Youth Olympic Festival: Alvarez and Coxon named for China

Wellington golfer Julianne Alvarez and Waikato rep Nick Coxon have been selected to represent New Zealand at the upcoming Youth Olympic Festival in China.

The Second Youth Olympic Festival will be held from Tuesday 19 August to Thursday 21 (Individual) and Sunday 24 to Tuesday August 26 (Team) at the Nanjing Zhongshan International Golf Club.

Alvarez, who will also represent NZ at the Espirito Santo World Team’s Championship in September, will make her debut in the event while Coxon will compete at the Youth Olympics for the second time after making his debut last year in Australia.

Alvarez, an 18-year-old from the Manor Park Golf Club, is excited to compete in China.

“The format is a bit of a change to what you would normally expect in most amateur events but it is something I look forward to,” she said.  

“The Olympics is such a prestigious event and golf has been absent for a long time so it will be cool to be able to experience a taste of what it’s like to compete at a Youth Olympics alongside so many other sporting codes.”

The Wellington No.1 has been a standout performer on the local scene in the past two years. In 2013 she came of age when she won three titles – the New Zealand Amateur, the New Zealand Under 19s and the Harewood Open title on the Charles Tour.

Coxon is also a player on the rise. The Riverside golfer is currently sixth on the NZ Golf Order of Merit after an ultra-consistent season in 2014.

The Waikato rep has finished in the top five on seven occasions this year including a fine showing at the New Zealand Amateur Championship where he went all the way to the semi-finals only to lose to eventual champion Josh Munn.

Alvarez and Coxon will look to continue New Zealand’s good record in the event.

In Sydney last year, Waikato amateur Compton Pikari claimed a bronze medal and the New Zealand mixed team of Pikari, Jason Yoo, Wenyung Keh and Lita Guo also won bronze medals.

Gregg Thorpe, the High Performance Manager at New Zealand Golf, believed that both Alvarez and Coxon would benefit from the international competition.

“They have been young and exciting players on the national scene for some time and this is a great opportunity for them to showcase their ability on the international stage,” said Thorpe.

The maximum number of players who may compete in the Golf competition is 64 as agreed by the International Golf Federation (IGF) and the IOC.

The event format will include 54-hole stroke play competitions for men’s individual, women’s individual and a mixed stroke play event.

The team’s event consists of round one; foursomes, round two Four-ball and round three; the men’s individual and women’s individual scores will count.

The gross scores for all three rounds (four x 18 hole scores) will be combined to form the team score.

The team that has the lowest cumulative score for the three rounds is the winner.

Golf was an Olympic sport in only two Games – 1900 and 1904 – and in 2009, the International Olympic Committee decided to reinstate the sport for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“Seeing golf back at the Olympics is a very exciting time for the sport,” said Thorpe.

“New Zealand Golf believes that golf being reinstated in the Olympic movement will be a big motivator for young people to take up the game.”

NZ Team to represent at Youth Olympic Festival in China:

Julianne Alvarez (Manor Park), Nick Coxon (Riverside)

Manager: Karen De Lautour

Peter Thornton | New Zealand Golf
Media & PR Manager