A nine-year-old golfer stunned the South African junior golf fraternity last Sunday with a performance that many adult golfers can’t even match.
Rorisang Nkosi arrived to play in the Glacier Junior Series tournament at The Els Club, Copperleaf. During registration, he informed the tournament officials that his handicap had changed from 21 to 18. This meant he would have to move up from the C Division to the B Division. “The players in the B Division have to play off the men’s tees, so I told his father this,” said Adam Hayes, son of golf personality Dale Hayes, whose company helps run the tournaments on the Glacier Junior Series.
“His father’s face just dropped. He said his son had never played off the men’s tees before, and wouldn’t be able to handle it. They discussed just going home. But I told him to be calm about it and let his son give it a go and have fun.”
Later that day, Nkosi handed in his scorecard. The nine-year-old had just shot 85 off the men’s tees at one of the longest and most demanding golf courses in South Africa, designed by Ernie Els.
“We couldn’t believe it. We were high-fiving each other,” said Hayes. “I mean, there are men who couldn’t shoot that kind of score there. It was an incredible day. Just one of those really magical days of golf.”
Nkosi also ended up winning the Best Nett in the B Division with a 67.
