Son shines for SA at Curro SA Juniors
Eagle Canyon’s Woo Ju Son leads the South African charge in the 44-strong Girls Division after day one of the Curro South African Juniors International (SAJI), while Boland golfer Garrick Higgo has the overnight lead in the Boys Division through 18 holes of the 54-hole Global Golf Junior Tour strokeplay event being contested at Durbanville Golf Club.
“I rocked up for the opening round expecting the wind and that’s what we got; a two-club south-easter that made life really tough on us,” said Son, the number one ranked junior amateur in the national rankings.
“I compounded matters somewhat by making silly mistakes, like on the last hole when I lined up a birdie putt to go one-under for the day and made bogey for a level-par 72. It’s these little things that can make or break you, but that’s golf for you.”
The 15-year-old Son also dropped a shot at the par-four second hole before rallying strongly with consecutive birdies on the two front-nine par fives to get into red figures.
She picked up at the fifth and sixth holes and then went even for the next three for an outward loop of one-under 35.
“I felt that my score could have been a little better at the halfway mark of I had not been so wayward with my ball-striking off the tee box,” said Son.
“Luckily my short game was working well and that saved me the blushes. It was about being more consistent over the remaining nine holes and aiming for a sub-par score.”
It didn’t quite pan out that way for the small-framed teenager, who lifted the Nomads WGWP Junior Championship title at the same venue in January.
She began the inward loop with a bogey at 10, dropped the 14th and three-putted at the 18th.
“A mixed bag for me,” Son said. “Four birdies and four bogeys about sums it up my day. Got the overnight lead, though, which is great. But I would have been far happier with a two-under score.
“That would have been ideal in such a quality field, but it was a tough day on the Jewel of the North.”
Chloe Royston from Cotswold Downs finished in second thanks to a decent one-over 73, while Crystal Beukes from Stellenbosch closed with a three-over 75 to join Catherine Lau from Woodhill, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and Matilde Stenqvist from Sweden in third.
Written by Mike de Bruyn
SOCIAL MEDIA – Twitter hashtag #CurroGolfChamps.
For more information on the Curro SA Juniors International, please visit the official Curro Golf website www.currogolf.com