Another Junior Proving Brad James Wrong

If you haven’t heard of Karl Villips, among Australia’s golfing fraternity, it wont be long before you do hear his story.

Karl Villips is 2^nd only to Tiger Woods (yes, Tiger Woods - I wonder if Tiger would have made Brad James' squad) in what he has achieved as a junior golfer to date. Karl is 14years of age and is currently on a scholarship in Florida. Why is he in Florida and not at home? Because Golf Australia have said they want him to show a little more before he can be included. I would have thought 3 World Championships and over 70 victories in America and his current rankings would be adequate to receive some assistance from GA.

In 2012 aged 10, Karl won Callaway World Jr Chsp’s , repeated in 2014 aged 12. Prior to this he won the US Kids World Chsp aged 7 and 9. He couldn’t play at aged 8 because he had no funding. Are you seeing a common thread here? As a result of no funding, Karl has had to leave Australia at age 11 and a half, because he was offered a scholarship at an Academy in the US. He returned to Australia at aged 14 due to visa issues. During this time at home, he was still unable to secure a spot in Australia’s high performance squads, selected by Brad James.

Karl has now returned to America on Scholarship. At the present time he is ranked number 1 in the US for his age, and is ranked number 12 in the US for all non college age amateur golfers – these are the golfers under the age of 18. Karl is 14.

What a disgrace – that we have obviously one of the worlds best players for his age, as an Australian, but the Golf Australia program fails to recognise him. He recently played in the US Amateur (won by Curtis Luck - another of Brad James' discards) without a caddy, a coach, or a parent by his side. He was the 3rd youngest ever to qualify for the event. He shot 71 on the final qualifying day, and just missed out on the matchplay final by 3 shots. Not bad for a 14 year old playing against men.

Yet again, another example of Mr James’s Program failing junior golfers in Australia. This is a great shame and needs to be addressed immediately. The HP program is funded by tax payers money. Surely the tax payers of Australia deserve a better management team. Click on this link to see Karl swing.