SA quartet seals 18th All-Africa Junior victory
Marco Steyn, Dylan Naidoo, Herman Loubser and new cap Dylan Mostert celebrated an 18th consecutive victory for South Africa in the 2016 All-Africa Junior Golf Challenge with a wire-to-wire performance in Sousse, Tunisia on Saturday.
The South African quartet began the final round with an insurmountable 38 shot lead and stretched their advantage to a 43 stroke victory with a solid final round at the Sea Course of the El Kantaoui Golf Club.
The defending champions combined for a final round 217 to triumph on four-under-par 876.
Zimbabwe posted a total score of 915 to claim the runner-up spot and secure their spot in the line-up at the prestigious Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Aichi-Prefecture, Japan in June alongside South Africa for a second year running.
Morocco finished in third on 945, while the host union took fourth on 955.
“After a disappointing 82 in the first round, Marco was back to his best and rallied with his third sub-par round in the championships to lay a great foundation for us in the final round,” said SAGA Golf Integration Manager Eden Thompson.
“He shot a four-under-par 69 to take the low round honours and it was probably the worst score he could have made. A three putt bogey at four, a bogey from inside 70m at eight, another drop at 17 from 93m and no birdies at the par fives on the back nine was where he felt he lost some shots.
“Dylan (Naidoo) had a solid start but suffered a setback with a triple bogey seven at the fifth hole. He fought gallantly for the rest of the round to salvage a good 74, and stave off Marco and Herman for the Individual Honours.
“Herman just had one of those quiet rounds where nothing major happened and also signed for a 74, while Dylan (Mostert) had another battling day. Three double bogeys and three birdies in the first 10 holes saw him start the last eight holes at three over. He had three-putt bogeys at 13 and 14, but couldn’t convert any birdie chances and signed for a 78.”
Naidoo won the Individual Competition on four under 292, while Loubser finished one shot back in second and Steyn took third on 294. Mostert finished in sixth on 308.
“The team really worked hard as a unit and we always had each other’s backs,” said Naidoo.
“Each player did his bit over the four days of the championship to contribute to this victory and we are incredibly proud to have extended South Africa’s proud record in this prestigious event.”
FINAL TEAM RESULT
872 South Africa 225 215 215 217
915 Zimbabwe 236 219 238 222
945 Morocco 238 236 237 234
955 Tunisia 252 236 235 235
969 Egypt 250 243 244 232
976 Kenya 247 241 248 240
1022 Uganda 263 249 259 251
1024 Zambia 269 246 242 267
1095 Nigeria 284 266 271 274
FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULT (top 10)
292 Dylan Naidoo 76 73 69 74
293 Herman Loubser 74 71 74 74
294 Marco Steyn 82 71 72 69
301 David Amm ZIM 77 74 76 74
303 Kieran Vincent ZIM 78 70 80 75
308 Dylan Mostert 75 73 82 78
313 Halima Ben TUN 83 79 73 78; Justin Kersten ZIM 82 75 83 73
316 Soufiane Dahmane MOR 81 78 76 81; Abdelkarim Allali MOR 77 83 79 77
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.