TSHWANE (28 February 2015) – A determined posse of Gauteng North golfers will throw down the gauntlet in the Sanlam South African Amateur Championship, which tees off at Silver Lakes Golf Estate on Sunday.

Former SA Stroke Play champion Jason Smith spearheads the local challenge alongside Hendrikus Stoop and recent Free State Open champion Keegan de Lange, respectively second, fifth and seventh on the current South African Golf Association Open Amateur rankings.

The trio will join 25 fellow Gauteng North players in a bid for South Africa’s most prestigious amateur title, including 11th ranked Teaghan Gauche and local favourite Marco Loubser, who lifted the Gauteng North U-23 title a week ago.

The international World Amateur Golf Rankingevent tees off with a 36-hole Stroke Play Qualifier and only the top 64 finishers will advance to the Match Play Championship.

Stoop finished one stroke shy of the qualifier target last year, while Smith and De Lange were handed their marching orders in the first round of the championship at Hermanus Golf Club. Continue reading →

Marco Loubser with Gerry Few

The annual GNGU u23 Open event was held at Akasia Country Club on Sunday 23 February.

Marco Loubser won the event in a playoff against Rosswell Sinclair after the pair ended on 5 under par 139. Loubser was fast out the gate registering a brilliant 66 for his first round. The heat however caught up with the Centurion Country Club member and he was only able to record a second round score of 73. Rosswell took another path to his score registering rounds of 70 and 69 to tie Marco’s score. The first round saw Sinclair end with a string of 5 birdies in the last 6 holes and he ended the second round in similar fashion by recording 4 birdies in the last 5 holes.

The top six positions recorded scores of level par or better on a testing Akasia Country Club layout. Among these players was Kifentse Nukeri who shot rounds of 75 and 68 to record the lowest score for the second round and end 4 strokes off the pace. Nukeri shot a stern warning to his competition in the u17, u19 and u23 Inter Provincial teams that he is here to compete for a spot. The 16 year old youngster is a product of the SAGDB’s efforts in the Gauteng North region. “It’s his way of thanking the selectors for the faith they put in him.” Rohan de Beer, manager for the SAGDB in Gauteng North said. “I’ve always maintained that he has great potential and brilliant work etiquette. He was a very late selection for the u19 IPT at the end of last year and this gave him the belief that he is good enough to compete with the best.”

Kifentse Nukeri

Top Ten Final result:

MALELANE, 19 February 2015 – The Scottish Golf Union squad claimed a runaway 15.5 – 8.5 victory in the sixth edition of the annual Leopard Trophy and levelled the Test Series at three apiece after a full-blown assault against South Africa in the final round at Leopard Creek on Thursday.

Having trailed 3 – 1 after the opening Foursomes, the eight-man team rallied to claim five points in the Singles against South Africa to tie the first round at 6-all.

Starting the final round on even terms, the visitors fashioned the winning combinations in the Foursomes to forge 2.5 – 1.5 ahead. Continue reading →

At the start of the 2013 season, Gauteng junior Ivanna Samu was just another junior with big dreams. In two short years, though, the 16-year-old Ruimsig golfer has risen to third in the Womens Golf SA (WGSA) Senior Rankings and holds the number one spot in the Junior standings.

Samu notched five victories in 2014, including the prestigious Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Championship, and reeled in a further 10 top five finishes on the junior circuit.

However, her meteoritic rise was instigated by a runner-up finish at the Gauteng North Junior Girls’ Open Championship early in February. On Sunday, the leggy teenager came full circle when she claimed a play-off victory in the 2015 edition at Centurion Country Club. Continue reading →

MALELANE (18 February 2015) – South Africa and Scotland are poised for an epic final day showdown in the annual Leopard Trophy after the Scottish team rallied to deadlock the Test at 6-all on Wednesday.

The national team held a 3 -1 cushion after a superb performance in the Foursomes at Leopard Creek, but the Scottish Golf Union squad produced the magic to square the Test with four victories and two halves in Singles.

The two teams also drew 6-all in last year’s first round, but the Scots prevailed 14-10. Continue reading →

MALELANE (17 February 2015) – Scotland’s Bradley Neil will line up with the pros in the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt this week, but the reigning Amateur champion will keep a close eye on the action at Leopard Creek Golf Estate, where eight of his Scottish Golf Union National Squad team members will be bidding for repeat success against South Africa in the sixth Leopard Trophy.

Scotland clinched their second victory in the annual two-day Test with a 14-10 result last year, and the team will be gunning for back-to-back titles at the magnificent Gary Player-designed layout on Wednesday. Continue reading →

JOHANNESBURG, 16 February 2015 – South Africa’s top ranked senior Mellette Hendrikse rambled to another play-off victory over Lawrence Franklin in the Central Gauteng Golf Union’s Senior Open to claim his second win of the season on Sunday.

The 54-year-old Akasia player was slow off the mark with an opening 75 and lagged four strokes behind Franklin, but he hauled himself into contention with a solid final round 73 to tie the first round pacesetter for the lead on four-over-par 148 in regulation play.

Par at the first extra hole was enough to secure the victory for Hendrikse, who won the Gauteng North Senior Open in similar fashion last month.

While the victory at Bryanston Golf Club also took the sting out of a recent runner-up finish in the Players Championship, the win lifted Hendrikse to an all-time high point’s record in the South African Golf Association’s Senior Rankings.

Hendrikse vaulted to 97.10 points and broke the previous record of 94.25, set by Francois le Roux from De Zalze in 2013. Continue reading →