England and Korea Win

England won the mens international and the mens better ball medal competitions at Spirit International, played at Whispering Pines Golf Club just outside Trinity some 130 kms north of Houston, Texas. Korea triumphed in the womens better ball medal competition.

The 72 hole stroke play competition, that attracts entries from 24 countries, encompasses a number of different formats. The International competition, a cumulative total of scores by players, from the same country, in both the womens and mens better ball medal for each round, and a better ball medal competition for both men and women.

England held onto their third round lead through the final round of the International competition finishing with an aggregate of 544, thirty two under par, and two shots clear of Korea and the United States.

In the mens competition, better ball medal, England featured strongly there too finishing on 261, twenty seven under par, with a final round of 66, six under par and six shots clear of the nearest rivals, Australia and United States, on the 72 hole aggregate score.

The South African team, made up of Oliver Bekker (22), a Bolander who plays his golf out of Stellenbosch Golf Club, and Prinavin Nelson (20), a member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation and who represents Kwazulu Natal in provincial competitions, faired better today recording a final round 67, five under par, for a 72 hole total 275, thirteen under par and finishing 6th overall. The round total was two shots better than that recorded in the third round.

Korea triumphed in the womens better ball medal competition. They started the day sharing the lead, at ten under par, with the Chinese Taipei. However Korea scored a final round of 69, for a 72 hole total of 275, thirteen under par, four shots clear of the field. The Chinese Taipei only managed a 73 today, one over par, for a 72 hole total of 279, nine under par. Two other countries finished on the same score as Chinese Taipei, namely Canada and United States.

South Africa, represented by Kim Williams (21), from Centurion Country Club, Gauteng North, and Nicole Becker (20), from Vryburg Golf Club in the North West Province, shot a 74, two over par in the final round. This gave them a 72 hole total of 290, two over par, good enough to finish 11th.

On the individual birdie leaderboard, Oliver Bekker gave a good account of himself finishing 5th with 15 birdies, just three short of the leading score by Jason Scrivener of Australia. Prinavin Nelson did not help his cause on this leaderboard when he only managed two birdies in the last 36 holes he played. He finished the competition with a total of 8 birdies from four rounds of golf.

Nicole Becker did the best of the South Africans on the womens individual birdie leaderboard. Becker managed to record 9 birdies, however she is unlikely to feel satisfied with this as she failed to record a single birdie in her final round and only two birdies in her penultimate round.

Scores after 72 holes:
International Competition leaders (Mens and Womens Betterball Medal score):
544 (-32) England (134,138,135,137)
546 (-30) Korea (133,137,140,136), United States (141,141,131,133)
554 (-22) France (141,138,140,135) 556 (-20) Australia (139,141,139,137)
561 (-15) Chinese Taipei (145,138,135,143), Canada (136,144,140,141)
564 (-12) New Zealand (139,150,135,140)
565 (-11) Norway (138,141,139,147), South Africa (141,137,146,141)

Mens Competition leaders (Betterball Medal):
261 (-27) England (63,67,65,66) 267 (-21) Australia (66,66,70,65), United States (67,71,67,62)
271 (-17) Korea (67,69,68,67)
273 (-15) France (69,70,69,65)
275 (-13) South Africa (71,68,69,67)

Womens Competition leaders (Betterball Medal):
275 (-13) Korea (66,68,72,69)
279 (-9) Canada (66,73,68,72), Chinese Taipei (71,68,67,73), United States (74,70,64,71)
281 (-7) France (72,68,71,70)
283 (-5) England (71,71,70,71), New Zealand (70,75,67,71)
286 (-2) Norway (70,75,68,73)
288 (L) Belguim (72,72,73,71) 289 (+1) Australia (73,75,69,72)
290 (+2) South Africa (70,69,77,74)

For further information please contact:
Neale Kunhardt (President: SAGA) Cell: 082 374 3456;
Bruce Younge (Executive Director: SAGA) Cell: 082 374 3455