21/04/2023
What began as an outing with his uncle Yamit Castro to the golf course to say goodbye to coach Rogelio González, trainer of Camilo Villegas, became the passion that has Simón Betancur Castro on the verge of his first major international tournament: the Nico Open 2023 that will be held next month at the Campestre Llanogrande club.
Before dedicating himself to this activity, the young man was involved in soccer and swimming, which he did recreationally. But since he got to know golf and was able to interact with the clubs and the course he was amazed.
Simón is part of the athletes that make up the Club Amigos del Golf, an initiative of the ‘cadies’ of the Campestre, Llanogrande and La Macarena clubs, who since February 2022 opened their doors to give opportunity to low-income children who want play discipline.
At 13 years old, Simón has already completed a year and two months of training. His commitment and dedication have led him to stand out and for this reason he is part of the group of children that is competing in the Antioquia circuit.
This seventh grade student from El Triángulo school has already passed a great test: the qualifier played in Llanogrande where he beat Samuel Gómez and Tomás Arroyave, and will be the representative of the Amigos del Golf club at the Nico Open 2023, sponsored by Wesport and that it will have the best youth and pre-juveniles in South America.
Nicolás Echavarría, whom he met last year at the club, will be the one who sponsors his participation. That is why the athlete is happy, because he knows that he will compete against the best. “I am grateful for this opportunity and happy because I know that it will help me to learn from good players, and because in this way I continue to feed my dream of becoming a PGA player,” said Simón, who is an admirer of Tiger Woods and Nicolás, of whom the humility that he maintains stands out.
“I am also very excited because Andrés, Nicolás’s brother, told me that they are going to help me train and he is going to teach me some movements and ways to hit the ball, all this that is happening has me very excited because it helps me to continue to improve my sports performance”, emphasizes the youth, who trains for four hours three days a week.
The tournament
The Nico Open will be held at the Club Campestre Llanogrande between May 25 and 27 and will feature the two best amateur players in the country, María José Marín Negrete and Juan Carlos Velázquez.
The contest will have a ‘field’ of 132 players for both categories (male and female).
Mauricio Zeceña, director of Wesport Latam, said that “for Wesport it is key to help sport, collaborate with Latin American countries so that they reach their best possible level and thus collaborate so that the entire region works hand in hand and that, in the end, what it generates are good people. We are happy to support this project.”
The tournament organizers mentioned that in Latin America there are around 3,000 juniors who play golf competitively, of which less than 5% have access to the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) system and its services.
The countries where most of these players are located are Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
2023-04-22 01:46:15
#Simón #Betancur #ready #face #Llanogrande
