The Sishen Junior Open was held this past weekend of the 18 and19th of August. It is one of the 4 Order of Merit tournaments for selection of the Northern Cape teams. The Junior Open events are by far the most delightful golfing events on the golfing calendar. It is so inspirational to witness the pure raw and natural talent these youngsters possess and they do it with such ease and grace. The very youngsters, ages between 6 and 8, also known as the “Guppys”, was a big highlight, not only are they just too cute but showed off some real talent and surprisingly a winning attitude.
For the older serious golfers the tournament started with 36 holes in not such great weather conditions. According to some golfers they were cold throughout the day and found the conditions unkind as it was said that the greens felt frozen in the early hours of the morning and that the “winter fairways” are sandy because they are dry.
Regardless of this, the true hero of the day and future star of Sishen Golf Club is none other than our local boytie, Lyle Pedro who undoubtedly stole the show. On day one Pedro and Desmond v d Walt finished the day all square, both with a (80/ 77)157 leading the talented youngster from Upington, Willem Gresse(82/78)160 by 3 shots.
Day 2, Pedro did not start well at all, after the first 9holes was trailing v d Walt by 4 shots. According to Pedro, he approached the second 9 with a plan to win, deciding to put constant pressure on V d Walt by focusing on trying to be more precise with his shots, one at a time. He handles pressure well and if things goes wrong he is determined to move on and set it right. He managed to close the lead as v d Walt battled a bit on the second 9, but the elated Pedro took the win on the 18th hole when he sunk his putt. This is an incredible young man with great talent and an extraordinary positive mature mental attitude for his age. This is probably what puts him above the rest, we expect great things from not only him but a few youngsters like Desmond v d Walt, Willem Gresse, Jano Malan, Divan Snyders, Gordey Fatkulin, Nigel de Jager and Darian Fortune are names to look out for in future golfing events. These kids really have what it takes! Well done to all of you for your great achievements, super attitudes and the awesome sportsmanship shown throughout the tournament. The Kathu Gazette wishes you well for the next events to follow.
Results: u/19 W Gresse 239 ; D Fortune 251; D Snyders 255
u/17 J Venter 261; N de Jager 264; G du Preeze 290, u/15 L Pedro 237; D vd Walt 240 ; J Malan 245, u/13 L Maritz 174; C Posthumus 200; J Brink 201 and u/11 N Espach 169; A van Wyk 219; R Esterhuizen 93
Overall Winners u/15, u/17 & u/19
1st L Pedro 237; 2nd W Gresse 239; 3rd D v d Walt 240.
