Sabeniano wins A-Grade title

Reports by LARRY ANDREW
TAKING out the A-Grade title of an 18-hole Lae junior golf tournament did not come as a surprise for Salvador Sabeniano.
He won the Lae Golf Club’s first junior tournament sponsored by local firms Niugini Electrical Company and Lae Inland Logistics.
Sabeniano, from Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, hit par on six holes (2nd, 3rd, 12th, 13th and 14th) to return the best score of the tournament.
The 17-year-old, who is not attending school due to late registration, said he had a lot of free time and went to the club four days a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for training and junior competition on Thursdays.
“Hearing about the hosting of the first tournament for junior golfers in Lae, I was bit nervous as it would be my first tournament,” Sabeniano said.
He said winning the tournament had boosted his confidence.
Sabeniano said playing well in the tournament had seen the nervousness and shyness go away and had motivated him to continue to play more golf and refine his skills.
“My opponent who was the runner-up is a good player and coming down to the final two holes was challenging,” he said.
“We both tied at the 17th hole with one more hole to go and teeing off for the 18th, I felt pressure.
“But I just believed in myself and focused on my game.
“I told myself that I could do it and I did it.”
Sabeniano grew up playing golf but had never experienced playing in a tournament.
“Winning a tournament for the first time has motivated me to have confidence to compete in golf tournaments, especially the national titles,” he said. “My dream is to go overseas to represent PNG.
“My family are golfers and my dad is a PNG representative and I’m trying to follow in his footsteps to become a representative player one day.
Sister Osealah, 13, who was the B-Grade runner-up, agreed with Salvador that the inspiration to play golf had come from their father.
Osealah said at first she was not interested in the sport, but after training and playing, she improved her game and it gave her the confidence to continue.
“I came to golf and found it wasn’t that interesting, but I started to play with encouragement from my coach and found out that I was playing well and was moved up to the B-Grade.”
Osealah said she was happy to finish second and hoped to learn more about golf and represent the country.