HARDER GERMAN JUNIOR MASTERS TOO TOUGH FOR SA GIRLS
The South African girls struggled against the strong international field at the Harder German Junior Masters. Caroline Nistrup from Denmark, who went into the final round 3 shots clear of her nearest rival, Anna Rottluff of Germany, posted a final round 70 to win the girls section on 11 under par (69 66 70 – 205). Top SA Junior, Lara Weinstein who was lying tied 4th after Round 1 (71), dropped to tied 15th after Round 2 (76) when her putter went cold. A final round of 79 had her finish tied in 25th position with a total of 226. A somewhat frustrated Lara was bitterly disappointed that she could not repeat her winning performance that she had at the KeNako SA World Juniors, the South African leg of this international junior tour.
Looking at the top girls’ scores, it is clear that par or better is required to finish in the top 5 and a lapse in any one round puts you out of the running.
Bianca Theron and Kelly Erasmus, who struggled in the first round and both posted scores of 81, improved in the second round. Kelly was, in fact, the best of the South African girls in round 2 with a vastly improved 74, and she posted a 75 in the final round for a total of 230. Bianca pulled out all the stops in the final round and carded an excellent 2 under par 70, finishing on 228 (81, 77, 70), tied 27th, and will take home another lesson in international competition.
The best of the South African boys participating was Jason Viljoen, who finished tied 30th (72, 72, 74 – 218). Jason laughed when remembering what had happened to him last year at this event, when his marker recorded his total for the back nine under hole number 18 which gave him a total of 110. Needless to say, he now checks his card very carefully before he signs it!
An indication of the boys strength was that a 3-way play-off was necessary to determine the winner, which was won by Alexander Matlari of Germany on 13 under par on the second play-off hole (67, 70, 66 – 203). The scores of the other two boys were: Mathias Gladbjerg of Denmark 69, 67, 67 – 203 and Max Albertus of the Netherlands 70, 70, 63 – 203.