Jayden Schaper, from Benoni, won the Freddie Tait Cup for finishing as the leading amateur in an incredible sixth place overall on 13 under par with a closing 70.
The South African Open, hosted by the City of Joburg was held from January 9 to 12 at Randpark Golf Club.
The 18-year-old played in the company of seasoned professionals, such as the winner of the SA Open, Branden Grace, and defending champion Louis Oosthuizen, who was the ambassador of the Open.
He opened the proceedings on Thursday with a 65 and closed on 70 for his 271.
The 18-year-old climbed to 10-under-par for the championship with a second round of 67 on Randpark’s Firethorn course on Friday. He is among a group of top five players including Thriston Lawrence, Sam Horsfield, Jaco Ahlers and Trevor Fisher Jnr. Just one shot off the 11-under-par lead of Tapio Pulkkanen of Finland, who signed for a 66 on Firethorn.
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Schaper, who sought to make history as the first amateur since Denis Hutchinson over 60 years ago to win the South African Open, unfortunately did not get the finish he hoped for.
“It’s just special to be near the top of the leader board and having played with one of my idols Louis Oosthuizen over the past two days,” said the country’s top-ranked amateur, who last year won a host of titles on home soil as well as the prestigious Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in the United States.
“The way I see it, it’s the same golf course and just a different field. I’ll just treat it as any amateur event I’ve played in. There will be a bit of nerves, but I kind of enjoy that. I’m just looking forward to the weekend. It would be pretty special to match what Mr Hutchinson did, but I’m just going to take it one shot at a time and if the opportunity comes I’ll try my best to take it.”
He is SA’s number one ranked junior and holds the junior grand slam title as Nomads SA u-13 winner 2012, Nomads SA u-15 winner 2015, SA Nomads u-17 winner 2017 and Nomads double SA u-19 stroke-play winner and Matchplay winner of 2017’s multiple Green blazer Protea and GolfRSA’s elite team member.
