The George Open was played over 36 holes on the 19th February 2012 on a challenging and well maintained George Golf Club. The George Golf Club is one of South Africa’s oldest courses and it is currently ranked number 24 in South Africa. Congratulations and many thanks to Mazars for sponsoring the event and to George Golf Club for hosting the tournament.
Several of KeNako’s new students were playing the course for the first time and it proved to be a real test for them, with accuracy off the tees being at a premium. It is not the longest course in the George area but it can be considered one of the more difficult courses to score on, especially if one is not accurate off the tee.
The tournament had a handicap limit of 5 so there were a few KeNako students who did not make the draw but it was great to see those that never played supporting their peers by caddying for them. The students all wore their green KeNako shirts on the day, even the “caddies”, and it was fantastic to see them arrive at the club as “Team KeNako”.
One of KeNako’s new students, Johan Oosthuizen, was really excited with his morning round of 74 which was the lowest tournament round he has shot in a tournament. To cap his performance Johan won the low morning gross prize. 14 year old Cameron Moralee shot a morning round of 79 and improved in the afternoon to shoot a very credible 74. Mohit Mediratta is beginning to show consistency in his scoring and it’s good to see his confidence growing as a result of his recent good performances. Whilst some of the boys struggled, with the heat also playing a role in affecting focus over 36 holes in one day, it is rewarding to see the general standard of play improving.
Breyten Meyer, a KeNako ‘old boy’ who has continued to work with the team at KeNako since finishing school at the end of 2010, played very well depite feeling before the tournament started that his game wasn’t at its best. Breyten made a great birdie on the 18th hole to get into a playoff but then lost to Lanny Davids in a 3 hole playoff. Unfortunately Breyten found the bunker on the second play-off hole and was confronted with a tough plugged lie and he eventually did well to drop only one shot. Breyten is starting to play some consistent and quality golf which is helping to develop his confidence. We can expect Breyten to start achieving the results and the performances that he is working towards.
Roger Wessels
from left to right, Mohit Mediratta – Cameron Moralee – Phumlani Maluka
