Author name: michael

Twenty year old Dean O’Riley started the final round of the 72 hole South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship, played at Pearl Valley Golf Estates, near Paarl, with a seven stroke lead. By the time the leading group concluded hole 7, in the final round, the Ekurhuleni amateur had relinquished his lead to Graham van der Merwe, having dropped six shots.

Playing steady golf all day, overnight leader Dean O’Riley was one of only four players who managed to break 70 in the third round of the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship. He extended his lead over the rest of the field to seven shots, finishing with a 54 hole total of 206, ten under par.

South Africa’s top ranked amateur, according to the latest South African Golf Association (SAGA) Player Rankings, Dean O’Riley, emerged the leader of the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship at the halfway stage.

Sixteen year old Brandon Stone, the son of professional Kevin, caddied for his father in the South African Open Championship, played at the end of last year, also at Pearl Valley Golf Estates, near Paarl. Walking the course and observing his father’s progress paid off after he recorded the lowest morning round, a 68, four under par, of the second round of the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

It was a memorable day for Graham van der Merwe, the eighteen year old amateur for Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. He finished on top of the leader board after the first round of the 72 hole South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship, with a three under par 69.