DURBANVILLE, 9 March 2016 – De Zalze golfer Garrick Higgo has been in a league of his own in the 97-strong Boys Division through two rounds of the 56-hole Curro South African Junior International, while overnight leader Woo-Ju Son protected her overnight lead in the Girls Division of the Global Junior Golf Tour event against a 43-strong line-up at Durbanville Golf Club.
Mike de Bruyn – Sixteen-year-old Higgo is a young man on a mission.
The Boland teenager fired a six under 66 and sits on 11-under-par 133, seven clear of Slovakia’s Jakub Hrinda, who moved up a place to outright second after posting four-under 68.
Zimbabwe’s Justin Kirsten (68), Wilco Nienaber (69) and Constantin Unger (71) from Germany share third place.
Higgo began his campaign on a positive note in testing conditions on Tuesday with an opening 65 that gave him a two-shot lead over the chasing pack. He teed off just before noon and once again played superb golf on the par-72 championship layout.
Teeing off at the 10th, he was on song from the start as he birdied the first and eagled the par-five second.
“I hit a long drive at the second and opted for a three-wood for my approach to the green which was about 215 metres out. The ball travelled true and ended up a foot away from the hole after nearly going. I dropped the putt and from then on never looked back,” said Higgo.
And he never did as he went on to claim four more birdies and a solitary drop at the 17th.
“I don’t think home ground advantage has given me any kind of edge over my rivals so far. You have to be able to play golf to challenge for titles at this level, and without trying to sound arrogant, I’ve played really well for the first 36 holes.
“And I’m not going to allow myself to fall into the trap of being overconfident for the final 18 holes. It’s all about staying focused now. I would love to win this event that forms part of the Global Tour series. There are world amateur rankling points at stake and the winner wins an all-expenses paid trip to Germany.
“I’m just going to go out there and have fun. This week has been about meeting people from around the world and sharing experiences, both on and off the course. The competition has been fierce and I hope to take top spot later tomorrow.”
Hrinda, a tall, pencil-slim fellow, feels a 65 and a misfire from Higgo would give him a chance of winning.
“I hear from everyone around me that Garrick is playing really well, so kudos to him and I’m sure he’s not going to let up down the home straight,” Hrinda said.
“I think I have a slight opportunity if I play the perfect round on a layout I fancy. You guys here in South Africa have so many great courses and great players, but where I come from we have less than 10 courses and they are not close to being of this standard we’re playing on here.
“Either way it goes it’s been real fun playing in this wonderful country and now I’ll go and sleep and dream about what might unfold today.”
GIRLS COMPETITION
Son from Country Club Johannesburg followed her first-round even-par 72 with a 69 to take a six-shot lead on 141 shots. Her round was made up of two birdies, an eagle and one bogey.
The pocket-size 15-year-old seems set to nail home the victory at a course where she has already won the Western Province Junior Championship this year and she did finish third in the 2015 Curro SA Juniors International and is no doubt be aiming for top spot on the podium.
Tasked to chase down the country’s number one junior is Chrystal Beukes of Stellenbosch Golf Club (72), who finished alone in second place ahead of Woodhill Country Club’s Catherine Lau (73) and KwaZulu-Natal’s Brittney-Fay Berger (72) of Kloof Country Club.
“To win such a prestigious tournament would be a big honour, but let’s not predict the future, there’s still work left before I can celebrate,” Son said.
“I chipped in for eagle from 30 meters at 11 and had a birdie at 14, but things became tough coming home. The wind was three-club strength, but I stuck at it and am happy with the score I shot. I’ve had my fair share of two-under scores on par fives, but this one was a cool one because it wasn’t the best chip I’ve made from off the green.”
GIRLS LEADERBOARD – ROUND TWO
141 Woo-Ju Son 72 69
147 Crystal Beukes 75 72
148 Catherine Lau 75 73
149 Brittney-Fay Berger 77 72; Ivanna Samu 76 73
151 Chloe Royston 73 78
153 Dorthea Forbrigd NOR 75 78
155 Kajal Mistry 77 78; Matilde Stenqvist SWE 75 80
156 Kiera Floyd 77 79
157 Klara Wildhaber 79 78; Julia Unterweger AUT 76 81
158 Chante Van Zyl 79 79; Nicole Polivchak POL 79 79
159 Kaiyuree Moodley 81 78; Celine Karlung NOR 78 81; Minette Olivier 78 81; Victoria Craig IRL 76 83
160 Chiara Contomathios 82 78; Danielle Bekker ZIM 81 79
161 Linda Bekova CZE 85 76
162 Jamie-Lee Daniels 85 77
163 Aaliyah Abrahams 83 80; Sophie-Charlott Hempel GER 78 85
164 Gabrelle Venter 83 81; Jade Rousseau FRA 83 81; Cassidy Williams 81 83; Florentina Hager AUT 79 85
165 Julie Boysen Hillestad NOR 89 76; Justine Botten 88 77
167 Cara Ford 88 79; Kelsey Nicholas 83 84
168 Caro Els 87 81
169 Amber Somers NED 83 86
170 Mercedes Rudolf AUT 88 82
172 Laylaah Abrahams 85 87
177 Marietta Sandra Ruhl GER 91 86
178 Emily Jones ZIM 88 90
179 Maxine Smet 94 85
180 Lisa Papitsch 97 83; Annemieke Campo NED 90 90
182 Daniella Banda ZIM 88 94
BOYS LEADERBOARD – ROUND TWO
133 Garrick Higgo 67 66
139 Jakub Hrinda SVK 70 69
142 Justin Kersten ZIM 74 68; Wilco Nienaber 73 69; Constantin Unger GER 71 71
143 Kyle De Beer 74 69; Jens Christian Tvergaard DEN 72 71; Timo Vahlenkamp GER 70 73; Cedric Otten GER 70 73
145 Julien Sale 74 71; Maximilian Schmitt GER 70 75; Caylum Boon 69 76
146 Sakari Kuosmanen FIN 73 73; Falko Hanisch GER 71 75
147 Slade Pickering 75 72; Kieran Vincent ZIM 74 73; David Van De Sanden NED 72 75; Haydn Driver 72 75; David Amm ZIM 71 76; Chandler Shaw 70 77
148 Santeri Lehesmaa FIN 75 73
149 Sentanio Minnie 78 71; Keelan van Wyk 75 74; Sebasian Wiis DEN 73 76; Jayden Schaper 72 77
150 William Porter SCO 75 75; Tim Gamborg NOR 75 75; Ayden Senger 74 76; Nicolai Rogen Jensen DEN 73 77; Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 72 78
151 Franklin Manchest 78 73; Shaun Jones 77 74; Steven le Roux 74 77; Dylon Jacobs 73 78; Liam Cloete 71 80
152 Carlo Heunis 78 74; Kieron van Wyk 77 75; David Rauch GER 76 76; Craig Baba 76 76; Dandre Spies 75 77; Dehan Joubert 74 78; Ian Botha 74 78
153 Jakub Dymecki POL 79 74; Maximilian Steinlechner AUT 75 78; Romain Legentil 74 79; David Distelkamper GER 74 79; Oliver Rath AUT 73 80
154 Niehaus Loots 82 72; Angus Klintworth 80 74; Simen Syftestad NOR 80 74; Donald Kadzirange ZIM 78 76; Dan Copeman 77 77; Pim Krebaum NED 75 79
155 Eric Wowor 80 75; Jordan Duminy 78 77; Cole Stevens 76 79; Erhard Lambrechts 75 80; Christian Hovstadius SWE 75 80; Ge-Rico Muller 73 82
156 Ferdinand Frederik Mueller GER 80 76; Liam van Deventer 79 77; Luke Pienaar 79 77; Hilmi Mallick 78 78; Heinrich Penzhorn 75 81
157 Alexandre Lasalarie FRA 81 76; Moritz Lammel GER 76 81
158 Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa ZIM 85 73; Dino Capazario 81 77; Craig Black 81 77; Tadiwanashe Dzuda ZIM 79 79; Daniel Cronje 75 83
159 Tim Seidel GER 84 75; Tristan Maharaj 83 76
160 Francois van Staden 82 78; Lourens Loubser 82 78; David Li GER 79 81
161 René Schwenk GER 78 83
162 Jannik De Bruyn GER 79 83
163 Jurgen Charles Saunders 84 79; Kasoma Paulino 80 83
164 Philipp Pakosch GER 88 76; Nkosenye Carl Mwale 84 80; Irvine Nembaware ZIM 82 82; Joshua Gilson 80 84
165 Titouan Berny FRA 87 78; Oscar Backrud SWE 82 83
166 Willie Olivier 82 84
168 Alexander van der Merwe 88 80; Alessio Graziani 83 85; Dylan Morton 82 86
171 Tarisiro Fundira ZIM 90 81; Matthew Mc Carthy 83 88
172 Darren Neyt 85 87
173 Jakub Urbanski POL 87 86; Remon Rabie 84 89
