One of the most important events on the Mpumalanga golfing calendar, the Furtherance of Junior Golf fundraiser, was held at Mbombela Golf Club on Friday, August 9.
This day was made possible thanks to the 136 golfers (more than double compared to last year) who participated, generous sponsors, the team at Mbombela Golf Club, and the organisers of Mpumalanga Junior Golf committee members, Brian Hogg of Lowveld Nomads and Tanya Cronje.
The tournament was played in a betterball Stableford format. It was held in perfect weather conditions, the course was in excellent condition and the tournament was played in the true spirit of the game.
The annual fundraiser held by Mpumalanga Junior Golf, in association with the Lowveld Nomads, is to support the Mpumalanga Junior Golf Foundation in its mandate to fund and develop their annual initiatives in the growth and development of junior golf in the province.
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“This includes various triangular tournaments against other provinces, interprovincial tournaments (IPTs), training camps, the Road to Highland’s Gate (top 28 players to compete in a prestige tournament), monetary assistance for primary and high schools in sponsorships to compete at IPTs, and arranging 14 tournaments (Highveld and Lowveld) for the junior players to compete in throughout the year,” said Jurie Grobler, the vice-president of Mpumalanga Golf Union Junior Golf (Lowveld region).
“The foundation is predominantly reliant on sponsors and donations to drive the furtherance of golf in our province and we are thankful to our yearly sponsors throughout the community.”
Lots of fun was had both on and off the course, which included the players attempting to win a hole-in-one prize, and memorabilia as well as Marloth and Highland’s Gate accommodation on auction.
“A special thank you to Thriston Lawrence for his generous donation of signed memorabilia. Thriston was also part of the foundation as a junior and that is where everything started for him,” said Grobler.
Liam and Brayden Pieterse won on 44 points. Ross Tapson and Dandré Neumeyer were second, and Brian Hogg and Gus van Niekerk were third on a 43 count-out.
Closest to the pin:
• 3: Jon Grobler
• 5: Nico Koen
• 13: Abhay Suriakumar
• 17: Brian Springhorn.
