Twenty three years ago, Philippe Roberti de Winghe and his wife Veronique wished to create in Belgium an International Tournament for Juniors.
For several years, Philippe was in charge of the young players of the Royal Golf Club of Belgium, during which period he created the Belgian National Training Unit Golf (B.N.T.U.G.), together with the Royal Belgian Golf Federation and the Belgian Interfederal Olympic Committee. The purpose of the B.N.T.U.G. was to promote the game of golf with young players, to improve their game by proposing them well thought-out training sessions, and to encourage them to participate to international meetings against teams of neighbouring countries. This initiative quickly led him in 1979 to organise a Belgian International Juniors Tournament allowing these young players not to travel to far-away places. This step was to be one that would materialise into the most important event of the Belgian Amateur programme.
Through his efforts, Philippe Roberti de Winghe was able to tackle and solve all sorts of difficulties, turning "his" first International Juniors Tournament into the forerunner of ever more successful ones.
Many factors explain the extraordinary success of the event:
- It offered at the same time, and on the same course, a competition for both boys and girls;
- Foreign players stayed with Belgian families;
- A consolation match ( today a second Match play board for the under 16 ) was organised enabling young players eliminated early to go on playing on the prestigious Ravenstein golf course.
Last but not least Philippe and Veronique's tenacity should be highlighted. Thanks to it, an increasing number of foreign Federations sent player delegations, volunteers were found to help with the organisation (secretarial duties, transportation and shuttle service, score board, etc.) as well as sponsors to minimise costs as far as possible. Initial preparation and staging were so perfect that the Belgian International Juniors quickly achieved a world-wide reputation improving more and more the playing levels: minimum handicaps required to be accepted have already been lowered twice.
Philippe and Veronique Roberti de Winghe's rewards for their twenty years' dedication increased in variety year after year. Victories of players such as Jose Maria Olazabal, Helen Alfredsson, Trish Johnson, and others, as well as well-deserved victories of Belgian boys and girls, count among the most precious ones. It should be noted that people such as Jesper Parnevik and important countries such as USA, South Africa, Malaysia, Argentina, Chile, or the Philippines participated to this tournament.
After its 20th edition, Philippe and Veronique turned over the organisational responsibility of the event to Sebastien Legrand together with Anne and Charles Marien. Anne and Charles both have been dedicated since long to the game of golf and its young adherents, whereas Sebastien's main tribute was to bring the International Juniors to the Net by creating its Web site in 2000. Regretfully he left the organisation at the end of last year to leave the tournament entirely in the able care of Anne and Charles.
In 2000, Anne was appointed Captain of the National Girls Team while her husband has been captaining the juniors for 8 years at Ravenstein where he is also a Committee member.
