Scholtz, Roux and Gauteng North enjoy success

While the eyes of the world were trained on Glendower Golf Club this past week where Freddie Tait Cup winner Louis Taylor shared centre stage with Dane SA Open champion Morten Ørum Madsen, top South African amateurs also enjoyed a productive weekend with three other events on the go elsewhere.

Boland golfer Armandt Scholtz won the Harry Oppenheimer Trophy, Gauteng North clinched the International Teams Championship at Maccauvlei Golf Club and in Argentina, Western Province amateur Gerlou Roux reached the quarter-finals of the Argentine Amateur.

Scholtz from Paarl Golf Club fired an opening six-under-par 66 in the Harry Oppenheimer Trophy at Maccauvlei to share the first round lead with Aubrey Beckley from North West.

The Boland golfer carded a second 68 to finish four shots clear of Ekurhuleni Open champion Beckley, while Gauteng North’s Philip Kruse pulled within two shots of the lead with a 66.

But Scholtz managed to eliminate each of the three bogeys on his card in the final round and picked up a shot coming home to seal his first victory in a ranking event this season with a one under 71.

Scholtz’s winning total of 11-under-par 205 was three shots better than Kruse and Eduard van den Berg, who closed with a 72 and 67 respectively.

Beckley carded a 72 to tie for fourth on six under 210 with Henri van der Walt, who returned a 69.

While Louis Taylor teed off as the only amateur left in the field at Glendower on Saturday, his twin brother Eddie partnered with Matt Spacey, Jarred Miltz and Jason Viljoen for Central Gauteng in the annual International Teams Championship.

This year’s event drew 21 teams from across South Africa to Maccauvlei, including a Central Juniors side and a Central Gauteng development team.

North West’s Beckley, Danie van Niekerk, SP Campher and Ettiene Bates combined for 204 to take pole position, three shots clear of Central Gauteng A and Central’s Juniors.

The North West squad kept ahead with a second round 208 to finish one shot ahead of Ekurhuleni A and two shots clear of Central Gauteng A, while the Central Juniors dropped to joint third with Gauteng North A on 424.

But in the third round, Kruse, Russell Franz, Hendrikus Stoop and Teaghan Gauche from Gauteng North shook things up with a 203 that vaulted the side to share of the lead with Central Gauteng on 627.

As has been the case in a lot of tournaments this year, however, the end result was dictated by the weather. Severe lightning storms on Sunday afternoon forced the organisers to cancel the final round, and the result was decided on a count-out, which ended in favour of Gauteng North.

Ekurhuleni A took third on 631 ahead of North West A in the count-out, while Limpopo beat the Central Gauteng Juniors for fifth in a count-out on 641.

Meanwhile, former professional Roux and Callum Mowat claimed a top five finish in the prestigious Juan Carlos Tailhade in Argentina and both players qualified for the Argentine Amateur Championship at the Martindale Golf Club in Pilar

Mowat made the first hurdle, but was sent packing in the second round by Spain’s David Ayra, a member of the two-man team who lifted the 42nd Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup title.

But sixth-ranked Roux cruised through the first two rounds and made the last eight with a 4&3 victory over local golfer Martin Contini.

However, the experienced player went down Italy’s Jacopo Fossa in the quarter-finals, who reached the finals but was defeated for the title of the seventh oldest amateur championship in the world local golfer Marcos Montenegro 3&4.

Posted in