Mpumalanga Junior golf back for 2014 season

At the Annual General Meeting held at Middelburg CC, on January 19 a new committee was elected and the calendar for 2014 was confirmed.

This year there will again be 12 tournaments, six in the Lowveld and six in the Highveld region. All junior golfers in the province, who have an official handicap, are welcome to join junior golf.

Regular tournaments are played throughout the year and that exposes the juniors to competitive golf. Whilst these tournaments are played in a competitive environment, the players thoroughly enjoy these days and many golfing friends are made. At these tournaments the kids play to post stroke averages, in order to represent Mpumalanga Province in junior golf tournaments nationally.

The Lydenburg Golf Club hosted the Lydenburg Junior Open on Sunday, February 2. Juniors from throughout the province participated in this event across the three divisions.

The playing conditions were difficult, as most of the players were not familiar with the course. There was a stop because of lightning in the afternoon and because of a little rain too. The course was very dry and hard but the greens were in good condition and well prepared.

The winner of the Lydenburg Junior Open was Jacques Brits, a local from Lydenburg. Jacques won the A division with a score of 149 over 36 holes. In second place was Ryan Stenzel, a member at Witbank Golf club on 152. In third place was Erik Coetzee, also from Witbank GC on 153. The all-day nett winner was Henco Erasmus also from Lydenburg on a score of 144.
This was the first A Division win for Jacques, who has just turned 16.

The B Division was dominated by local golfers from Lydenburg. The winner of the B division was Ruan Femor from Nelspruit on 164, who beat brothers Corne Combrink and Jandre Combrink from Lydenburg, who both finished on 172. The all-day nett was won by Evert Buurman on 140 also from Lydenburg. The girls arrived in force with eight girls playing in this event.
The C division was won by Hein Van Zylon 43Points, second was Divan Femor who scored 41points, third was Claudia van Aswegen who scored 35 points.

Thanks to the management and staff of the Lydenburg Golf club and members of the Mpumalanga Junior golf committee for hosting a wonderful event. Thanks also to the generous sponsors from Lydenburg, who made the event possible.

The next junior tournament will be the White River Open, to be held at White River Country club on February 16. This will be the third tournament for 2014 out of 12 for the year.

“We want to invite all junior golfers, boys and girls who are at school and under the age of 19, to come and play in the Mpumalanga junior events. The only requirement is that players must have an official handicap .The top ranked player in each age group u/13, u/15, u/17 and u/19 represent Mpumalanga and plays inter provincial tournaments and South African Golf Association (SAGA) events where the best get National colours. Go to www.mgfsa.co.za to enter or call the Secretary Cor Du Preez on 0827824266 or President Ed Borcher on 0827858424for more information,” said Gerhard Stenzel.