Naidoo wants to make SA Open impact

Amateur Dylan Naidoo’s unprecedented win on the Big Easy Tour at Observatory last year has made him one of the hottest amateur golfers in the country, and he will want make an impact at this week’s BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni at Glendower Golf Club.

“I am really excited and privileged to be here. The SA Open is a very special event but I will treat it like any tournament I play,” Naidoo said.

Ranked the fifth best amateur in the country, he became the youngest amateur to claim a professional victory when he carded 11-under-par 133 to win the event by two strokes when he was just 18.

Since that memorable win, Naidoo has gone on to claim second spot at the Junior World Cup in Japan and made it into the South African team that competed in the World Amateur Team Championship in Mexico in September last year.

He said a routine of proper pre-tournament warm-up and a lot of structured and methodical practice on the range have been the secret to his outstanding performances in the last two years.

A former champion of the Nomads SA Boys U-17 and U-19 Stroke Play Championships and runner-up at the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships, Naidoo has all the makings of the great golfer.

“There’s a few possibilities but all depends on how well I do in college in the United States, but I think I’ll just take it one step at a time and enjoy every college event that I play in and when the time comes, I will be ready,” he said of ambitions to play professional golf.

At 18 years old – and with the experience he has up to now – it will be interesting to see how he fares in a BMW SA Open field which boasts five major winners and three former world number ones.

And if he makes the cut, he will be wanting to hold on to win the Freddie Tait Trophy for the leading amateur.

Written and released by the Sunshine Tour.