Indonesian junior golfer Milanka Azwar (11) continues to show impressive progress. At The JGS Indonesia Elite Junior International Championship 2026 held at Royale Jakarta Golf Club, Jakarta on 28–30 April 2026, Milanka claimed the Class D Girls title after recording a total score of 219 or 3-over par across three rounds, including a 71-stroke (1-under par) performance on the final round.
This tournament, attended by 55 young golfers from across multiple countries, served as the opening series for the main JGS Indonesia 2026 competitive season.
Behind this achievement, Milanka and her younger sister Shaneen Kyree Azwar (8) shared their story on the ITSMe podcast hosted by Raisha S. Ramadhani. The pair appeared alongside their father Henri Azwar, who detailed the journey of building the foundation for both his daughters' golf careers starting from early childhood.
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Henri explained that Milanka was first introduced to golf around 2019–2020, when she was brought to a driving range to occupy free time. When public activities became restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, golf emerged as one of the few outdoor sports that could still be safely practiced.
From that point, Milanka's interest grew steadily until she eventually committed fully to structured training and tournament participation. Kyree meanwhile took up the sport around one year prior, inspired by watching her older sister train daily.
Despite actively competing in numerous championships, education remains the family's non-negotiable priority. Milanka and Kyree attend regular full-time school, with all training schedules adjusted to fit around their academic commitments.
On designated days they receive permission to leave school early, allowing them to complete training without compromising their learning progress. Milanka has additionally set a personal goal to pursue tertiary education at Stanford University, alongside her ambition to become a professional golfer.
Henri maintains that the greatest support a parent can provide is not purely financial, but dedicated time. He spends up to six hours every day accompanying both daughters at training, not including extra hours spent travelling for and attending tournaments. Even so, he intentionally avoids letting the girls become fully dependent on their coaches.
Milanka and Kyree are guided to first learn to identify and evaluate their own mistakes before working through solutions with others, a practice designed to build independence and confident on-course decision-making ability.
Henri's coaching approach has also evolved with experience. Where he once would react emotionally when his daughters performed below expectation, he now places far greater emphasis on growth process rather than final match results.
He explains that the junior athlete phase exists to build technical skill, mental resilience, discipline and sportsmanship. For this reason, children must remain able to enjoy the game and have fun, as excessive performance pressure will only stall long term development.
Healthy, supportive competition has also developed naturally between Milanka and Kyree. The sisters train together consistently, exchange honest feedback on playing technique, and actively motivate one another to keep improving.
For Henri, the true measure of success for a young athlete is not counted only by trophies won, but also by the strength of their character, their willingness to keep learning, and their ability to sustain healthy balance between education and sport.
