Groenewald breaks through at Nomads Gowrie Farm

3 April 2025 – Southern Cape’s Jordan Groenewald won his first individual national GolfRSA title with his closing level-par 71 in April, taking him to an eight-stroke victory in the 2025 Nomads Gowrie Farm U15 Challenge.

Groenewald’s opening 71 gave him a two-stroke lead over Keaton Filander, with Isawi Sikhonde in third on 74. On 75 in fourth, it was Gerrie Olivier, and in a share of fifth on 76 were Aiden Combrinck, Dune Engelbrecht and Stephen Swigelaar.

He lost the lead after his second round of 75, but – on two-over 146 – the Kingswood junior was just one stroke behind Engelbrecht, with Sion Atterbury, Alwyn Rossouw and Combrinck five shots further back in a share of third.

His 54-hole winning total of 214 saw him finish well clear of Combrinck, who had rounds of 76, 75 and 74.

In third a further two strokes back on 227 was Tiaan Louw with rounds of 80, 73 and 74, and on 228 in a share of fourth were Codi Ruiters (77-77-74) and Dominik Boddington (81-72-75).

The 14-year-old Groenewald celebrated national success when he lifted the individual title at the 2023 Nomads SA U13 Championship at Magersfontein Memorial Golf Club, but that was a team event.

To finish on the top step of the podium after some close calls in the past year, including third place finishes in the 2025 Nomads SA U15 Championship and 2024 Dimension Data U15 and Joburg Junior U15 Opens, made victory that much sweeter.

“It feels amazing to be a champion,” said Groenewald after receiving the trophy. “I have had a couple of close misses having tied third in the last three events, so I really hoped to win this one and it’s a special place to do it, so I’m really happy.”

The victory was built on a simple approach that left little room for error: “My gameplan for the week was just to play solid golf and to try and finish under par,” he said.

He feels he now has a foundation to build on the win and prepare to take a step up as he heads into a higher age-group. “For the rest of the year, I just want to carry on playing solid golf and then next year, try and play some good tournament in the under-19s,” he said. “I can’t wait for that.”