Ivanna Samu is brimming with confidence after a four-stroke victory at the recent North West Championship at Pecanwood Golf and Country Club. The reigning Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur champion held off a spirited final round charge from SA Olympian Kaleigh Telfer with a six under 66 to seal her second podium finish on a winning total of eight-under-par 136.
South Africa’s Altin van der Merwe beat Finland’s Ilari Saulo by two strokes to claim the Boys Division in the Curro South Africa Juniors International, while Swiss amateur Azelia Meichtry denied 2014 winner Kaleigh Telfer from South Africa a repeat victory in the Girls Division of the Global Junior Golf Tour event at Durbanville Golf Club on Thursday.
Eagle Canyon’s Woo-Ju Son leads the South African charge in the Girls Division of the Curro South African Juniors International (SAJI), while Free State golfer Steven le Roux blazed a trail to the top of the Boys Division leaderboard at the 36-hole mark in the Global Junior Golf Tour event at Durbanville Golf Club on Wednesday.
Michael Sherriff took early control in the Boys Division of the Curro South African Juniors International (SAJI), while Azelia Meichtry from Switzerland led the Girls Division after first round action wrapped up in the Global Junior Golf Tour season opener at Durbanville Golf Club on Tuesday.
Sherriff and Meichtry were among only four players that managed to break par on a very windy day in the Western Cape.
Zethu Myeki and Demi Flanagan ensured a superb one-two finish for Border when the rising stars beat out some of the country’s top amateurs to take the honours in the Border Ladies Championship this February.
Ivanna Samu’s meteoritic rise to the number one spot in the WGSA Junior Rankings was instigated by a runner-up finish at the Gauteng North Junior Girls’ Open Championship early in February last year. On Sunday, the leggy teenager came full circle when she claimed a play-off victory in the 2015 edition at Centurion Country Club.
Former top ranked SA junior Bianca Theron returned to her vintage best at Humewood Links and issued a warning to her peers an emphatic six stroke victory in the Eastern Province Stroke Play Championship on the weekend.
“That first round set me up for victory, because the wind howled in the afternoon and the final round was a lot more colourful,” Theron said. “It’s been a while since I competed and I was really excited to get the juices flowing. I still feel a little bit rusty, but I was surprised how quickly I got back into competition mode.”
Top ranked juniors Ivanna Samu and Eleonora Galletti represented South Africa in the prestigious Astor Trophy and the Australian Women’s Amateur in January.
WGSA asked the girls to share some of their thoughts on their selection, their expectations, the experience and their favourite moments.