Ekurhuleni seals SA hat-trick
'I am absolutely bursting with pride right now,' gushed manager Jack Turton
EKURHULENI clinched their third successive Nomads SA U/13 Championship title in formidable fashion at Killarney Country Club on Thursday last week.
The six-strong side claimed a roaring 53-stroke victory on 1 161, while North West edged out Gauteng North by two strokes to finish in second on 1 214.
The defending champions sounded an ominous warning to the field when they opened with 389.
Having slept on a 17-shot lead, Ekurhuleni combined for 393 in the second round to stretch their overnight advantage to 43 strokes.
Serengeti’s Christopher Bagnall carded 76 to put Ekurhuleni on the attack in the final round. His effort was brilliantly supported by a 77 from Zamokuhle Nxasana and an 81 from Kiera Floyd and rookies Nash de Klerk and Hunter Walker made it three-in-a-row for the side when they added respective rounds of 78 and 81 for a final round total of 379.
The team’s third rookie, Jonathan Wilsenach, signed for a non-counting 84.
“I am absolutely bursting with pride right now,” gushed manager Jack Turton.
“We didn’t just win three on the trot, but we also increased our winning margin from last year by 10 strokes. That is a phenomenal achievement for this young team.
“This team knew there was pressure on them coming into the week, but they took it in their stride. All three rounds were an incredible team effort, with six players who showed fantastic depth of character and who played for each other.
“As a manager, you can’t hit the shots for them; you can only ask for their best and I couldn’t have hoped for greater commitment. Whenever one player had a bad round, five others stood up in his place. In the end we won the championship, four players on our team finished in the top 10 and all of them finished in the top 30.
“I congratulate each and every player on a job well done and I hope their achievement will fire up our U/19 team to go the distance as well in the SA Junior Inter-Provincial in December.”
While Ekurhuleni celebrated their hat-trick in the team competition, Central Gauteng’s Amilkar Bhana denied the team a third double celebration as he powered to victory in the individual competition.
The 11-year-old from Sandton also won the Malaysian Junior Open two years ago and took third in the 10-11 age category at the US Kids European Championship in Scotland last year.
