PERTH, Australia – The Nagayo siblings from Davao booked tickets to the US Kids Golf World Championships by ruling the Melbourne Summer Tour.
Twelve-year old Alessandra Kristine "Ella" Nagayo and 10-year old Daniel Nagayo, in Melbourne on golf scholarships, topped the seven-round event and now gear up to represent Melbourne in the world championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina from August 3 to 6.
Ella ruled the girls 12-14 year old division while younger brother Daniel topped the boys 11-year old division at the Cheltenham Golf and Country Club.
Ella, who played in Pinehurst last year representing the Philippines, bowed to local girl Sayumi Da Costa in a sudden death playoff in the championship round on Sunday but still emerged with more points in the seven-round eliminations to take the Pinehurst berth.
Daniel likewise finished second in the championship round but had the highest total in the first six rounds.
In Australia, the US Kids Golf tour has local tours in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane every summer, winter and spring. The summer tour has six rounds and one championship round.
To get invited to the US Kids World Championships, a player needs to play at least four rounds, be the Local Tour Champion and must score 84 or better in one round.
To determine the Local Tour Champ per age division, scores are added up from all rounds played. Each regular round the first placer gets 30 points, second placer gets 20 points and third placer gets 10 points. The winners in the championship round will get double of the points from the regular rounds.
“I’m so proud of Ella and Daniel. They really put in a lot of hardwork in practice and now, they finally reaped the fruits,” said Rachel Zozobrado-Nagayo, mother of the two kids, who moved to Melbourne after she finished her term in the Davao city council.