Frittelli favourite for SA Amateur glory

DURBAN (27 February 2008) – As the number one amateur in South Africa, Dylan Frittelli is looking for a big performance in next week’s Glacier SA Amateur Golf Championship at Royal Durban Golf Club in what he hopes will be another groundbreaking year for him in 2008.

The 17-year-old Pretoria golfer and current World Junior Champion heads to the country’s premier amateur event as a strong favourite following a start to the year which has seen him finish no worse than sixth in his last five tournaments.

A win next week is one of the main goals he has set himself before leaving to take up a golf scholarship at the University of Texas in August.

“I’m going to be playing in as many amateur tournaments as I can, and I want to win three tournaments before August, including the SA Amateur and the Northern Amateur,” said Frittelli, who finished fifth in the SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates earlier this month.

Frittelli admits it will be hard to improve on his success of last year, where he claimed five top-ten finishes and the title of World Junior Champion. And a quality field for the Royal Durban showpiece looms as a big obstacle as well.

“I put in a tremendous amount of work on my game in 2006, so I felt something had to happen in 2007. But next week could be anybody’s tournament. The field is a good one and includes quite a few Europeans, which should add a bit of spice. And I think it’s going to be good to get back to a more traditional style of golf course such as Royal Durban.”

Fellow South Africans Dean O’Riley and Jacques Blaauw are amongst the other favourites. O’Riley won the KwaZulu-Natal Open earlier this year and is ranked second in the country, while Blaauw won the SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship and the recent Free State & Northern Cape Open.

Frittelli and Blaauw have also been selected to represent South Africa in the International Teams Event which will take place at the same time as the 36-hole stroke play qualifying round of the SA Amateur and will include teams from England, Wales, Germany, Denmark, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya.