CAPE TOWN (25 April 2016) – It’s not yet on the level of her love for Deep House music, but 17-year-old Kaleigh Telfer is slowly starting to understand Westlake Golf Club’s course. And if she can hold onto her two-stroke lead in Tuesday’s final round of the Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship, she may well leave here loving it.
Michael Vlismas – “I am feeling a bit more comfortable on the course. If I just hit greens on the final day it will be much better because it’s tough to chip around the greens,” she said after a second consecutive round of 74 that puts her at the top of the leaderboard on four over par.
Brittney-Fay Berger and Switzerland’s Azelia Meichtry are her nearest challengers on six over par following respective rounds of 72 and 75.
The greens at Westlake have confounded many in the field, and Meichtry summed up their frustration when she putted with a rescue club for the last two holes after bending her putter shaft in anger.
But for Telfer, it was her driver that was the source of frustration on Monday.
“On the first nine my driver was all over the place so I put that away, and it helped a bit on the next nine. I came back a bit,” she said of going out in three over and then coming home in one under.
Her only birdie on the back nine came on the par-three 15th hole. “That was a good hole. After the previous few holes where I was up-and-downing for par everywhere, it was nice to actually hit a green and make the putt.”
Telfer said she wasn’t expecting the course to play as tough as it is.
“I thought the scoring was going to be a lot lower. I thought it would take six under to win it. But obviously not. The trees are a lot closer than you think. On normal parkland courses you’ve got maybe 10 metres of rough to spare, but here it’s just fairway and then trees.”
If Meichtry can sort out her putting problems, she could be a real threat in the final round.
“I can’t describe how disappointed I am with my putting. I was never the best putter, but I’m really struggling here,” she said.
Meichtry’s stroke play challenge comes only a few weeks after her countryman, Loris Schuepbach, lost in the semi-finals of the Sanlam SA Amateur Championship at George Golf Club.
