Bad lies
Congratulations to the SA Boys Team of Samuel Simpson; Martin Vorster; Casey Jarvis and Christo Lamprecht who won the 2019 Toyota Junior Golf World Club supported by JAL on the Ishino Course at the Chukyo Golf Club in Japan. It’s the first time that South Africa has won since 2001, when Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Albert Kruger and Christian Ries lifted the trophy.
Their 41-under 811 winning total is the lowest in the 27-year history of the event. They had two superb middle rounds –14-under 199 in round two and 19-under 194 in round three and they won by eleven strokes over Japan. Spain was third on 29-under and the USA fourth on 22-under.
Samuel Simpson and Martin Vorster made it a top two finish in the individual comp finishing on 18-under and 14-under respectively. Casey Jarvis tied for 18th on 4-under and Christo Lamprecht tied for 25th on 1-under.
In the Girls Events, South Africa finished sixth on 2-under 574, sixteen shots behind the winners Japan, who won on 18-under 558. Mexico was second on 15-under and the USA third on 14-under.
In the individual event, Mexico’s Corey Lopez; USA’s Rose Shang and Australia’s Cassie Porter finished tied at the top on 11-under 277. Kiera Floyd finished 10th on 1-under; Caitlyn Macnab tied for 13th on 2-over and Kaiyuree Moodley tied for 18th on 7-over.
Congratulations too to Retief Goosen who lost out in a play-off on the Champions Tour this week. You can read more about it below, under Around the World…
It was in June 1950 that Ben Hogan came back after a near fatal car accident and won the US Open. It was 16 months after the accident and doctors had said that never mind he wouldn’t play golf again, he probably wouldn’t walk again.
Also in June, but 25 years later, Lee Trevino was struck by lightning at Butler National GC during the Western Open. Afterwards he said that the next storm he was caught in he would take out his 1-iron and put it over his head, because “not even God could hit a 1-iron!”
How many greens do the top golfers hit in regulation? Fewer than you think…
Tiger Woods – 75,56%
Matt Kuchar – 74,42%
Ian Poulter – 71,45%
Rory McIlroy – 71,01%
Justin Rose – 66,67%
Bryson De Chambeau – 66,67%
Jordan Spieth – 63,74%
Francesco Molinari – 62,39%
For those of you that think I am biased about my vote for Jack Nicklaus to own the title of the best golfer that ever lived, here’s what Tom Watson has to say…“The greatest player the game has ever see is Jack Nicklaus. For the longevity of his career. And the way he played in major championships, you have to give him the nod. There were players like Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones, all great players, but I’ll give Jack the nod. He was the consummate competitor. He wore you down because he did not make mistakes. He had the ability to always hit the correct shot at the right time.”
I couldn’t agree more!
Brooks Koepka is a big man in every sense of the word. Physically he’s massive, hits the ball a mile and he’s generally very intimidating. Since 2014 when he was able to play in three of the four majors, he’s played in 20 majors. He’s won four, been the runner-up twice and had eleven Top 10 finishes. In the last eleven majors he’s had eight Top 10’s, four wins and two runner-up’s. That’s a Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods type record.
When the ball hits back… Cape of Good Hope Wine Series
GolfRSA has launched a new golf tournament for affiliated club golfers called the Cape of Good Hope Wine Series. It is a Betterball Stableford tournament that will enable winning pairs from Club Qualifiers to go through to a Regional Final that will then culminate in a National Final at Leopard Creek golf course. The winners of the National Final will be invited to play in the Pro-Am of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek. In addition to that, every golfer who registers and plays in their Club Qualifier will automatically be entered into a Lucky Draw for a chance to win a VIP Guest Experience at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
The Cape of Good Hope Wine Series launches this month and will expand to more clubs in 2020, so if your club has missed the opportunity to participate this year, you can be included in the 2020 tournament, which will start in November this year. Congrats to GolfRSA - I look forward to hearing about more innovative offerings from them. For further information on how the Cape of Good Hope wine Series works, clubs can contact Paul Adams on paul@golfnotions.co.za. Around the world... • Chez Reavie won the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, picking up his first win since the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. After a great performance at last week’s US Open, he shot rounds of 65-66-63-69 to win by four over Keegan Bradley and Zack Sucher on 17-under 263. Vaughn Taylor was fourth on 12-under. Louis Oosthuizen tied for 36th on 4-under.
• Andrea Pavan won his second European Tour title at the BMW International Open in a play-off with Matthew Fitzpatrick. Pavan shot a 6-under 66 at Golfclub München Eichenried to set the clubhouse target at 15 under, which was matched by Fitzpatrick, who bogeyed the 17th but birdied the 18th, to force the play-off. Pavan won with a birdie on the second play-off hole. Christiaan Bezuidenhout had a great week finishing in a seven-way tie for third on 13-under, while Erik van Rooyen tied for 16th on 10-under and Haydn Porteous tied for 26th on 7-under.
• Australian Hannah Green won her first LPGA title, and it just happened to be a major, at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National GC. She won in wire-to-wire style too, with rounds of 68-69-70-72 that saw her finish on 9-under 279. Defending champion Sung Hyun Park had four sub-par rounds and closed with a 4-under 68 to finish second by one stroke. Mel Reid was nine shots off the lead entering the final round and shot a six-under 66 to move into a tie for third alongside Nelly Korda on 6-under.
• Sixteen year-old Atthaya Thitikul made history when she won the Ladies European Thailand Championship at the Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club in Pattaya for the second time in three years. She entered the final round with an 8-shot lead and despite a three-hour rain delay, she shot a 5-under 67 to win by five on 22-under 266. German rookie Esther Henseleit finished second on 17-under after an 8-under 64, six shots clear of fellow countrywoman Olivia Cowan. • Jerry Kelly won the American Family Insurance Championship in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He shot a final round 6-under 66 at University Ridge to tie with Retief Goosen (who also had a 66), and Steve Stricker (who shot 67), at 15-under 201. Stricker was eliminated on the first play-off hole after making a bogey, and Kelly then won with a birdie on the third extra hole. Duffy Waldorf finished fourth on 14-under while Kevin Sutherland and John Daly tied for fifth at 13-under. David Frost tied for 26th on 6-under. Check out this fun interview by Steve Stricker’s daughters, Bobbi and Izzy on the driving range.
• Henrik Norlander and Bryan Bigley will tee it up later today to complete the newly named Korn Ferry Tour’s Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth. In tough final round conditions, five players tied at the top of the leaderboard at the close of play at Crestview Country Club, on 15-under 265 – Bigley; Norlander; Sebastian Cappelen, Erik Compton and Kevin Dougherty. Cappelen, Compton and Dougherty made par’s at the par-3 17th while Norlander and Bigley made birdies, before play was called off. They will resume today on the 18th hole. MJ Daffue and Oliver Bekker finished in a group tied for 29th on 9-under.
• Alex Chiarella won his maiden Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada title at the Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open. After missing his first three cuts of the season, he shot rounds of 64-67-65-68 at Paradise Canyon Golf Resort to win by one stroke over Travis Trace on 20-under 264. Jake Johnson, Andrew Yun, Hayden Buckley and Justin Doeden tied for third on 18-under.
• Eirik Tage Johansen won his maiden European Challenge Tour title in the Andalucía - Costa del Sol Match Play 9 at Valle Romano Golf. He beat Ugo Coussaud 2&1 in the final courtesy of an eagle. Johansen beat Scotland’s Connor Syme 2&1 in the quarter-finals and then Robin Sciot-Siegrist 1-Up in the semi-final on the first extra hole, after they finished all square. Sciot-Siegrist won the third place play-off 1-Up against Benjamin Poke. Bryce Easton tied for 37th on level par in the 36-hole strokplay to qualify for the matchplay but was knocked out in the first round.
• Jean-François Remésy won the Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship hosted by Ian Woosnam. He was tied for the lead entering the final round at Trevose Golf & Country Club and shot a 5-under 67 to win on 10-under 206. Barry Lane and Gary Evans also shot 5-under 67’s to finish second on 9-under and third on 7-under, respectively. Chris Williams tied for 26th on 2-over.
• Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond won his second Asian Tour title of the season at the co-sanctioned Asian Tour and the Korea Golf Association’s 62nd Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship. He started the final round at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club with a two-shot lead and shot a 1-over-par 72 to win by one over Korea’s Innchoon Hwang on 6-under 278. American Chan Kim, finished third on 4-under while Korea’s Minjoon Kim tied for fourth on 3-under alongside Dongkyu Jang. Hwang and Jang have qualified for The Open Championship as the top two leading players (not otherwise exempt). Scott Vincent tied for 10th on 1-over.
• Irishman James Sugrue won the 124th Amateur Championship at the Portmarnock and The Island Golf Clubs in Ireland. He was five up through nine before Scotsman Euan Walker clawed back to all-square. Sugrue won 1-up on the final green in the 36-hole final and has earned the coveted places to play in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush and next year’s Masters and U.S. Open. The 36-hole qualifier was won by England’s Thomas Plumb and Dane John Axelsen at 1-under 139. South Africans that qualified for the matchplay were Yurav Premlal in a tie for 18th on 1-over; Therion Nel in a tie for 45th on 3-over and Jayden Schaper in a tie for 54th on 4-over, but all three were knocked out in the early stages.
• Jordan Rothman won the WP Nomads Junior Girls Championship at Strand Golf Club. She shot rounds of 73-72-73 to win by 9 shots on 2-over 218. Bobbi Brown and Shani Brynard tied for second on 11-over.
• Kian Rose chipped in for birdie at the last to win the Nomads National Order of Merit Inland at Modderfontein Golf Club. His final round 6-under 66 secured his one-stroke win over Nikhil Rama on 6-under 138. Samual Mckenzie finished third on 2-under.
• Jordan Wessels won the Sun City Under 15 Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club. He birdied the 18th hole in regulation play to force a play-off when he tied with Michael Ferreira on 2-over 146. He then won on the first play-off hole. Werner Potgieter and Keagan Crosbie tied for third on 3-over. Meanwhile, Reinhardt Uys won the Under 13 Challenge on 9-over 153, beating William Reyneke by two shots.
• England’s Lily Humphreys won the Annika Invitational Europe at the Vasatorps Golf Club in Sweden, by one shot over Denmark’s Anne Normann, on 12-under 207. Kaylah Williams tied for 42nd on 12-over. • Korn Ferry, a management consulting company based in California, is the new sponsor of the Web.Com Tour. They took over this weekend and their contract will run until 2028. The Tour started in 1990 as the Hogan Tour, named after the great Ben Hogan and this is the sixth name change for America’s second tier Tour.
• Early betting odds for the Open Championship have Brooks Koepka as the favourite at 6/1! He's finished first or second in four of the last five majors and has two top 10s in the last three Open’s. And if that wasn’t enough, his caddie, caddie Ricky Elliott grew up in Portrush so has all the course knowledge they need! Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods are next at 12/1. Justin Rose is 16/1, Francesco Molinari, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm are at 20/1, and Justin Thomas is 30/1. • Great news for South Africans while speaking Open Championship is that Kurt Kitayama, David Lipsky, Robert MacIntyre, Richard Sterne and Erik van Rooyen have earned spots to play in this year’s Open Championship. They are the top five in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex after the BMW International Open who are not already exempt. Who’s up this week? (Please note that this is the entry list as at Monday and is subject to change) • PGA TOUR - Rocket Mortage Classic – Ernie Els; Dylan Fritteli; Rory Sabbatini
• EUROPEAN TOUR – Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Foundation – Dean Burmester; Haydn Porteous; Darren Fichardt; George Coetzee; Richard Sterne; Thomas Aiken; Zander Lombard; Christiaan Bezuidenhout; Justin Walters; Louis de Jager
• LPGA - Walmart NW Arkansas Championship pres by P & G – Ashleigh Buhai; Lee-Anne Pace By the rules
HNA News…
Here is a broad overview of the current GolfRSA Handicap Rules and the changes planned to be introduced in October 2019, followed by the final changes to be introduced in January 2020 to comply with the World Handicap System launch.
Golf RSA will be engaging with golfers and golf clubs over the next few months to make sure you are kept in the loop of any changes before they are introduced.
On Tour with Dale Dale Hayes Golf appreciates the ongoing support of City Lodge.
The Presidents Hotel Cup
The Sally Little Golf Trust is the Beneficiary of this event which is Teams of 2 Players playing a Ryder Cup Format.
The package is R9200.00p.p. sharing, bed & breakfast, which includes 6 night’s Accommodation at the President Hotel.
The Driving Range
This month Elsabe Hefer looks at tips from some of the old golfing legends.
This week she looks at a tip by 1950 PGA Championship winner, Chandler Harper on the correct body turn through the swing.
Elsabe Hefer is a Fellow Member of the PGA; a former Gauteng North PGA Teacher of the Year and PGA Top 20 Teacher. She is the Head Teaching Professional at Zwartkop Country Club.
And to finish off… The rare hole-in-one, the perfect fluke ever, it’s the best feeling in golf. Celebrate – get the certificate and have bragging rights forever! For further information and to join, contact Margaret on (012) 654-1144 or click here to send an email.
The US OPEN
“If I had been able to beat that strong, young dude in the tournament, I might have held him off for another five years … I let the Bear out of the cage.” - Arnold Palmer after losing to Jack Nicklaus in the 1962 US Open Playoff
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