Samu lifts Sanlam SA Women’s Stroke Play title

Ivanna Samu confirmed her status as South Africa’s number one women’s amateur when she won the Sanlam South African Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Glendower Golf Club on Tuesday.

Samu closed with a round of one-over-par 73 to win the 54-hole tournament on four over par, three strokes clear of Western Province’s Cara Gorlei.

“I’m overwhelmed. It hasn’t even sunk in yet,” said Samu, who adds this title to the Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Championship she won last year.

Samu went into the final round with a three-stroke lead and surged ahead with an eagle on the par-five second hole.

The Central Gauteng golfer had no real challenger on the front nine. But then she stumbled with three successive double bogeys from the 11th to suddenly see her only one ahead of Gorlei.

“I started well and then I don’t even know what happened when I made those three double bogeys in a row. I saw my friends and family walking with me, and I thought to myself, ‘Ivanna, what are you doing? This is not how you play golf’.

“So I pulled myself towards myself. My coach Graeme Francis was walking with me and that also helped me a lot with my confidence in that stretch.”

Samu responded with three successive birdies from the 14th to give her a three-stroke lead playing the 18th, with Gorlei only able to par her way home after her last birdie on 15 for a round of two-under 70.

Samu’s victory in one of the premier tournaments in women’s amateur golf is made even sweeter by the fact that it came at historic Glendower, host of several South African Open Championships over the years.

“This is a huge achievement for me. I can’t even explain it. I’m just so overwhelmed. It was also great seeing one of our professionals, Nicole Garcia, here and who I finished second to in a professional tournament I played in at Glendower. This is such a great golf course, and it’s a very challenging one. I’m glad that I could play well here.”

Gauteng North’s Carrie Park, the defending champion, finished third on 10 over par with a final round of 75.

B-DIVISION

Thirteen-year-old Bellville junior Kaylah Williams impressed with rounds of 92-80-82 to win the B-Division title. The 10-handicapper won by 12 strokes from 14-year-old Noluthando Mdanda from Gauteng, who returned rounds of 90-88-88.
KwaZulu-Natal’s Elham Shaik took third on 276, finishing three strokes ahead of Gauteng’s Sheryl Matthews.

TOP 20 RESULTS – A-Division
220 Ivanna Samu 77 70 73
223 Cara Gorlei 78 75 70
226 Carrie Park 76 75 75
233 Bianca Theron 79 76 78; Bianca Lohbauer 73 77 83
234 Zethu Myeki 78 77 79
236 Natasha Carlsson 83 79 74; Kaleigh Telfer 84 76 76
237 Eleonora Galletti 79 83 75; Ruzanne Van der Walt 84 77 76
238 Vicki Traut 81 79 78; Vanessa Smith 81 76 81
239 Danielle Du Toit 84 82 73; Casandra Hall 83 76 80
240 Sarah Bouch 82 82 76
241 Caro Els 79 80 82
242 Marne Clack 82 84 76; Shawnelle De Lange 83 79 80; Zayb Fredericks 83 79 80
243 Sarah Blythe-Wood 82 82 79

TOP 20 RESULTS – B-Divison
254 Kaylah Williams 92 80 82
266 Noluthando Mdanda 90 88 88
276 Elham Shaik 89 90 97
279 Sheryl Matthews 96 94 89
285 Jenefer Haw 99 95 91
287 Samantha Whateley 95 97 95
289 Genofeva Tokarsky 101 97 91
290 Maritha De Beer 93 97 100
291 Cleo Jordaan 98 99 94; Shelley Sykes 99 94 98
297 Valda Ford 103 96 98; Henelia Rietmann 95 97 105
300 Courtney Sykes 100 94 106
302 Liezel Heyns 98 103 101303 Sharon Botha 99 105 99; Mariana Meyer 101 100 102
304 Thandeka Hlatshwayo 106 102 96; Leslie Nienaber 100 106 98
308 Kirby Van der Stelt 99 107 102
315 Louise Van Niekerk 100 107 108

Written by Michael Vlismas;

PHOTO – WGSA President Karen Olivant, 2015 Sanlam SA Stroke Play Champion Ivanna Samu, Melu Lawrence – Manager SPF Micro Marketing Support Gauteng and WGSA Vice-President Sally Greasley; credit WGSA