Frenchman takes Proudfoot Trophy

BENONI (2 March 2009) – Frenchman Johann Lopez-Lazaro took some measure of revenge for South Africa’s victory over France in their test match last week when he won the stroke play qualifying tournament for this week’s Glacier SA Amateur Championship at Benoni Country Club on Monday.

The 19-year-old from Paris posted rounds of 67 and 69 to win the 36-hole qualifier on eight under par 136, one stroke clear of African poker champion Ryan Dreyer and Johan Bekker.

“I didn’t putt well the first nine, but then made a good putt for birdie on the tenth to get things going,” said Lopez-Lazaro, who went out in one over par and then came home in four under.

“My aim was to finish in the top 15 in the stroke play, so this is a bonus. It does give me a lot of confidence for the match play, although anything can happen there.”

The top 64 players qualified for the main Match Play section of the tournament, which starts on Tuesday.

Lopez-Lazaro clinched the stroke play late in the day after Dreyer had set the clubhouse mark at seven under par with a round of 71, surprising even himself. The former professional walked away from life on Tour several years ago, and pursued his other passion of poker. Last year he won Africa’s biggest poker tournament at Sun City, pocketing R2 million.

“I made more there in four days than I did in ten years as a professional,” said Dreyer, who was reinstated as an amateur golfer this year.

“This performance was quite a surprise for me. I basically didn’t touch a club for two years before getting reinstated as an amateur. I wasn’t even thinking about the stroke play actually. I mean, I’m out here playing as much golf as my work will allow me against these professional amateurs, so I was basically just trying to limit the damage in the stroke play and qualify for the match play. But now I’m pretty excited about the rest of the week.”

Bekker did well to share second place on seven under with a round of 69 that included a double bogey on the sixth after he hit a tree with his second shot.

“I started well and birdied my first two holes. I was striking the ball pretty solid all day. The Match Play is what I really wanted to qualify for, so this second place is just a bonus.”

Dean O’Riley, South Africa’s top-ranked amateur, finished fifth on 139 with a solid 67.

Werner van Niekerk, a member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, took some advice from his father and a radio reporter and posted the low round of the day with a six under par 66.

Van Niekerk signed for a round of eight birdies and two bogeys to see him finish tied 28th. It was a tremendous turnaround from his first round of 79.

“I wasn’t feeling too positive after that 79. Then I had a chat with my dad and he told me that no top golfer ever got anywhere with a negative attitude. He just told me to believe in myself more. Then when we drove to the course before the second round, and I heard a report on radio where the reporter was saying that at the top level in rugby, all the teams are basically the same, it’s just a question of who wants it more. I took that attitude to the golf course and it worked,” said the 18-year-old.

The International Team event, which ran concurrently with the stroke play tournament, was also concluded on Monday and saw the South African duo of O’Riley and Adrian Ford claim victory on a total of 285. Canada finished second on 296 and Namibia third on 299.

The cut to determine the top 64 and ties, to compete in the Glacier SA Amateur Match Play, was made at 149, seven over par. All 14 players had to go for a playoff for nine spots. The playoff for the final positions will be concluded tomorrow morning due to play being suspended due to fading the fading light.

Scores after the 36-hole Stroke Play Qualifying Tournament for the Glacier SA Amateur Championship played at the par-72 Benoni Country Club on Monday:

136 Johann Lopez-Lazaro (FRA) 67 69

137 Johan Bekker 68 69 Ryan Dreyer 66 71

138 Dean Burmester 67 71

139 Dean O’Riley 72 67

140 Michael Hollick 73 67

141 Daniel Barrett 73 68 Kevin Turlan (FRA) 72 69 Tyrone Ryan 69 72 Derik Ferreira 68 73

142 Aaron Russell 70 72 Jake Redman 72 70 Taymen Erasmus 68 74

143 JG Claassen 75 68 Cilliers Naude 71 72 Leon Knoll 73 70 Kyle Lucas 67 76 Chris Erasmus 72 71 Nicol van Wyk 74 69 Greg Schmidt 71 72

144 Michael Dixon 72 72 Coenie Bester 72 72 Ryan Strauss 77 67 Ryan Ciapparelli 72 72 Trevor Muggeridge 73 71 Jared Harvey 72 72 Kenny Goosen 74 70

145 Nico Myburgh 75 70 Stephen Holder 70 75 Lindsay Renolds (CAN) 72 73 Steven Ferreira 73 72 Tyron McComb 76 69 Werner van Niekerk 79 66 Desne van der Bergh 70 75 Albert Tsai 74 71 Dolf van Wyk 70 75

146 Pablo Carrere (Uruguay) 74 72 Werner Lassen (NAM) 74 72 Adrian Ford 75 71 Bryn Flanagan 71 75 Trevor Mahoney 74 72

147 Pieter Moolman 75 72 Jacques de Villiers 75 72 Ryan Hyde 74 73 Riekus Nortje 79 68 Justin Turner 74 73 CJ du Plessis 79 68 Daniel Gouws 74 73 Stefan Rall 71 76 Julien Brun (FRA) 74 73 Frederic Abadie (FRA) 71 76

148 Graham van der Merwe 77 71 David Muller 73 75 Calvin Coelho 76 72 Mark Lloyd 75 73

149 Ryan Clarke 74 75 Rowan du Preez 74 75 Dwain Vergottini 74 75 Gagan Verma (IND) 75 74 Christian Helmbold 76 73 Mark Fensham 76 73 Steven Williams 80 69 Johan Geldenhuys 72 77 Erik van Rooyen 76 73 Werner Theart 79 70 JJ Senekal 76 73 Christiaan van der Merwe 75 74 Ruan de Smidt 71 78 Rae Mackie 75 74

150 JP Lombard 75 75 Jason Alexandre 78 72 Norman Raad 76 74 Donovan Pearse 79 71 Michael Palmer 76 74 PJ Lekgoa 74 76 Chris Hurter 76 74 Hugo Delport 80 70 Divan du Piesanie 80 70 Graeme Inggs 78 72

151 Matthew Versfeld 76 75 David Gerhardi 73 78 Vikram Rana (IND) 75 76 Drikus van der Walt 78 73 TJ Bekker 76 75 Ramon Rahme 78 73 Dean Kupferman 79 72 Stanislas Gautier 74 77 Wayne Stroebel 74 77 Nabeel Umerji 78 73 Thomas Lovett 76 75 Mathieu Rivard (CAN) 78 73

152 Le Riche Ehlers 72 80 Edouard Espana (FRA) 77 75 Ruan Bornman 76 76 Quintin Byleveldt 77 75 Shaun Smith 77 75 Jaco Greyling 74 78 Jerome Lando Casanova (FRA) 77 75 Yubin Jung 79 73

153 Andre de Decker 78 75 Mayel oueld es Cheiku (FRA) 80 73 Hansie Dodds 78 75 Daniel Hammond 80 73 Francois Hanekom 78 75 Heinrich Erasmus 77 76

154 Clint Harris 79 75 David McMinn 78 76 Victor Lange 78 76

155 Andre van den Berg 81 74 Nicklas Kaivola (FIN) 76 79

156 Alexander Keyter 80 76 Marius Nel 82 74 Warren Mann 75 81

158 Joshua Seale 79 79 Matt Krause 81 77 Frikkie Cronje 79 79 Pieter Rademan 81 77

159 Lourens Volschenk 79 80 Steven Nemes (NAM) 85 74 Charlton Makoko 82 77 Johan Dannhauser 85 74

160 Arthur Horne (Swazi) 76 84 John Blair 77 83 DJ Burger 83 77 Jon Campbell 84 76

161 Cameron Munro 83 78 Stephen van Jaarsveld 78 83

162 Cobus Oosthuizen 84 78 Wesley Gibbon 83 79

163 Cilliers Malan 79 84

164 Tiaan Diederiks 81 83 Jae hyuk Choi 82 82 Heindrich van der Colff 82 82

165 Christo Roos 82 83 JP Burger 85 80

166 Rodrigo Savoi 86 80

168 Neo Thubisi 86 82

169 Coert Groenewald 84 85

ends