and The Netherlands.
Pegova, 16, from Moscow, was the first to book her trip to Northern Ireland when she closed with a second successive level par 72 to claim an impressive victory over her compatriot, Anastasia Adruzova, in the Girls’ Under-16 category. The young Russian took an early six stroke lead after an opening two under par 70 and then drew further away from her rivals with a display of controlled golf that suggests her country might soon have an international star on its hands.
Golf in Russia is still in its infancy so it was perhaps no real surprise that the most keenly contested competition came in the Boys’ Under-16 category with 15 year-old Kronfield finishing a single shot ahead of compatriots Vladimir Osipov and Vasiliy Belov.
Kronfield went into the final round seven shots behind Osipov and five adrift of Belov but overhauled his rivals with a superb 68 which started with three birdies in the first four holes. He dropped a shot at the 544-yard par-5 5th on his way to going out in 34 and then duplicated that total on the back nine with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 16th and a sole bogey on the par-5 15th.
Elsewhere, the scoring was slightly more modest with Volkov, 19, claiming a seven stroke victory over compatriots, Iskandar Tursunov and Ilya Grazhdiyanu, in the Boys’ Under-21 event and Mateshin carding rounds of 74, 76 and 74 to finish three shots ahead of Berry Jole from the Netherlands in the Boys’ Under-18 category. The Girls’ Under-21 title went to Vorobieva, who posted steady rounds of 74, 73 and 74 to finish three shots ahead of Anna Verchenova, the younger sister of Ladies European Tour professional Maria Verchenova. It will be Vorobieva’s third consecutive visit to the Grand Final having previously qualified in 2008 and 2009.
“Golf in Russia is still very much in its infancy but, since the Faldo Series Russia Championship was started three years ago, we have noticed a huge improvement, both in the number of competitors and the quality of golf played,” said Faldo Series Director, Kerry McDonald.
“This year, we saw some incredible golf, particularly from Nina and Alan, and both will be strong challengers at Lough Erne Resort this September. We look forward to welcoming all five age group winners to Northern Ireland in four months’ time.”
Results from the Faldo Series Russia Championship at Le Meridien Moscow Country Club:
(All Russia except stated)
Boys’ Under-21
226 – Evgeniy Volkov 72-75-79
233 – Iskandar Tursunov 77-80-76, Ilya Grazhdiyanu 77-78-78
235 – Vladimir Andryukin 81-80-74
Boys’ Under-18
224 – Dmitry Mateshin 74-76-74
227 – Berry Jole (Ned) 75-73-79
234 – Ilya Burlakov 82-74-78
236 – Nikita Ponomarev 82-75-79
Boys’ Under-16
214 – Alan Kronfeld 70-76-68
215 – Vladimir Osipov 70-69-76, Vasiliy Belov 74-67-74
223 – Philip Bootsma (Ned) 76-74-73
Girls’ Under-21
221 – Polina Vorobieva 74-73-74
224 – Anna Verchenova 74-73-77
228 – Elizaveta Nikulina 75-80-73
234 – Angelina Monakhova 76-76-82