Teenage sensation Oliver Betschart is determined to put his best foot forward at the inaugural Butterfield Bermuda Junior Championships at Port Royal Golf Course this week.

The 14-year-old is among a field of 78 of the world’s top male and female junior golfers between the ages of 12 and 19 who will compete for the right to be the first to win the 54-hole American Junior Golf Association-sanctioned event.

“I am really excited about having a junior tournament in Bermuda and the AJGA is one of the best and most difficult to get into,” Betschart told The Royal Gazette.

“I’d like to thank the AJGA and BGA [Bermuda Golf Association] for offering some spots to locals.”

Betschart enjoyed success at the par-71 Southampton layout in November when he became the youngest player to win the Port Royal club championship, and that historic display followed on the heels of missing out by just one shot on qualifying for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship and making his debut at the APGA Championship at the same venue a month earlier.

Betschart is well accustomed to Port Royal and reckons his vast knowledge of the course can work to his advantage at the upcoming championships, which begin on Saturday morning.

“I feel good and I know the course, so that will help me,” he said. “But I also know that the level of competition is going to be high and I am one of the younger players in the field, so I am going to have to play well and bring my ‘A’ game.”

Betschart has been busy in the build-up to the event as he adjusts to a new set of clubs and gets reacquainted with the course since arriving on island last weekend.

“I just received my new Titleist clubs at the beginning of December, so I am still working them in,” he said. “I just arrived back on the island on Sunday night, so I have been at Port Royal every day, putting as much time in as possible.”

Betschart, who competes regularly on the Southern Texas PGA Junior Golf Tour in the United States, is joined by Dylan Muso and Sienna Mosquera as Bermuda’s representatives in the field.

Muso is competing with Betschart among the 49-strong boys’ tournament, while Mosquera is one of 23 players in the girls’ event.

“I also want to wish good luck to the two other local players, Sienna Mosquera and Dylan Muso,” Betschart added.

There is added incentive for the field, as the event helps to provide many opportunities for junior golfers around the world who are trying to earn college scholarships.

The championship will officially open with practice rounds starting at 8am on Friday, with the first round taking place a day later. Tee times will run each day from 8am to 10.03am.

The awards ceremony will close out proceedings on Monday at approximately 2.45pm after the conclusion of final-round play.