DURBANVILLE, 10 March 2016 – Garrick Higgo fended off a determined charge from Slovakia’s Jakub Hrinda and Woo-Ju Son hung tough to secure a double celebration for South Africa with wire-to-wire victories in the Curro South African Juniors International at Durbanville Golf Club on Thursday.
Mike de Bruyn – Sixteen-year-old Higgo from Boland fired a one-under-par 71 to claim the Boys Division title of the Global Junior Golf Tour event on 12-under-par 204.
He finished three shots clear of Hrinda, who posted a 68, while Jens Christian Tvergaard from Denmark and Germany’s Constantin Unger shared third on three under 213 after respective rounds of 70 and 71.
Son began her quest for silverware as the leader by six strokes and the 15-year-old Gauteng golfer endured a rollercoaster round to prevail in the Girls Competition.
The country’s top ranked junior carded a 79 and edged out KwaZulu-Natal’s Brittney-Fay Berger, who closed with a 72, by one stroke to triumph on five-over-par 220.
Crystal Beukes from Boland took third on 227 after returning a final round 80.
BOYS COMPETITION
Higgo began the final round with a six-shot advantage and managed to hold out in the face of stiff resistance from his European rival, who started the day in second place and feeling he had a chance to close the gap on the Boland teenager if he could shoot in the mid-60s.
“You never know in golf what can happen at any stage,” said the tall Slovakian.
“If Garrick blows out and I shoot 64 or 65, it’s game on. He played so well for the first 36 holes, though, that it’s going to be tough to catch him.”
And so it proved.
Higgo started with back-to-back birdies, surrendered a shot at the par-four third and then it was steady stuff as he parred the next six holes for an outward loop of one-under 35.
Hrinda, meanwhile, began the day six shots back on five-under and stayed within striking distance. A hat-trick of birdies at five, six and seven raised his hopes and Higgo opened the door further with a bogey at the par-three 12th.
But there was little doubt about who would come out on top as Higgo showed class under pressure to seal the deal.
The De Zalze junior sandwiched a bogey between birdies at 13 and 15 and closed with three pars, while Hrinda – who got within one shot with birdies at 15 and 16 – double bogeyed the short 17th before closing out with par at the final hole.
“I’m just so stoked to have won such a prestigious tournament,” Higgo said.
“I put the win down to solid all-round play. The driver played ball and my iron-play was consistently good. The putter was a bit off at times but that’s how it goes sometimes; the day you get into the zone will be the perfect day for us golfers
“All credit to Hrinda for his effort. He made me work hard, and well done to all the other guys who took part. The players really enjoyed the week and the course made for a great occasion and the sponsors and the organisers deserve a huge thank you for their efforts.”
GIRLS COMPETITION
Son led the Girls division of 44 players from the get-go and she did not expect to be troubled by her closest rivals, who seemed set to battle it out among themselves for minor placing’s and personal pride.
She held a comfortable six shot cushion after rounds of 72 and 69, but her flat-stick went ice cold in the final round and nearly blew her chances to record her biggest victory to date.
Son dropped shots at one, three, four and five and four-putted for a triple-bogey seven on the par-four 10th to wipe out her lead. However, the pocket-sized Son reached the number one spot in the junior rankings last year with her ability to string together consistent results and showing big match temperament when the odds are stacked against her.
There were more woes for her with bogeys at 11 and 16, but she handled the mishaps with birdies at 15 and 17 to hold on for the win.
“Everything went wrong and I don’t know why; it just wasn’t my day,” said the relieved Son.
“The four-putt at 10 set me back big time and the other drops at crucial stages during the round added to the pressure. I almost needed to reboot my thought processes for the last six holes. I hung tough when it mattered most and I’m so relieved to have come through at the end.”
Berger’s round was the only under par score recorded on the final day, and left her on tenterhooks in the club house after she held the joint lead at one stage.
“I played steady golf throughout,” the Kloof golfer said.
“I never thought I would be in a position to force Woo-Ju’s hand, but when I finished my round I saw that we were joint-leaders. She dashed my hopes, though, when she birdied 17 and parred 18. Still, I am really proud of my achievement here and I had really enjoyed playing a tournament of this calibre.”
GIRLS COMPETITION RESULTS
220 Woo-Ju Son 72 69 79
221 Brittney-Fay Berger 77 72 72
227 Crystal Beukes 75 72 80
228 Ivanna Samu 76 73 79; Matilde Stenqvist SWE 75 80 73
231 Chloe Royston 73 78 80
232 Kajal Mistry 77 78 77; Catherine Lau 75 73 84
233 Nicole Polivchak POL 79 79 75
235 Victoria Craig IRL 76 83 76
236 Chiara Contomathios 82 78 76
237 Kaiyuree Moodley 81 78 78
238 Jamie-Lee Daniels 85 77 76; Klara Wildhaber 79 78 81; Sophie-Charlott Hempel GER 78 85 75; Kiera Floyd 77 79 82; Dorthea Forbrigd NOR 75 78 85
240 Minette Olivier 78 81 81
241 Julia Unterweger AUT 76 81 84
243 Cara Ford 88 79 76; Linda Bekova CZE 85 76 82
245 Jade Rousseau FRA 83 81 81; Chante Van Zyl 79 79 87; Celine Karlung NOR 78 81 86
247 Florentina Hager AUT 79 85 83
248 Caro Els 87 81 80; Kelsey Nicholas 83 84 81
249 Justine Botten 88 77 84
250 Julie Boysen Hillestad NOR 89 76 85; Danielle Bekker ZIM 81 79 90
251 Aaliyah Abrahams 83 80 88
252 Mercedes Rudolf AUT 88 82 82
256 Laylaah Abrahams 85 87 84; Gabrelle Venter 83 81 92
257 Cassidy Williams 81 83 93
258 Amber Somers NED 83 86 89
262 Marietta Sandra Ruhl GER 91 86 85
266 Annemieke Campo NED 90 90 86
267 Emily Jones ZIM 88 90 89
268 Maxine Smet 94 85 89
277 Lisa Papitsch 97 83 97
280 Daniella Banda ZIM 88 94 98
BOYS COMPETITION RESULTS
204 Garrick Higgo 67 66 71
207 Jakub Hrinda SVK 70 69 68
213 Jens Christian Tvergaard DEN 72 71 70; Constantin Unger GER 71 71 71
214 Julien Sale 74 71 69
215 Wilco Nienaber 73 69 73; Caylum Boon 69 76 70
216 Kyle De Beer 74 69 73; Maximilian Schmitt GER 70 75 71
218 Santeri Lehesmaa FIN 75 73 70; Sakari Kuosmanen FIN 73 73 72
220 Kieran Vincent ZIM 74 73 73; David Amm ZIM 71 76 73; Cedric Otten GER 70 73 77
221 Franklin Manchest 78 73 70; Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 72 78 71; Falko Hanisch GER 71 75 75; Timo Vahlenkamp GER 70 73 78
222 Justin Kersten ZIM 74 68 80
223 Slade Pickering 75 72 76; Steven le Roux 74 77 72; David Van De Sanden NED 72 75 76
224 David Rauch GER 76 76 72; William Porter SCO 75 75 74; Liam Cloete 71 80 73
225 Tim Gamborg NOR 75 75 75; Keelan van Wyk 75 74 76; Oliver Rath AUT 73 80 72; Sebasian Wiis DEN 73 76 76
226 Dandre Spies 75 77 74; David Distelkamper GER 74 79 73; Jayden Schaper 72 77 77; Haydn Driver 72 75 79
227 Shaun Jones 77 74 76; Dehan Joubert 74 78 75; Ayden Senger 74 76 77; Chandler Shaw 70 77 80
228 Alexandre Lasalarie FRA 81 76 71; Simen Syftestad NOR 80 74 74; Jakub Dymecki POL 79 74 75; Sentanio Minnie 78 71 79; Pim Krebaum NED 75 79 74
229 Dan Copeman 77 77 75; Erhard Lambrechts 75 80 74; Maximilian Steinlechner AUT 75 78 76
230 Eric Wowor 80 75 75; Hilmi Mallick 78 78 74; Dylon Jacobs 73 78 79
231 Niehaus Loots 82 72 77; Liam van Deventer 79 77 75
232 Ferdinand Frederik Mueller GER 80 76 76; Cole Stevens 76 79 77; Craig Baba 76 76 80; Heinrich Penzhorn 75 81 76; Nicolai Rogen Jensen DEN 73 77 82
233 Francois van Staden 82 78 73; Angus Klintworth 80 74 79; Carlo Heunis 78 74 81; Romain Legentil 74 79 80; Ian Botha 74 78 81
234 Daniel Cronje 75 83 76; Ge-Rico Muller 73 82 79
235 Nkosenye Carl Mwale 84 80 71; Dino Capazario 81 77 77; Craig Black 81 77 77; Luke Pienaar 79 77 79
236 Jannik De Bruyn GER 79 83 74; David Li GER 79 81 76; Moritz Lammel GER 76 81 79
237 Tim Seidel GER 84 75 78
238 Kieron van Wyk 77 75 86
239 Tristan Maharaj 83 76 80; Christian Hovstadius SWE 75 80 84
240 René Schwenk GER 78 83 79
241 Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa ZIM 85 73 83; Kasoma Paulino 80 83 78; Tadiwanashe Dzuda ZIM 79 79 83
242 Philipp Pakosch GER 88 76 78; Jurgen Charles Saunders 84 79 79; Lourens Loubser 82 78 82; Joshua Gilson 80 84 78; Jordan Duminy 78 77 87
244 Oscar Backrud SWE 82 83 79
245 Alessio Graziani 83 85 77
246 Titouan Berny FRA 87 78 81
247 Willie Olivier 82 84 81
248 Irvine Nembaware ZIM 82 82 84
250 Tarisiro Fundira ZIM 90 81 79
251 Dylan Morton 82 86 83
253 Alexander van der Merwe 88 80 85; Jakub Urbanski POL 87 86 80
257 Remon Rabie 84 89 84
259 Darren Neyt 85 87 87
264 Matthew Mc Carthy 83 88 93
DQ Donald Kadzirange ZIM 78 76 DQ
