SAGDB youngsters shine at Boland Champs

Players from the SA Golf Development Board (SAGDB) put in a strong showing at the recent Boland Junior Championships held at Somerset West Golf Club. Juniors from the development programme won both the B and C divisions of the strokeplay event.

14-year old Trevor Thomas claimed the B-division crown, with a 36-hole score of 163. He shot a confident 77 in the second round to win by four shots from fellow SAGDB player Andre Links.

Allistair Beukes won the C-division. The 13-year old carded a round of 91 in the 18-hole event to win on a count out.

"These players have done us proud," said the SAGDB's manager for Boland, Andre Rossouw. "The age of these two winners tells you that we can still expect a lot from them in the coming years."

Unfortunately, both Trevor and Allistair went on to lose in the finals of the matchplay events in their respective divisions. Both however took their matches to the final hole.

"These kids showed great competitiveness in the matchplay, which tells us that there is some real talent to work with, "Rossouw said. "We need to work on their course management and decision making though. When our players are on their own we can only trust that they will do as they were coached, but unfortunately they try too many shots and make bad decisions."

A number of other SAGDB players also put in good performances at the event. In the B-division, on top of the performances from Trevor and Andre, Tom Pienaar finished sixth, and Eugene van Wyk claimed seventh place.