Denzel Iremia, a New Zealand native, will be in the field for this week’s TrueNorth Greater Cedar Rapids Open. (Photo courtesy NZGolfMagazine)
There is a wide range of competitors coming into town this week for the 23rd TrueNorth Greater Cedar Rapids Open, presented by UFG Insurance. From all over the world!
Gurbaaz Mann, 39, is originally from Chandigarh, India but now resides in Pickerington, OH. Now mainly a club fitter and golf teacher, Mann used to play in the Asian Tour and the European Tour (now the DP World Tour). He stopped competing in 2009 due to a hip injury but still wanted to be involved in high-level golf.
“I still wanted to stay connected with competitive golf, so I researched club manufacturing, material performance, fitting protocols, bio mechanics and teaching methods and how they all blend in the right way to help a player win,” said Mann in an email. “This took me to multiple player victories globally as a club fitter and teacher.
“I mentor a dozen or so players now who I travel with as well,” said Mann.
“Some of them are established and some young professionals.
Two the players traveling with Mann to the GCRO are Jayant Kumar and Tejas Sinha. Kumar turned pro in India two years ago, according to Mann, who played golf for Arizona State in the early 2000s. Tejas was a top-ranked junior golfer in Ohio and is now chasing his dream to play professionally. Mann, recovered from his injury, will also compete this week.
Both Kumar and Sinha competed in the All Pro Tour Texarkana Children Charities Open in Arkansas this past weekend but failed to make the cut. But there is always another tournament coming up and their next one is in Marion.
For more info on Mann, click here. Or go here.
New Zealander Ieremia could contend
Denezel Ieremia, a 26-year-old who was born in Wellington, New Zealand, is also trying to make his mark.
Ieremia played pretty well on the first half of the PGA LatinoAmerica Tour this year and now heads north. His top finishes among nine starts were a fifth, a T18 and a T21, worth just over $12,000. Ieremia, 26, actually graduated high school in his home country and then moved to the United States, where he earned a golf scholarship to Iowa State. He was medalist for the 2016 Pinetree Invitational for the Cyclones.
Ieremia, playing out of Dallas, played in two Korn Ferry Tour events in 2019, making the cut both times. Also in 2019, Ieremia played in six PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments, finishing 13th on the final Order of Merit after making the cut in all six events and posting four top-10s. He added a top-10 in two Japan Golf Tour starts, and missed the cut in his lone Asian Tour appearance
In 2020, Ieremia played a pair of tournaments in the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour.
For more on Ieremia go here.
Is Thailand native Limbhasut ready to bust out?
In the 2020-2021 golf season, KK Limbhasut started 37 events on the Korn Ferry Tour, making the cut in over half (19). The now 26-year-old earned himself almost $110,000. Six Top25 and two Top 10 finishes helped the Bangkok, Thailand native achieve that.
Now the University of Cal grad, who turned pro in 2019, is trying the put the wheels back on the cart and get the wagon rolling again. Limbhasut has made the cut in only one of the six Korn Ferry Tour starts he’s made this year, finishing 65th in the AdventHealth Championship back in May.
Limbhasut moved to southern California when he was 14 to pursue college golf opportunities. That worked out at Cal with five years of schooling and two years of being a teammate now rising PGA star Collin Morikawa. He also called Ben Doyle a teammate. Doyle is in the field at Hunters Ridge this week. For more information on Limbhasut go here.