Son, Myeki take aim at Ackerman Championships
Gauteng’s Woo-Ju Son and Zethu Myeki will spearhead the challenge in the 35th Ackerman Championships at Royal Cape Golf Club his weekend.
Son from Eagle Canyon ranks fifth on the senior circuit following nine top five finishes and third in the junior rankings, courtesy of five third place and two runner-up finishes this season
In April, she won the Girl’s Competition in the World Amateur Golf Audi Reunion by 10 strokes, but the 14-year-old Gauteng junior is still hunting a break through on home soil.
Having knocked on the door in the Boland and Ekurhuleni Championships in September, she is ready to shake the bridesmaid tag in the 54-hole championship that tees off on Saturday.
Myeki is equally keen to go the distance in Cape Town.
Since her breakthrough provincial victory in the Border Championship in February, the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation player has only strayed outside the top 10 twice in 13 starts.
The East London golfer notched third place finishes in the Gauteng Senior, Southern Cape and Gauteng Championships and further protected her number four ranking with top five finishes in the Ekurhuleni, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal Championships.
Both players have arrived in Cape Town in hot form.
Son was one of the bankers for Gauteng’s runaway A-Section victory, while captain Myeki steered Border to a successful B-Section defence at the South African Women’s Inter-Provincial at Centurion Country Club last week.
The Ackerman Championships, one of the longest running events on the Western Province circuit, offers a trove of WGSA and world amateur golf ranking points.
With the country’s top ranked pair – Ivanna Samu and Kaleigh Telfer – at the biennial Spirit International in the United States, the Ackerman Championships represents a golden opportunity for Son and Myeki to close the gap on the frontrunners.
However, the pair will have to stave off a host of talented young players for a podium finish.
Other title rivals in the 34-strong Gus Ackerman division include reigning Nomads SA Rose Bowl Champion Chiara Contomathios from Gauteng, 2015 Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur semi-finalist Brittney-Fay Berger from KwaZulu-Natal, reigning Gauteng Stroke Play champion Lejan Lewthwaite from Ekurhuleni, former Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Stroke Play champion Yvette du Plessis from Western Province and Gauteng North’s Danielle du Toit, who won the Qualifier for the 2015 Sanlam SA Stroke Play Championship in April.
Boland Championship match play winner Katia Shaff will lead the local challenge alongside Zayb Fredericks, who will employ her local course knowledge to fend off the inland competitors.
Shaff and Fredericks will have fellow Western Province team-mates Ashleigh Mills from Steenberg, Aaliyah Abrahams from Rondebosch and Bellville’s Kaylah Williams in support.
Other notable entries include Boland trio Vicki Traut, Crystal Beukes and Cassidy Williams, all members of the team who lifted the A2 Division title in the recent South African Women’s Inter-Provincial, and Marguerite Pienaar, who shared in Southern Cape’s B2 division success.
“We are extremely grateful to the Ackerman family and Pick n Pay for their continued support of women amateur golf in Western Province,” said Womens Golf Western Province president, Sarah Braude.
“We are very pleased with this year’s entries, which demonstrates the prestige and high regard of this event among the local and visiting players.”
Players with handicaps of 10-18 will compete for the Raymond Ackerman Trophy, while the Jonathan Ackerman Trophy will be contested between players with handicaps 19 to 32.
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of Womens Golf South Africa.
Live scoring will be available on the Western Province web site: www.wpgu.co.za
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