Golfing Scrapbook of "Koala" Karl Vilips

Karl Vilips

Australia
ph: 0410646708
pauls@westnet.com.au

Australian Results

2012 Australia Results. Age 10

27th January: Karl competed in the Under 14 division, shooting an 84 in the "Summer Series Final" at the Croydon Golf Club.Karl finished 4th out of the 15 players in his division. Full results can be viewed here.

23rd January: Karl shoots 83 in a Stuart Appleby Junior Golf "Regional Series" event at Melbourne's Metropolitan Golf Club.

I have video highlights uploaded here., and Full results here.

20th January: 3rd Place in the Under 14 division of the 2012 Riversdale Junior Open with 81 off the Men's Teeson the Par 72 layout for 34 Points in the stableford Format with 18 players in that age division. Results here. Current Mens Handicap of7.

12-13th January. 9th Placein the 2012 Southern Junior Classic 36 Hole event. 32 Boys in the Under 14 years Gross division. Karl was the youngest player and played solid golf for the 2 days with rounds of 85 & 86. He enjoyed himself a bit too much with his playing partners and wasn't "zoned in", so if we can find a good balance in those rounds where he's drawn with good mates, that'll be ideal. Scores here.

9th January. Mid-field result. Karl's putter misfires on a long day at The Commonwealth Golf Club's 36-Hole Bill Edgar Tournament with solid rounds of 87 & 86. That's right, 36-holes on the one day. That's Karl's biggest effort yet. Full scores are here.

8th January. 3rd Overall in the Junior Division and Winner of the Driving division at the Final of the MyGolf Skills Challenge. It's a very light-hearted competition, with fun being the emphasis. Results here.

6th January. Gross Winner, 12-Years & Under at the 2011 (postponed from December) annual Stuart Appleby Junior Golf's "Signature Tournament" on a Jack Nicklaus layout. Full results here.

4th January. Nett Winner, Boys 14-Years & Under at the 2012 Victorian Junior Masters. Full Under 14 Nett scores here. Karl also finished 6th in the Under 14's Gross, and those scores are here. His Gross score actually beat a few much older Scratch players, so it was a gutsy effort.

2011 Australian Results (Australia) Ages 9 & 10

3rd December. Lost 1 Down. The final round of this season's Junior Pennants was played against Huntingdale Golf Club at Southern Golf Club. Karl came against power-hitting 16-year-old Will Qoro. The match went down to the last hole, but Will's length off the Tee proved too much for Karl. Index 1 hole at Southern is a 413 Meter (455 Yard) Par 4. Karl & Will played from the back tees into a strong wind and astonishingly, Will got there in 2 shots, leaving us all with open mouths as we struggled to believe what we'd just seen. Karl on the other hand needed 4 hits to get there. Will has a bright future in golf, and we were awe-struck at how he played a Tiger-like "Stinger" Fairway wood.

Credit to Karl for hanging in to the last hole too, as he Drove well, had his short game turned on, and but for having frequently pushed his Fairway Woods out to the right rough could have seen a different result. Karl will fix that this week, as it's only started happening this weekend and isn't hard to fix.

November 7: 4 & 2 Loss. Karl played Junior Pennants yesterday and had a lesson in the importance of course management and Matchplay strategy, going down 4 & 2 to his 15-year-old opponent. Both players played exceptional golf and his opponent fully deserved the Win.

Karl's only 10-years-old, so despite having a Men's handicap of just 9.5, his decision-making is lacking sometimes. That will improve with age, as his opponents are often twice his size and Driving 80 yards further than him, and yet Karl was the longest Driver witin his age group at the World Championships this year.

November 1: Karl shoots 79 in his club's Saturday competition. The hard work he's been putting in is paying off. He spent 5 weeks away from tournament golf to get it right and it's getting there. There'll still be the odd "average" round to come, but he's rounded the bend and is looking good.

October 30: 4 & 3 Win The 2012 Junior Pennants gets under way in extremely wet & windy conditions with Karl registering a 4 & 3 Win at the magnificent Metropolitan Golf Club, one of Australia's Top-10 courses and rated as having amongst the best fairways in the world.

Karl hadn't played any competitive golf for over a month and it showed, with him starting off badly and losing the opening 2 holes to his 15yo opponent who was off a 4 handicap to Karl's 10. However, after that shakey start Karl fought back strongly with solid Driving and Fairway woods and an outstanding short game that saw him getting up & down from unlikely situations.

The windy conditions probably favoured Karl, as although Karl's drives were 100 yards shorter than his opponent's, Karl's shorter length meant that he was less subject to being affected by the strong wind. Karl's strategy was to accept that he'd get beaten up on the holes where his opponent stayed on the fairway, but that if he took advantage of the occasions where his opponent did leave the fairway, that his short game would take care of the rest.

September 26 & 27. Karl played in the Victorian Junior Championships over 2 days. Karl's struggling with getting his weight through on his swing and battled in the windy conditions with scores of 95 & 101, so I'll give him a rest from tournaments for the time being so he can gain confidence with the work he's doing. It's a bit like Tiger having to put in time with his swing in that a player will shoot worse scores for a while, but will benefit from it.

August 28: Karl shoots 89 at a Junior Tournament at Sandhurst Golf Club. Still working on his swing.

August 14. Karl shoots 85 in his club's Saturday competition. He's just started to work on his weight transition, so I'd expect his scores to go out for a while, but in the long run he'll play better.

May 30. Karlshoots 89at Portsea Golf Club located on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula. It's a classic seaside course with rolling hills which Karl struggled to get most of his Drives over, effectively making the course a lot longer for him. Despiteneeding 3 shots to reach the Par-4's and 4 shots to reach the Par 5's, hisever-reliable putting allowedhimto keep a respectable scorecard.

May 15. 6 & 5 Loss. Karl goes down after 13 Holes in his 2nd Colts Pennants Match played against Royal Melbourne at Metropolitan Golf Club. Karl was playing to his handicap of 12, but as his opponent who playes off a 5 Handicap did also and withthis format played off Scratch, the match went the appropriate distance. Karl needs to rely on his much older opponents playing slightly over their handicap and for him to play under his,but on a course like Metropolitan with longer Par-4's, that is unlikely to happen. Both players displayed impeccable sportsmanship throughout the match, and Metroplitan's post-match lunch was a winner.

May 1. Squared Match. First match representing Southern's Colts Pennants (Under 23) Team at Kingswood Golf Club. Karl played steady golf against his 18-year-old 5 handicap opponent and after being a hole down after 17, won the 18th hole to Square the match for his team. Colts Pennants is played without handicaps, so it was a gutsy effort by Karl.

April 30. Shoots a 9-over 81 in the members Saturday competition at Southern Golf Club.

April 26. Personal Best Score! Runner-up (after c/b) with a round of79 at Southern Golf Club's ANZAC Day competition. 7-over becomes Karl's best round to date on a full Par 72 course in competition.

April 21. Gross Winner, Under 10 division of the April Holidays round of the Victorian Under 16 Pitch'n'Putt Championships. Misses out on the overall win by 1 shot. Video here.

April 20. Shoots 90 on the Par 71 Kooringal Golf Club for the Victorian Junior Stableford Championships. Left a few out there.

April 19. Gross Winner of the Croydon Golf Club's Under-16 years Pump Shootout on a modified 9-hole stroke event with a brilliant even Par 36. Results here.

April 18. Shoots 90 on the Par 72 Spring Valley Golf Club in the Stuart Appleby Golf Foundation "Regional Series" event. Left a few shots out there.

April 16. Shoots 88 in the Saturday members competition at Southern Golf Club's Par 72 layout on Melbourne's Sandbelt region.

April 15. Runner-up, Kilmore Memorial Junior Open Under 14's Gross with an 84 on the Par 70 course.

April 13. Gross Winner, Amstel Golf Club's Pump Shootout on a modified 9-hole stroke with a score of 39.

April 12, 2011.Runner-up (after c/b) in the "B" Handicap divisionat the 2011 Huntingale Junior Open with an 87 on the Par 72 for 35 Stableford Points. Click here for results and here for full scores.

April 11, 2011. Gross Winner ofthe 10 & Under section of the Stuart Appleby Golf Foundation's Rookie Event at Oakleigh Golf Course.

March 13: Played the beautiful but hilly Ocean Shores Junior Classic in the New South Wales town of Byron Bay. The first 9-holes saw torrential rain dampen the spirits of many of the players. Karl took 5 shots alone to reach the uphill Par 5 final hole, and he's not a small hitter, but he hung in until the end and shot a 94. Last year a poor result would have seen a score in 100's, so although 94 doesn't sound like a great score, was the best score for his age and considering the conditionswas a fairly goodresult. For photo of the day, Click here

March 6:Shoots a round of 90 on a rain-soaked Mt Coollum Golf Course at the postponed Titleist Summer Classic. Of a field of 120 players including Queensland's Boys & Girls State teams, just 3 players broke their handicap, so it was a great effort by Karl to miss his handicap by just 4 shots in extreme conditions.

February 13: 4 & 2 Win. Last round of the Pennants season and Karl needs a lift to the game due to his Dad being ill. In the chaos Karl forgot his wedges were out of his bag, so he rocked up for his match with only 10 clubs. That was enough though, and Karl won his match with 2 holes to spare againsthis 14-year-oldopponent.

February 6: 2 & 1 Win. Playing back in his accustomed Junior Interclub Pennants at Helensvale Golf Club, Karl played his friend Alex from the Helensvale Golf Club. The boys played the match in great spirit, chatting away between shots and enjoying their match. Karl eventually won the match, but it could have gone either way and was only decided on the 17th Hole. A photo of the boys can be viewed here.

January 30: 3 & 2 Loss. Due to the Juniors Pennants team being short a player, Karl accepted an invitation to play his first round of Junior Pennants, (where all players play off Scratch) . His opponent was 17-year-old Hayden, and although Karl tried his best and had one Birdie, Hayden wound up the match on the 16th hole. It was a gutsy effort by Karl and it was astonishing to see Hayden consistently drive the ball around 290-300 meters.

January 23: 1-Up Win. Junior Interclub Pennants, Sanctuary Cove Golf Club. Karl gives up 2 shots to his teenage opponent and comes from 1-hole down with 2 holes to play to sink an 8-meter putt on the last hole to clinch victory.

January 9: 4 & 3 Win.Junior Interclub Pennants, Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club. Karl is given 4 shots by 17-year-old Dylan and wins 4 & 3. At the conclusion of the match at the 15th hole, Karl was 7-over the card.

2010 Results (Australia) Age 8

December 19: 5 & 3 Win. Junior Interclub Pennants, Emerald Lakes Golf Club.Karl, gives up 9 shots on handicap to his 15-year-old opponent but prevails to win 5 & 3.
December 15, 2010: 9-Year-old Karl misses the cut of Australia's 2010 "Greg Norman Junior Classic" . As the youngest qualifier in the youngest age group of 13 Years & Under from across Australia, he missed by just a single stroke. With rounds of 88, 88 & 83 off the Mens Competition Tees at the Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club after the Cut number was revised down to the top 50% of the field, Karl achieved his original goal of finishing in the original cut-line of the top 60%. Previous winners and competitors of this event include Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Jason Day, Michael Sim, Karrie Webb,& Katherine Hull.
December 12: 2 & 1 Loss. Junior Interclub Pennants, Southport Golf Club. Karl gives 3 shots on handicap to his 16-year-old opponent and goes down 2 & 1 in his first match. Karl made a couple of "rookie mistakes" and learnt a lot from his first Pennants match.
December 5: The first of the season's Junior Interclub Pennants cancelled due to local flooding.
October 17: Gross Winner, 2010 Ian Baker-Finch/Australia Zoo Classic, Queensland, Australia. Under 10 Years Gross Winner. Karl's 88 was also the best Gross score in the Under 12's. It's Karl's 11th tournament win for 2010.
September 29: 4th Place at Surfers Paradise Golf Club's Wednesday Mens Stableford Competition with 38 Points. New Handicap drops to 14.6.
September 28: Gross Winner. Karl shoots 39 Gross in Australia's PGA run Pump Golf Shootout held on the Front Nine of the Redland Bay Golf Club's 2909 Meter (3181 Yards) Par 36 layout. His scorecard included four successive "3's" on it.With his win he qualified to get into a draw for the national grand prize.
September 20: Gross Winner, Jack Downs Junior Classic 13 Years & Under Gross at Nudgee Golf Club, Queensland with a score of 83.
August 8: Nett Winner, Toogoolawah Junior Classic 13 & Under Nett at Toogoolawah Golf Club in Queensland with a Personal Best round of 81 on the Par 72 course.
July 17-18: Gross Runner-Up, 2010 Queensland Pitch'n'Putt Championship 13 & Under Division at Oxley Golf Complex, Queensland with a 36-hole total of 114.
May: Overall Nett Winner, Morriset Junior Open at Morriset Golf Club, NSW with a round of 87 on the Par 72 layout.
April 16: Gross Winner, City of Sydney Schoolboys Championships, 11 Years Gross with a round of 70 on the Par 54 Layout.
April 12: Nett Winner, Grange Junior Open, Under 14 Boys at The Grange Golf Club, NSW.
Jan 18: Gross Winner, Wyong Junior Classic, Boys Cadets Gross at Wyong Golf Club, NSW.
January 8: Overall Nett Winner, 2010 Harvey Norman Week of Golf Sub-Junior (Under 14 years), held over 5 days and 5 courses.
January 7: Nett Winner, Boys 12 & Under at North Ryde Golf Club with a score of 85 on the Par 69 layout, Day 4 of the Harvey Norman Week of Golf.
Jan 6: Nett Winner, Boys 12 & Under at Ashlar Golf Club on Day 3 of the Harvey Norman Week of Golf.
January 4: Nett Winner, Boys 12 & Under at Oatlands Golf Club on Day 1 of the Harvey Norman Week of Golf with a round of 89 on the Par 70 layout.

2009 Results (Australia) Age 7

October 11: Gross Winner, Boys Under 12, Rockingham Bowl, Rockingham Golf Club, WA
October 9: Gross Winner, "C" Grade, Boys 14 & Under Junior Open, Mt Lawley Golf Club
October 2: 2nd (on c/b) Boys 12 & Under Gross, The Cut Junior Open, The Cut Golf Club, WA
October: Gross Winner, Pump 9-hole shootout, Secret Harbour Golf Links, WA
October 6: 2nd (on c/b), "C" Grade (90), City of South Perth Junior Pro Am, Collier Park Golf Course, WA
October 5: 3rd, Boys 11 & Under, Mandurah Bowl, Mandurah Country Club
April 23: Winner, Boys 8 & Under, Wanneroo Junior Open, Wanneroo Golf Club, WA
April 17: Winner, Boys 8 & Under, Gosnells Junior Open, Gosnells Golf Club, WA
February 15: 2nd, Boys 12 & Under, Mosman Park Junior Open, Mosman Park Golf Club, WA
January 19: 2nd, Boys 8 & Under, Royal Fremantle Junior Open, Royal Fremantle Golf Club, WA
January 12: 2nd, Boys 8 & Under, Mt Yokine Junior Open, West Australian Golf Club, WA
January 8: Tied 1st, Melville Glades Junior Open, Melville Glades Golf Club, WA

2008 Results (Australia) Age 6

December 12: 2nd, Boys 8 & Under, Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation Sub-Junior Championship, Lake Karrinyup Country Club, WA
October 1: 1st, Boys 8 & Under, Manduarh Bowl, Mandurah Country Club, WA
April: 2nd, Boys 8 & Under, Nedlands Junior Open, Nedlands Golf Club, WA
April: 2nd, Boys 8 & Under, Gosnells Junior Open, Gosnells Golf Club, WA
January: 1st, Boys 8 & Under, Royal Fremantle Junior Open, Royal Fremantle Golf Club, WA
January: 2nd, Boys 8 & Under, Melville Glades Junior Open, Melville Glades Golf Club, WA

2007 Results. No Tournaments played

Tournament History to date;

Karl's first year of Sub-Junior golf was 2008, where he competed against boys in the 8 & Under age group in Western Australia whilst aged 6 and managed 2 Wins and a few 2nd place finishes out of the 8 Tournaments held that year.

In early 2008 when competing as a 6 year old his goal was to break 70 shots for 9 holes from the Men's Tees, but by the middle of the year he had shot under 60 for the first time. In mid-2008 his unofficial 18-Hole handicap from the Men's Tees was 45 and he went to the USA to compete in the US Kids World Golf Championships in the 6 & Under Division. He finished 7th out of a field of 92 players from around the world, despite playing with a half-set of budget clubs.

By Late 2008 and aged 7, Karl had shot sub-50 for 9 Holes from the Mens Tees for the first time.

In early 2009 at the age of 7,Karl shot a score of 43 for 9 Holes from the Men's Tees and felt confident about doing well at the 2009 US Kids World Championships to be held in August. That confidence was justified when he went on the win the 7 year old division and become the World Champion. Whilst in the USA he also had a shot at competing against the older boys in the 7-8 Year division of the Callaway Junior Worlds held in July and came Tied for 4th despite being only 7 years old at the time.

In October 2009 after having turned 8 years old and after coming close with a 92 at the South Perth Pro-Am a few days earlier, Karl shot under 90 for the first time in an 18-Hole Junior Tournament, with a score of 89 from the Mens Tees at the Mt Lawley Junior Open, but was ineligible for the Nett prize due to not having an official handicap.

From December 2009 through June 2010, Karl played in the Jack Newton Junior Golf events in Sydney. Owing to it being deemed unfair to allow him to play against the boys his own age, Karl was forced to compete exclusively in the Open Junior tournaments which require an official Men's handicap. This is a contentious issue, as Karl would like to play with kids his own age sometimes, but is denied that opportunity. His initial handicap in December 2009 was 27.0.

Despite playing alongside boys up to twice his age, Karl took on the challenge, winning the Gross and Nett numerous times when competing in age divisions of ranging from Open Junior to 11 Years & Under.

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Karl Vilips

Australia
ph: 0410646708
pauls@westnet.com.au