Congratulations to the following girls who have been selected to participate in the upcoming 72 Holes tournament to be held in Mossel Bay from 25 to 28 May 2014.
1st Team:
Eugenie Clack (Captain)
Magda Kruger
Carrie Park
2nd Team:
Danielle du Toit
Carmia van Wyk
Crystal Cooper
3rd Team:
Catherine Lau
Larissa du Preez
Ruzanne van der Walt
Carrie Park’s victory at the Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship in April put an exclamation mark on the blossoming potential that carried the 17-year-old Gauteng North amateur to the number one spot in the Womens Golf South Africa Senior Rankings in March. Park underlined her growing stature when she drained a 10-footer for birdie at the 16th hole to catch up to tournament leader Michaela Fletcher at Stellenbosch Golf Club. Knowing Fletcher had three-putted for bogey, Park held her nerve to par the 18th to seal a one shot victory and the biggest achievement in her career. However, the WGSA *Golfer of the Year for 2013* has been in threatening form since she broke through for her first senior provincial title at the Ackerman Championships.
Park also won the 2013 Gauteng Junior Championship and reeled in seven top five finishes, including runner-up spots in the Eastern Cape and Boland Championships. The GFG Academy member began the 2014 season with victory at the Border Championship in February and vaulted to the number one spot in the WGSA Senior Rankings when she lifted the KwaZulu-Natal Stroke Play Championship title in March. Park supplemented her triumphs with third place finishes at the Eastern Province Championship, Curro SA World Junior International and the Nomads SA Rose Bowl Championship, and fourth at the Gauteng North Junior Girls Championship.
credit Catherine Kotze / SASPA
Carrie’s individual achievements in the last 12 months have been impressive, but she has also proven her value in team competition, said WGSA president, Cynthia Rayner. She was a member of the victorious Gauteng North B-team that claimed the Challenge Trophy at the 72 Hole Teams Championship at Maccauvlei Golf Club in May and aided the Gauteng North A-team to seal their seventh successive Pick n Pay SA Womens Inter-Provincial title at Port Elizabeth Golf Club. In addition, Carrie made her mark among the amateurs that competed on the recent Sunshine Ladies Tour and finished sixth, third and second respectively at the Chase to the Investec Cup for Ladies tournaments at Houghton, Glendower and Blue Valley. Her victory at the Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play is the result of hard work, dedication and determination and this sets an excellent example for the next generation of young players who have their sights on the top amateur trophies.
*We caught up with the talented golfer during the Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship to learn more about the girl behind the dimpled smile and the lethal swing.*
*WGSA: How did you get into the game and who inspires you?*
CP: We were still living in South Korea and my dad used to take me with to the golfing range with him. I decided to play golf when I was 12, so I started to practice. I kept with it when we moved to Australia and eventually here to South Africa. My golfing idols are Annika Sorenstam and Ji-Yeh Shin. I am also a great fan of Hendrik Stenson and Adam Scott.
*WGSA: How did you end up living in SA?*
CP: I came to South Africa in Grade 9 with my dad. He sent me to boarding school, because he was impressed with Southdowns College and he liked the GFG golf program.
*WGSA: How do you balance golf with your other obligations, like school work?*
CP: I don’t procrastinate. I try to do my work immediately as possible.
*WGSA: You are ranked number one in South Africa and you’ve won the Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play. What else is left?*
CP: I would like to finish the season as the number one in the senior and junior rankings and improve my stroke average. It is sitting at 71.98 at the moment and it would be great to get it below 71.
*WGSA: Four victories since October, and you have also been incredibly consistent and always seem to be threatening. What is the reason for your success and what are you and your coach, Graeme Francis, working on?*
CP: Thanks for the compliment. I really think it comes down to number of hours of practice and number of rounds of golf I play. I am more experienced than last year, and I’ve learned more. I would say that the proper golf training, mental coaching and fitness training are essential to success.
We are working on keeping my club square and connected because it has a tendency to get shut and long on my back swing.
*WGSA: What has been the best moment of your career and why?*
CP: Winning the Ackerman Championship was one of my highlights, because that was my first victory in a senior event. It was kind of a big moment for me, because I waited for a long time and I won under really tough, windy conditions at Rondebosch Golf Club. The second, and biggest highlight, was winning the Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play.
*WGSA: So, we take it that was your AHA moment?*
CP: Absolutely. It meant so much to me, because I’m in matric and I didn’t prepare as well as I would’ve liked for the tournament. I wasn’t hitting the ball well so had to rely on my confidence to know I was good enough, and I just had to play my own game.
*CG: What advice would you give young girls just taking up the game?*
CP: I want to tell girls that golf is really a lot of fun, but yes, it is true that it takes up a lot of your leisure time. Do not be intimidated by the boys, and hitting far is not everything in this game.
*WGSA: What can be done to further improve the state of women’s golf in South Africa?*
CP: I think girls who are interested in golf should be encouraged to play provincial golf, so they can increase their number of rounds and gain experience. The top ranked girls should play with them, so the young girls can learn and be motivated to keep up their practice as this will positively effect growth in junior golf.
*Parting Shots*
The thing I miss most about home when I travel is my mom, because she is just amazing! If I got banned to an island, the three things I couldn’t live without would be coffee, because it’s compulsory in the morning, a mirror because I like to admire myself (hahaha) and my phone, because it has all the songs I love and can’t live without. My fantasy fourball would include Henrik Stenson, Luke Donald and Annika Sorenstam. I’m a great fan of both players and I think that would be so amazing and worthwhile to play with them and I’d like to get an up-close look at Luke’s short game. I would love to talk to all of them not only about golf but stuff they like to do, their superstitions or whatever! The question I get asked most is if I am Chinese, nope, I’m Korean. I never travel without dark chocolate. If I were an animal, I would be a polar bear cute and fluffy! Before I die, I still want to bungee-jump, visit 50 countries and shoot a round of 59.
Our own Carrie Park claimed the biggest victory of her amateur career when she won the Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Stellenbosch Golf Club on Tuesday. Park, the Women’s Golf South Africa (WGSA) Player of the Year, closed with a 71 to finish on four-over-par 220 and one shot clear of KwaZulu-Natal’s Michaela Fletcher. Fletcher was one shot ahead of Park playing the par-four 18th, but three-putted the last. Playing behind her, the 17-year-old Park made the only significant putt she had all day when she holed a 10-footer for birdie on the par-four 16th. She then parred her final two holes for the win. Fletcher took second place on five over with a 71 while Ji Sun Kang finished third on six over with a final round of 74.
The tournament was still wide open going into the final round, with Park one shot off the joint lead of Ji Sun Kang and Magda Kruger. A bogey at the first was hardly the start Park wanted, but she regrouped while those around her began to falter. “I just focused on making pars and then waiting for the birdies to come,” she said. Kang dropped four shots in her opening four holes on her way to a 74, while Kruger bogeyed the first two holes on her way to a 77. Park picked up her first birdie at the sixth, but the critical putt came on 16. “The birdie on 16 really swung it for me,” said Park.
“This means a lot to me because I’m in matric and I didn’t prepare as well as I would’ve liked for this tournament. I wasn’t hitting the ball well so had to rely on my confidence to know I was good enough, and I just had to play my own game.” Park was only aware of Fletcher’s bogey while standing on the 18th fairway and with a one-shot lead. “I was mentally pretty strong and didn’t feel any pressure until the 18th. I knew I was only one shot ahead, and that second shot on 18 was quite intimidating with the water in front of the green. But it worked out well in the end,” she said.
Our U23 IPT winning team, with Manager Johan Struwig, lifting the trophy!
Congratulations to our winning team and for making us all proud!
A-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Gauteng North (5- 4- 0- 1- 8- 36.5)
2 Central Gauteng (5- 3- 1- 1- 7- 34.0)
3 Ekurhuleni (5- 3- 1- 1- 7- 32.5)
4 Western Province (5- 2- 2- 1- 6- 31.5)
5 North West Province (5- 1- 0- 4- 2- 24.0)
6 Limpopo (5- 0- 0- 5- 0- 21.5)
JOHANNESBURG (1 April 2014) – Kim Williams was presented with the 2013 Amateur of the Year award at the 22nd annual Compleat Golfer Annual Awards ceremony, held at Country Club Johannesburg on Monday, 31 March.
The occasion marked the third time that Womens Golf South Africa named Williams as the most outstanding amateur for a season and she joined the illustrious company of Ashleigh Simon, the only other amateur who has lifted the award multiple times.
Her dominance in women’s amateur golf in South Africa dates back to 2009, when Williams pushed former number one Bertine Strauss into second after a breakthrough season. She held on to the number one spot for just over three years, before she was demoted by Swaziland’s tour-de-force, Nobuhle Dlamini.
Twelve months later, Williams ascended to the top once again.
She won the 2013 Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Championship and WGWP Pam Golding Properties Match Play and kept ahead with five more top five finishes in provincial championships.
She also captained the victorious Gauteng North teams at the 72-Hole Teams Championship and Pick n Pay SA Women’s Inter-Provincial.
Williams joined the pro ranks at the end of 2013 and has already earned more than R120,000 in her debut on the Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour.
Notwithstanding, the former number one ranked amateur was extremely proud to have this honour bestowed on her.
“To hold this award is the culmination of so much hard work last year,” Williams said. “Every time I look at this award and think about this achievement, I will be reminded that one really can achieve anything if you set your mind to it.
Kim posing with Dot
“I had two goals in my final amateur year; to put myself in contention all the time to reach greater consistency before I turn pro and to leave the amateur ranks as the number one in the country.
“It was incredibly gratifying to achieve both goals last year and this award is concrete evidence of all the sacrifices I had to make to fight my way back to the top.
“I am touched and deeply honoured that Women’s Golf SA acknowledged my commitment; it means the world to me.”
Williams celebrated her swansong with a successful run in her record fourth appearance for South Africa at The Spirit International at Whispering Pines in Texas.
The 27-year-old reeled in 11 birdies over 54 holes in the biennial championship to tie for third in the Women’s Individual Competition and sealed a top five finish in the team’s competition for South Africa alongside Lara Weinstein.
Williams earned her LET card a month later with a top 10 finish at the Lalla Meryem Qualifying School.
“Kim has always impressed with her indomitable spirit and her “never give up” attitude,” said WGSA president, Cynthia Rayner. “These qualities, combined with her undeniable talent and tenacity, carried her back to the top of the Senior Rankings.
“We are extremely proud to honour her achievements as our most outstanding amateur in 2013.”
Congratulations to James Hart du Preez for winning his first senior provincial title at the North West Open Championship at Rustenburg Golf Club! His winning score 71-69-66-68.
Congratulations to Louis Jonck from Irene CC for winning the Mid-Amateur Open Stroke Play at Services on Sunday 23 March with a score of 69 and 72 (141). The Runner up was Christie Le Roux from Akasia CC with 76 and a great second round of 66 (142). David Muller from Glenvista (Central) finished in 3rd place, 68 76 (144).
For the full and FINAL TOURNAMENT REPORT CLICK HERE: Results
Gerry Few and Louis Jonck
Gerry Few and Christie Le Roux