Last week we saw, Jacques van der Merwe, our BSI Premier Order of Merit winner 2024 and Eric Ncube, 2024 Junior Academy Order of Merit victor going through their custom-fit for their new clubs as part of the Srixon sponsored prize to our OoM winners.

Jacques defended his title from 2023 and it was a well-deserved victory for Eric, who has always found himself in the top 3 over the last few years.

Gentlemen, enjoy the clubs as you continue to achieve your golfing dreams.Thank you Srixon Master Tour Fitter and BSI alumni Alfred Sutton and immense gratitude to Srixon for the generous prize sponsorship and your continued support.

BSI Tournament Results

BSI Premier Division 18-hole medal

Well done to Gerhard Botha, for his win in the BSI Premier Division 18-hole medal on Friday 14 February, with a fantastic 7-under par 65, played at Royal Johannesburg East Course. Gerhard graduated from our PGA Diploma last year and is now part of our Elite Academy program.  His work at the academy are starting to show results as he also made the Top 40 cut in last week’s Bushveld Tour – Race to Q-school at Glendower GC.  Great going Gerhard, it is awesome to see the trajectory that you are taking in 2025!

Personal Best: Gerhard Botha 65, Liam Quinn 70, Jordan Currie 71, Etienne Bedeker 73, Jayden Mackrell 74, Michael Webster 80, Bradley Livesey 82 & Corban Ras 82

Gerhard Botha

Corban Ras, Michael Webster, Etienne Bedeker, Liam Quinn,Gerhard Botha, Bradley Livesey, Jordan Currie

BSI Junior Academy 18-hole Medal

Congratulations to Connor Olfsen, on his win in the BSI Junior Academy 18-Hole medal, played on Royal Johannesburg East Course.  This is four-from-four for Connor, for the year and it seems he is truly focused to be the best that he can be. Connor also captains our High School team in the Gauteng Super League this season and led them to the play-offs, which will be played at the end of the month. Great Going Connor, keep moving forward and onward to greater things!

Personal Best: Connor Olfsen 71

Connor Olfsen

 AHPP PLAYERS SHINE AT AFRICA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

The African High Performance Program (AHPP) that we manage continues to produce results, highlighted by a successful week at the Africa Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek last week.

The program, funded by The R&A, Olympic Solidarity Fund and International Golf Federation was established to improve the competitiveness of golf across the African continent.

18 players from 6 African countries are currently in the AHPP Squad and receive ongoing support. One support initiative centred around the R&A Africa Amateur Championship.  We hosted a 3-day Preparation Camp for the 12 AHPP squad players who competed in the event and also provided support during the Championship.

Top AHPP player was Keegan Shutt (Zimbabwe) who claimed 2nd place after rounds of 74, 73, 66, 69 (-6), just 2 shots out of a playoff that could have earned him a spot in The Open Championship.  3 AHPP players finished in the top 10; Keegan, Michael Chuma (Zambia) in T5 and Dominic Musonda (Zambia) in 9^th place.  We had 5 players on the top 20 and 7 players in the top 24.  In the Women’s event Chanelle Mwangi (Kenya) was the leading AHPP player in 4^th place.

AHPP Squad Members with Coaches Karl Lehmacher, Johan Du Buisson and Mark Fairbank

Michael Balderstone and Paul Mackenzie

External Tournament Results

Sunshine Ladies Tour – NTT DATA Ladies Pro-Am; Fancourt – Montagu & Outeniqua (14 -16 February)

T4 – Nobuhle Dlamini

Blue Label Bushveld Tour – Race to Q-school #6; Glendower GC (11 – 13 February)

T5 – Reece Mckain

T22 – Oliver Goldhill

T38 – Gerhard Botha

Golf RSA – South African Stroke Play Championship; Mossel Bay GC (11 – 13 February)

T2 – Sean Paxton

Golf RSA – Men’s SA Amateur Championship – Stroke Play; Humewood GC (16 & 17 February)

T12 – Luke Truter

T20 – Sean Paxton

T48 – Keegan du Plessis

T61 – Gilbert Chalwe

The top 64 players qualify for the Men’s SA Amateur Match Play Knockout Tournament

 Golf RSA – North West Women’s Open; Magaliespark GC (15 & 16 February)

T14 – Valentina Sakota

T27 – Alexis Toriani

37^th – Paola Sakota

Gauteng High School’s Super League

HUGE SHOUT OUT to our Junior Academy students, Connor Olfsen (c), Mongi Masuku, Shaka Kariisa & Mpho Makhado, who on Monday took a win at Royal Johannesburg in the final Gauteng High School’s Super League match, to secure BSI a place in the play-offs.  The team required a win to guarantee qualification, and their resilience was testing playing in miserable, cold and rainy conditions.  Well done to Connor and Mongi who shot level par in those testing conditions.

Well done to all the other players who represented BSI during the season.  The final standings saw our young side finished 2^nd in the league, just 1 point off the top spot. The Play-offs will be played on Friday 28 February at Randpark GC and we wish the team all the best as they aim to qualify for the SA National High School Championship.

Mpho Makhado, Shaka Kariisa, Mongi Masuku & Connor Olfsen