It was an especially impressive performance for the 17-year-old from Caesarea, considering it was not a junior tournament.
By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
Yair Thaler, of the Caesarea Golf Club, captured second place over the weekend in the Volvo Open in Latvia, a three-day tournament that boasted more than 80 participants from nine countries.After a thrilling final round on Sunday, Israel’s Thaler and Austria’s Markus Maukner were tied atop the leaderboard, with 220 points each, playing a modified scoring system.After a four-hole playoff, Maukner emerged in first place, while Thaler took silver.It was an especially impressive performance for the 17-year-old from Caesarea, considering it was not a junior tournament but rather an “open” event, making golfers of all ages eligible.“I think this was my best tournament ever,” Thaler told The Jerusalem Post after returning to Israel on Monday. “The field of competitors was as hard as any event I have played in and the course set-up was difficult as well.”Obviously, I am very excited with my result, and hope to have more success in the future.”Thaler also won a gold medal last month in the Maccabiah Junior Boys tournament, played on his home course.In a trip partially financed by the Israel Golf Federation and the Caesarea Golf Club, three more rising stars from the Caesarea Golf Academy – Itai Eitani, Ram Binstock and Eytan Solomon – joined Thaler in Latvia, with Eitani and Binstock participating for their first time in an overseas tournament.