Peruvian senior golf team: “We are very excited and will fight”

There is a lot of joy and camaraderie in the Peruvian senior golf team that is just a few hours away from starting its participation in the XLII Sudamericano in Punta Del Este in Uruguay, which will take place from October 23 to 29. The laughter and jokes sound from one side to the other in the last training session that the team had before leaving.

The senior category in which this championship will be played brings together participants aged 55 and over because the passion for golf has no age limits. The tournament will be attended by 337 players from nine countries in the region in search of crowning the South American champion in a very special edition that will be played after two years due to the pandemic.

10 cups are the ones that will be at stake. One per country, by teams of four players, by categories and ages. Likewise, an individual tournament will be played by category and by age groups. The country that wins the most cups will win the title and the champion cup. So 33 Peruvians make up the national team and they arrive in Uruguay with great enthusiasm and with a view to fighting.

Among them is Martin Serkovic, former president of the Peruvian Golf Federation, who got involved in this sport thanks to his father since he was seven years old. Despite the fact that, as he himself comments, he was not so constant in his game due to other occupations, little by little he got into it until today and he can no longer leave it.

His interest in the sport was so great that he became president of the Federation for four years and is now a member of the senior team. “For me, entering the golf course is separating myself from the world. To forget about worries, to be able to relax and spend time with friends”, tells us. For Martin there is no better feeling than being able to represent your country in an international tournament. “The most exciting thing is being able to feel the pressure, the nerves and be able to beat him”, ensures.

Just like him, Fernando Parodi, current vice president of the Senior Association of Golfers of Peru (AGOSEP), he is also part of the team. Unlike others, Fernando’s history with golf began 20 years ago with his wife and his son. Although the memories of golf come to his memory when in a summer of his childhood he took some classes on vacation with a friend.

Although it took many years for him to pick up a golf club again, what he learned stayed with him. “It seems that golf is like riding a bicycle, you never forget it”, He comments between laughs. Since then, Parodi has participated in different national and international tournaments representing Peru, now years later he feels the same emotion of the first day.

“Golf is a challenging sport, but age is not a factor, but the swing that each one has when hitting the ball”, judgment with great certainty. He also adds that golf is something that accompanies you at all ages and that personally it is something that he enjoys a lot in his days. In this South American, the vice president of AGOSEP is aware that they do not arrive as favorites but that they do go with high expectations to fight for the Cup.

For its part, Tomas Rey, team captain, devotes all his time to golf. Thanks to his work today, the Peruvian participation in the South American Senior will have complete teams in all categories and all cups. Apart from playing, Tomás is one of the six level three referees in Peru for golf arbitration, an important task that he has been fulfilling for several years.

As captain of the Peruvian national team, the most important thing for Tomás is that the whole team plays well and that everyone can collaborate. “We are going with a very united delegation with the same goal of obtaining good results for Peru”, ends. The South American that should have been held in our country in 2020 will now be played in Uruguay, but Rey hopes that by 2024 they can organize this event.