Hole-in-one for St Dunstan’s golfers
St Dunstans College golfers stormed to a surprising win.
The St Dunstan’s College golf team surprised many with an outright victory at the Ernie Els South African Primary Schools Championship, at The Els Club Copperleaf, on Saturday, August 10.
Jayden Schaper, Jordan Burnand, Warwick Purchase and Dylan Rees, from the school, combined for an opening round 233 to take the lead on Friday, August 9, and added a second 223 to claim the title with a team total of 456.
The team finished 11 strokes clear of Curro Aurora and 18 shots ahead of defending champions, Glenwood House.
Schaper, Burnand and Rees play out of Ebotse Golf and Country Estate, while Purchase plays out of Benoni Country Club.
Schaper joined the team a day after landing in South Africa from the USA, where he competed and placed 11th in the US Kids World Championships.
Patrick Gumunyu, director of sports at St Dunstan’s College, was thrilled with the team’s performance and said that the victory was a special one for everybody involved.
“It’s a massive achievement for our boys and for St Dunstan’s,” he said.
“For them to go out and win at the highest level by competing against golf academies and foundations makes it even more special.”
He added that St Dunstan’s College launched a golf programme only two years ago, so expectations were not set too high.
“We are all really excited about this victory and what makes it so nice is that we have set a platform for youngsters from the area to go out and achieve their goals against the best of the best,” said Gumunyu.
“It was also very pleasing to see the rich talent of young sportsmen contesting these finals.”
A total of 17 teams took part in the championships, which followed regional qualifiers held by golf unions throughout South Africa.
