Amateur Scene
|
2017 SENIOR REVIEW
78 / JANUARY 2018 / GOLFDIGEST.CO.ZA ERNEST BLIGNAULT • GOLF RSAith five wins in 2017, Steve
Williams (Modderfontein)
retained his ranking as the
No 1 senior from Francois le Roux (De
Zalze), who had four wins during the
year.
However, a major disappointment for
the 56-year-old was that he missed the
deadline date for entering the SA Senior
Amateur, and was unable to defend his
title at Hermanus. It seems careless that
the SAGA did not remind Williams at
any stage of his omission.
The highlight of the year for Williams
was a tournament he failed to win, the
British Senior Amateur at Sunningdale.
He finished T-2 in difficult conditions,
the best performance by a South African
in this championship.
“That tournament showed me I could
compete against the top Americans, and
I hope to tee up again in 2018,” said
Williams. “My temperament on the
course is so much better now than when
I was younger, and I rate myself as one of
the longer drivers in senior golf.”
Williams was so dominant locally thatin his 11 tournament appearances he
never finished worse than fifth. He had
five wins, three runner-up finishes, and
two third places. His stroke average was
71.86, nearly a full shot better than 2016,
with six of his final rounds being in the
60s. He also had three consecutive wins
at the WP Masters, Vaal and Fancourt
tournaments.
In addition, Williams was a member of
two victorious IPT teams, representing
Central Gauteng in the Senior and Mid-
Amateur tournaments. He won 10 out of
13 singles matches.
Le Roux, 57, had one of his best years
competitively, and enjoyed three top-5
finishes in addition to his victories.
He has taken his career tally of wins
as a senior to 20, second only to Jock
Wellington who has 49.
And Le Roux had his first victory in
Gauteng when he claimed the final event
of the year, the Otway Hayes Classic at
Zwartkop, where he shot 67-72 to equal
the lowest winning 36-hole score of the
year, and beat Williams by two. Le Roux
averaged 72.95.Langebaan’s Andre van Dyk, 52, moved
up five places on the Senior rankings
in 2017 to No 3, although his only win
came in the Players Championship at
Sun City. However, he was never out of
the top 10 in nine tournaments, and lost
a playoff for the SA title at Hermanus to
Ferdie van der Merwe. He averaged 74.26.
Van Dyk was chosen in the four-man
SA Senior team which played India in
the Fellowship Cup at Leopard Creek in
August, alongside Williams, Le Roux and
Greg Gleeson (Kyalami).
Gleeson, after two wins early in the
year, slipped to No 10 in the rankings by
the end of it. Rurik Gobel (Randpark)
got to No 4 in the rankings, but had still
not managed his first win as a senior. He
was a runner-up four times, and had a
total of nine top-10s. He averaged 74.68.
Rookie senior Graeme Watson
(Ebotse) is another still looking for
his first win, although he finished
No 5 in the rankings. His best
finish was third place, notably in the
SA Amateur, where he had the title
in his grasp for 45 holes.FIVE-WIN WILLIAMS AGAIN NO 1
But disappointed not to defend his SA Senior Amateur crown.
w
Steve Williams.The SA Senior team, from left, Le Roux,
Williams, Glesson, Van Dyk.