Scottish golfers make clean sweep

Scotland took the top three spots in the African Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek Golf Estate near Malalane last week.

Liam Johnston lifted the trophy after some tough competition from compatriot Connor Syne and South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht. Scotland also managed to defend their team competition title.

Johnstone celebrated his one-stroke victory on eight under 280, closing on a one-under-par 71, with Syme coming second with 72 and Jamie Stewart (17) turning in a 71 for a total score of 282.

Johnston was ecstatic over the victory and said that it was the biggest and most memorable achievement of his career. “I feel like I finally got the monkey off my back. I won a lot of team events when I was at the University of Tennessee, but I never won an individual title. I can’t begin to describe how amazing it feels to land this victory.

“I hope this pays back all the support my family and my coach James Erskine have given me and the trust Scottish Golf, Aberdeen Asset Management, Dunhill and Mr Rupert placed in me to bring me out with the National Squad to South Africathis year.”

Lamprecht’s bid for a wire-to-wire victory took a heavy knock on the back nine and the 16-year-old Sanlam SA Amateur champion had to settle for fourth place on five under after a 76. Craig Howie from Scotland carded a 71 to finish in fifth on 283, a shot ahead of Luca Filippi from Western Province, who closed with a 73.

Lamprecht began the day at nine under with a two-shot lead over Johnston and Syme. He moved to 10 under with a birdie at the second, but Johnston fired successive birdies out of the blocks to close the gap.

Lamprecht had bogeys either side of a birdie at six, but the southern Cape golfer kept the reins and turned nine under. His lead stretched to three shots when Johnston triple-bogeyed 11.

Syme, meanwhile, dropped two shots at the seventh and bogeyed the eighth to slip to four under, but birdies at 11, 13 and 15 brought the world number 16 back into the tussle.

Read about last year’s champion, Albert Venter, and his expectations for the tournament.

Lamprecht bounced back with a birdie at 15 to join Syme at seven under.

“I had a 12-footer for birdie and Connor was about a foot inside my putt,” Johnson said, speaking about the last hole. “Mine just nicked the hole, but Connor’s also just missed at the top of the hole. It felt a bit weird watching him take that putt. We’ve known each other for 10 years and we are teammates on the national squad. There was a part of me rooting for him to make it and another part hoping he’d miss, so I could land the win.”

Lamprecht closed with another double bogey after he hit his approach into the water surrounding the 18th green.

Golfers also had a uniquely African experience, coming across wildlife on the green. Trevor Saulez witnessed an altercation between a leopard and a group of angry baboons during the second round of the championship on Wednesday.

“The leopard’s growls cut to the bone and the baboons went ballistic. It was the most angry, most violent noise I’ve ever heard.”

“Next thing, it was just bared teeth and fur flying as the baboons set upon the leopard. I was about 40 metres away and scared as hell, but I was so mesmerised that I just couldn’t look away,” Saulez explained.

Read his full account of the experience here.

The standoff lasted less than a minute and ended with the leopard taking cover in a tree.

Results (top six):

280: Liam Johnston (Scotland) – 72 67 70 71

281: Connor Syme (Scotland) – 67 70 72 72

282: Jamie Stewart (Scotland) – 73 68 70 71

283: Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht – 66 70 71 76

285: Craig Howie (Scotland) – 75 69 70 71

286: Luca Filippi – 70 69 74 73.