South Africa’s top trio Ivanna Samu (17), Kaleigh Telfer and Zethu Myeki collected an unprecedented 12th victory for the country in the 13th edition of the All-Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT) in Hammemet, Tunisia on 8 April.
After braving wet weather on the second day of the biennial showpiece, the international field were tested by very windy conditions on the final day at the La Floret course. The country’s number one ranked Samu showed some great skills to fire a superb three-under-par 69 and Telfer returned a 76 for a final round 145. Myeki posted a non-counting 83.
The South African team triumphed on 10 over par 442, finished 28 shots clear of Morocco while the host country took third on 485. Samu said that she struggled with her game over the first two days. The Ruimsig junior edged out Telfer for the individual honours on two over 218. “I battled off the tees and I had a lot of tree trouble. My short game really saved me over the first two rounds and I just told myself to stay patient and to try to limit the mistakes,” said Samu. She also added that Telfer led the South African team on day one with a solid one under 71, but also had some trouble off the tee in the next two rounds.
“I was able to make a few putts in the first round, but I struggled off the tee in the pouring rain on day two,” said Telfer. Their other great counter part, Myeki said her delight at the opportunity to compete on an international platform wiped out her disappointment on her debut performance in the green and gold.
Women’s Golf South Africa President Karen Olivant said the team are a credit to South African women’s golf. “I am very proud of the team’s achievement,” said Olivant. She explained that they were wonderful ambassadors for South Africa, they behaved impeccably and played really well considering the weather, which was really not very kind.
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