Ekurhuleni’s best go for glory

Ekurhuleni’s amateur women’s captain Caitlyn Macnab and her teammates Kajal Mistry and Kiera Floyd (who is also from Ekurhuleni) will represent South Africa at the 2022 Golf World Amateur Team Championships.

The tournament will be hosted by the French Golf Federation and the trio will be competing for the Espirito Santo Trophy from Wednesday to Saturday in France.

Macnab and Mistry made their Espirito Santo Trophy debut in 2018 where they partnered Kaleigh Telfer to a 15th overall finish in Ireland.

The SA Women’s Amateur and Stroke Play doubles champions will return for duty in France alongside 2022 SA Women’s Stroke Play winner Floyd.

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The trio will be looking to claim the Espirito Santo for the first time since 2006, when Ashleigh Buhai, Stacy Bregman and Kelli Shean wrapped up the title on home soil.

“I congratulate the selectors on naming powerful teams who can put up compelling performances and challenge for the ultimate prize in amateur golf,” said GolfRSA CEO Grant Hepburn.

“It was no doubt a difficult choice because the talent pool in South Africa runs very deep.

“The championships are played at the highest level of competition, and I have no doubt that these GolfRSA National Squad members will rise to the occasion. They have all enjoyed strong performances this year, and we are very proud of their achievements.”

Macnab and Mistry are South Africa’s top-ranked amateurs at 52nd and 108th respectively and both made their 2022 NCAA Championship debuts this year, while Floyd, third highest in the rankings, secured one of the two premier titles on the GolfRSA women’s golf circuit.

Women’s Golf South Africa president Sarah Braude was positive about the women’s team’s chances at the biennial event.

“The Espirito Santo Trophy is the pinnacle of women’s amateur golf, and I am delighted that we have been able to assemble such a strong team for this year’s event in Paris,” she said.

“They have all earned their spots with consistently strong performances and excellent results in the past two seasons.

“Kajal and Caitlyn were dominant performers on the GolfRSA circuit in the past, and they are both performing exceptionally well on the US college circuit.

“Their experience will be invaluable, while in Kiera, we have an exciting young talent who we think will add the X-factor to this team. We are confident in their ability to compete at the highest level in France.”

In her first season at Texas Christian University, Macnab was the TCU Frogs’ top performer. A string of runner-up finishes and an 11th-place finish in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur boosted her to 45th in the current NCAA Women’s 1st Division standings.

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The Ekurhuleni golfer also earned some impressive accolades, including 2022 WGCA Honourable Mention All-American, WGCA Freshman of the Year Watch List, and First-Team Academic All-Big 12.

Mistry also enjoyed a great third season at No 1 for Arkansas University.

Not only did she celebrate her first collegiate individual win at the Mountain View Collegiate, but she recorded two top-five and three top-10 finishes and posted a top-12 finish in her career-first NCAA Championship Regional.

Currently ranked 63rd in the NCAA Women’s First Division standings, Mistry was also named an All-SEC first-team selection (one of eight first-teamers in the conference).

Following her five-stroke triumph at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington in February, Floyd won the Gauteng North Junior Open and in March, the 17-year-old Ekurhuleni golfer teed it up in the Investec South African Women’s Open.

She held her own in a world-class international field and severely testing conditions at Steenberg Golf Club to claim the Leading Amateur honours.

The defending champions are the USA, following their 2018 wins at Carton House in County Kildare, Ireland after the 2020 edition of the WATC had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

The 72-hole stroke play tournament, where the best two scores out of three count each day, will be staged at two highly venues in France: The Albatross Course at Le Golf National – home to the French Open, the 2018 Ryder Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games Paris course – and the Red Course at Le Golf Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche, which hosted the Trophée Lancôme from 1970-2003 and the French Open from 1965-1969.