Ballito teen Tyron Keylock clinches double golf titles
Tyron says he hopes to follow in his brother's footsteps and play college golf in America after finishing matric.
Ballito teenager Tyron Keylock has claimed two golf titles in the space of a few weeks and hopes to ride his form to further glory.
A matric boarder at Kearsney College, Tyron is an Umhlali Prep old boy who learned his trade on the North Coast’s many fantastic courses.
His training has begun to pay dividends as he grabbed the Kloof CC U19 Matchplay Championships in December and a KZN U19 strokeplay event at Southbroom CC last week.
At Kloof CC between December 15 and 20, Tyron played nine rounds of golf in just five days, adding an extra physical toll that most golf tournaments do not bring.
Matchplay is particularly taxing on golfers, because aside from the physical exhaustion, players also have to shoulder a mental load as matches ebb and flow through 18 holes.
Golfers compete head-to-head and can win, lose or halve every hole they play, with the ultimate winner decided on who claimed the most holes.
It means most matches are closer than typical strokeplay events, where one player can have a hot start and shoot themselves away from the rest of the field.
Tyron started the weekend well, finishing second in the pool phase to make it through to the knock-out stage of the event.
He would make it through the quarter- and semi-finals comfortably before setting up a final with the South Coast’s Cameron Olivant.
They traded blows throughout the match and it went all the way to the 18th before Tyron secured a 1-up win with a par.
The event at Southbroom CC was slightly more straightforward, as U19 golfers from across the province played a single day 18-hole shoot-out on January 9.
KZN Golf hosts junior events like this one throughout the year and they typically draw competitive fields.
Tyron delivered some fantastic golf against 18 other juniors, shooting a blistering 71 to finish tied first with Richards Bay’s Matthew Gouws.
He would claim the title in a count-out.
Tyron says he hopes to follow in his brother’s footsteps and play college golf in America after finishing matric.
His golfing highlights include two hole-in-ones to date – on Umhlali Country Club’s 18th in 2022 and Prince’s Grant Country Club’s 17th last year.
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