Jožef Klančnik - on his way to Chile

Jožef Klančnik isn't just a member of a Pitch and Putt club; he is the Pitch and Putt course proprietor! "Pitch&Putt course Žaženberk (www.facebook.com/Zazenberk) is my home course and it is also my own course," says the Slovenian. "Currently it has four holes and there are nine holes in the future plan. The course is situated on a hill and offers a beautiful view of the valley. It is named after the former castle Žaženberk on the top of the hill where remains are still visible, so it has a historical touch."

Jožef is thrilled to be the first player named on the twelve strong Team Europe that will take on South America in the inaugural Fernando Morgado Trophy in March."I am pretty excited. It is a great honour for me to take part in the European Pitch and Putt team. It is also a responsibility but I will take that as a new challenge and do my best."

A recent convert to Pitch and Putt, Jožef has plety of "stick and ball" experience. "I am playing golf for 17 years and Pitch and Putt for the last two years. As a businessman, playing relaxes me and keeps me away from stress, but it also offers challenges and opportunities for advancement, so it is a win win combination."

Jožef will travel alone from Slovenia but he is an experienced tripper."Yes, I have been to South America before, but it is over 10 years. Then I visited Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, so Chile is still on my wish list."

Preparation will be assiduous."Of course I will practise for this event and try to prepare myself as much as possible for the competition. I will do my best to contibute to presenting ourselves as a European team in the best possible way."

He doesn't foresee any issues gelling with his continental colleagues."I suppose that should not be a problem. I only have good experience with foreign Pitch and Putt competitors. They are really open, positively oriented and also competitive people so I think we will connect as a team in no time and enjoy the competition as well as the whole event."

Though immature, there are very positive signs for our sport of Pitch and Putt evolving in Jožef's home territory.  "Since July 2016, when the Pitch&Putt Association of Slovenia was founded, Pitch and Putt is developing quickly and seriously. In the first year we reached around 100 members. Five clubs and four Pitch and Putt courses are affiliated to the association, which is a good start in our small country. We also carried out all the planned competitions and had our first Slovenia Open in September 2017 with foreign competitors from Catalonia and Euskadi (Basque). Plans for the new season are already under preparation and we are sure that things will be even more interesting next year."

Slovenia's fourth ranked player offers an insight into how the country's Pitch and Putt Order of Merit is designed. "The Slovenia rankings are calculated according to the results of the Club League competitions, International Open Championship and Slovenia Cup. The points go to the first six ranked in a single competition."

Vilibald Vengust, Sebastian Virant and Bojan Mesec were other Slovenians in contention to travel to Chile but are unavailable."The main problem for our players to take part in the foreign Open competitions is that our association is very young and for now the financial situation does not allow it to cover at least part of the costs of participation oi such a competition. In this case of Chile being the host the distance is also one of the criteria."

The Puerto Velero course, which will host the Fernando Morgado Trophy, has already been researched throughly. "I checked the Puerto Velero course over the internet," states  Jožef. "There was also a nice review of the course on the FIPPA website, when it was the Course of the Month in August 2017, so I am familiar with the basic characteristics."

Three different playing formats will be in use at the South America v. Europe clash but this won't faze Jožef Klančnik."I have some experience playing foursomes and fourball. We sometimes play that way in friendly matches and also some Slovenian Pitch and Putt competitions are played by that type. One of those where I participated is this year's Slovenia v. Croatia international Pitch and Putt competition on the Croatian island of Brijuni, where the Slovenian team won 23:13."