Germiston golfer receives Player of the Year award

Germiston’s 11-year-old golfer, Liam van Deventer, claimed the u-13 Player of the Year award for his play-off victory against Jordan Duminy, from the Southern Cape, in the Nomads SA Boys U-13 Championship, in October.

Top juniors Kyle McClatchie and Casandra Hall and Kempton Park Golf Club were the big winners at the annual Ekurhuleni Golf Union (EGU) Junior Awards, but it was the u-13 team that drew the greatest applause during the awards function at Benoni Country Club.

Among others, Liam, Grant Ferreira, Casey Jarvis, Zama Nxsana, Yurav Premlall and Jaryd Venter marched to victory in the team competition at Wingate Park Country Club, and the achievement netted the young team the 2014 Ekurhuleni Team of the Year Award.

Liam, Jarvis and Hall were also among 10 players who received awards for competing in all four of the EGU Quadrangular Tournaments against Central Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Gauteng North.

“Looking at this young team, I see the future stars of South African golf and the future is exciting,” said Ekurhuleni Golf Union president Martin Saaiman.

“We have an abundance of talented young golfers in this province and the achievement of this young side will serve to inspire yet another wave of future champions.”

Ekurhuleni’s McClatchie picked up the Player of the Year award for a second successive year, after a season during which he earned his national colours on three occasions and made history as one of the first two golfers to represent South Africa at Olympic level.

The 17-year-old Serengeti golfer led South Africa to victory in the team competition at the second African Youth Games in Botswana, in May, and claimed gold in the Individual Boys Competition at Gaborone Golf Club.

He was a member of the victorious SA junior team who claimed the country’s 16th consecutive victory in the All-Africa Junior Golf Championship and a member of the four-man team that contested the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup, in Japan, in June.

McClatchie also made a historic debut at the Youth Olympic Games, in China, in August, alongside Gauteng golfer Kaleigh Telfer.

Hall took Girl Player of the Year honours.

The Ebotse golfer topped the EGU Order of Merit all season and will be attending a WGSA talent identification camp at the HPC, at the University of Pretoria, after an impressive performance for the union at the SA Women’s Inter-Provincial, in September.

Meanwhile, Kempton Park’s Jordan, Joshua and Jonathan Wilsenach showed that siblings can work together, when they won the 2014 Handicap League, alongside Juan Oosthuizen, Tim Kitto and Nicko Venter.

The club enjoyed a double celebration as the winners of the 2014 Inter-Club Championship.

Simphiwe Nhlapo, a member of the EGU Development Programme, notched up the Most Improved Player award, while Jayden Schaper claimed the u-15 honours and Dylan Mostert was named the u-17 recipient.