SA’s junior golfers in battle for national glory at St Francis Links

by Michael Vlismas Media

South Africa’s top junior golfers are at St Francis Links this week for the National Final of the prestigious Glacier by Sanlam Junior Series.

The nationwide series, which teed off in April, has travelled around South Africa to some of the leading golf courses for 25 tournaments that have identified the best junior golfers in each province.

Each tournament was sponsored by a leading golfer – such as Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and others – and a golf industry official or benefactor.

The winners of each event have qualified for this week’s National Final on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 September.

The overall winner here will earn an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the Orange Bowl Invitational in the United States, one of the leading junior golf tournaments in the world.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed St Francis Links will serve as a fitting backdrop to what has been a highly competitive Glacier by Sanlam Junior Series this year.

“Our greatest golfers all benefited from a strong junior golf programme, and we believe in continuing this process to make sure we provide a strong platform for our champions of the future,” said Anton Raath, Chief Executive of Glacier by Sanlam. “Our business is all about thinking world class, and that ties in perfectly with the vision of South African golf.” 

The series certainly featured world-class scoring. The Gauteng leg produced the lowest scoring this year when Pretoria golfer Philip Kruse won the A Division of the Dale Hayes Tournament at Zwartkop Country Club with a round of six-under-par 66.

But there were several other highlights throughout the season.

The James Kingston Tournament at Rustenburg Golf Club featured the biggest playoff in the four-year history of the series when five players battled it out for glory, which eventually went the way of Kyle McClatchie.

In Bloemfontein, young Free State golfer Attie van Wyk became the first player in the history of the series to defend the Free State/Northern Cape title when he won the Elsabe Hefer Tournament at Bloemfontein Golf Club.

Witbank Golf Club witnessed Theunis Bezuidenhout beating 2012 Glacier Junior Series National Final champion Jason Froneman in a playoff for the Jannie Ackerman Tournament.

And top Eastern Province junior golfer Wian van Aswegen will be looking forward to the St Francis Links challenge, having won the A Division of the tournament sponsored by the course itself. That marked his third victory at St Francis Links this year.

Source: Issued on behalf of the Glacier Junior Series by Michael Vlismas Media

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