King Edward VII School (KES) overtook first round leaders Southdowns College to claim a decisive victory in this year’s Retief Goosen SA High School Championship, in association with IMG, on Monday.
The Central Gauteng secondary school was one of 18 teams from across South Africa that qualified for the third edition of this prestigious annual SA High Schools Championship at the Fish River Sun Country Club.
Neville Mitchell (72), Carrie Park (72*) and Keanu Ferreira (79) from Southdowns combined for team total of 223 in the first round to take a two shot lead over KES into the final round of the 36-hole tournament.
Scoring was markedly better on day two, as the junior golfers came to grips with the challenging Gary Player designed layout near Port Alfred.
Rupert Kaminski (70), Kyle McClatchie (75) and Matthew Kiewitz (80) combined for the opening 225, but while Kaminski returned a final round 74, Robert Raad carded a 78 and McClatchie produced a two-under-par 70 to help the KES side to a second round 222.
The KES team claimed a four shot victory over Southdowns on a winning total of 447.
Reddam House Constantia finished six shots back on 453, with defending champions Waterkloof High School and Punt High School sharing fourth place on 458.
“We are just thrilled with the victory,” said KES manager and coach, Eugene Marx. “The guys appreciated the opportunity to compete in this prestigious event and they delivered a fantastic performance. They played for each other and I am really proud of the whole team.”
Meanwhile Southern Cape’s Jovan Rebula from Outeniqua High School fired rounds of 72-69 to win the Individual Standings.
Park from Southdowns finished second with successive rounds of one-under-par 72 off the ladies tees. Kaminski from KES, who led the individual scoring in round one, slipped to third with rounds of 70-74.
*Mens par = 72; Ladies par = 73.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
(Best 3 scores of 4 to count)
447 King Edward VII School 225, 222
451 Southdowns College 223, 228
453 Reddam House (Constantia) 227, 226
458 Ho?rskool Waterkloof 229, 229
458 Ho?rskool Punt 232, 226
459 Rondebosch Boys High 231, 228
462 Ho?rskool Pietersburg 233, 229
465 Grey College (Bloemfontein) 234, 231
466 Paarl Boys High 239, 227
479 Ho?rskool Outeniqua 240, 239
480 Trinity House High School 243, 237
481 Hudson Park High School 247, 234
482 DF Malherbe 243, 239
483 Grey High Sschool (Port Elizabeth) 246, 237
494 Ficksburg High School 249, 245
496 Selborne College 243, 253
609 Hoerskool Ben Viljoen 175, 235
623 Uplands College 251, 258
TOP 20 INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
141 - Jovan Rebula (72, 69)
144 - Carrie Park (72, 72), Rupert Kaminski (70, 74)
145 - Kyle McClatchie (75, 70)
146 - Luca Filippi (73, 73)
148 - Andre Nel (76, 72), Zack Van Der Schyff (74, 74), Noel Anderson (72, 76)
150 - Eric Nel (76, 74)
151 - Cyril Botha (76, 75)
152 - Jaco Linde (76, 76)
153 - Luke Woods (78, 75), Corne Olivier (78, 75), Alexander Knoop (74, 79)
154 - Arno Muller (78, 76), Marcus Small (78, 76), Michael Labuschagne (77, 77), Juan-Pierre Cooper (77, 77), Ruan Conradie (76, 78), Neville Mitchell (72, 82)
PHOTO CAPTION:
The victorious King Edward VII School (KES), after winning the Retief Goosen SA High School Championship at Fish River Sun Country Club. From left to right – Kyle McClatchie, Rupert Kaminski, Matthew Kiewitz, Eugene Marx (manager), Robert Raad and Greg de Doncker (SAGA);
credit Deon Smit – Immanuel Photography.
