In a career spanning 25 years, former world number one Ernie Els has won four majors, claimed 67 podium finishes around the globe and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May 2011.
Els is also the driving force behind the Ernie Els Primary School Championship. The fourth edition of this national team championship tees off at Middelburg Country Club in Mpumalanga from 9-10 August.
Western Province junior Altin van der Merwe took third in his European debut at the prestigious RB German Junior, while Paul Boshoff tied for seventh and fellow juniors Jovan Rebula and Tristen Strydom cracked the top 20 at Golfclub Heddesheim in Gut Neuzenhof on Wednesday.
SA number one Christiaan Bezuidenhout completed his US Amateur preparation with a top 20 finish in the Western Amateur Championship, while KwaZulu-Natal amateur Tom Watson scored a runaway victory at the St Andrews Links Junior Golf Championship.
Top ranked South African juniors Altin van der Merwe, Paul Boshoff and Tristen Strydom made considerable headway in the second round of the RB German Junior at Golfclub Heddesheim in Gut Neuzenhof on Wednesday.
Ivanna Samu claimed her third victory this year and by far the biggest when she won the Sanlam South African Women’s Amateur Championship at Ruimsig Country Club on Wednesday.
Ruimsig Country Club’s Samu became the first player in 38 years to win the SA Women’s Amateur on her home course after beating Lora Assad 2&1 in the final.
Pretoria’s Ruzanne van der Walt thought she was headed home from the Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Championship on Tuesday. Instead, she beat two of the top-ranked players in South Africa to make it through to the semi-finals at Ruimsig Country Club.
The 20-year-old first beat Michael Fletcher 1Up in the morning’s third round, and then beat Carrie Park 2&1 in the afternoon’s quarterfinals to exceed her expectations for one of South Africa’s premier amateur tournaments.
Bertine Strauss had one question she was asking of herself when she teed it up in this week’s Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Championship. And two big wins on Monday gave her the answer.
Golfers always feel pressure going into a national team championship, but there is even more at stake for St Dunstan’s College Preparatory School with a title defence on the table. However, the Ekurhuleni institution have managed to double their chances for the fourth Ernie Els Primary Schools Championship in August.