Rising star Bryan Newman once more demonstrated his uncanny capacity to ship within the pressured moments when he edged South Africa’s second-ranked, Dan Bennett to say the 2023 Nedbank Junior Challenge with a brand new event report at Sun City in May.
Bryan Newman wins large
Adding a rising listing of massive event wins within the final 18 months, the 15-year-old North West junior fired rounds of 71, 68 & 72 on the Gary Player Country Club to triumph by one shot on a complete of 5 underneath 211.
“It feels amazing to win, especially at a course like the Gary Player Country Club. We have all grown up watching our heroes play this course, so winning here is very special,” Newman stated.
Like the earlier two winners, Yurav Premlall in 2021 and 2022 champion Stefan Jacobs, the champion will benefit from the probability to rub shoulders with golf royalty at this 12 months’s version of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
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“It’s such a huge prize, and I’m really looking forward to it,” he stated. “To spend time with the world’s top pros and have the chance to walk inside the ropes with them and to get a first-hand look at their process and course management is huge.”
Newman was solely 14 when he introduced his arrival on the nationwide junior circuit with a wire-to-wire victory within the 2021 Joburg Junior Open. Last 12 months, he led from begin to end within the Nomads Gowrie Farm U15 Challenge earlier than efficiently defending his Joburg Junior Open title, profitable by 9 strokes, once more in wire-to-wire model. He ended the season at primary within the U15 rankings and picked up the place he left off with a win within the 2023 Nomads National Order of Merit Coastal occasion at Selborne Golf Club in January.
This string of massive titles means that the Pecanwood junior is on the right track to grow to be a {golfing} star and he greater than confirmed his standing when he completed because the runner-up within the 2023 Scottish Boys Open Championship at Lundin Golf Club in April, ending the week because the top-ranked Under-16 participant.
Nedbank Junior Challenge winner seals the deal
Coming into the week as the highest participant on the U17 rankings, Newman trailed the leaders by three pictures within the opening spherical, however the Pecanwood junior hit the entrance on day two and began the ultimate spherical with a three-stroke lead over GolfRSA National Squad member Dylan Kayne. Bennett, together with Bernhard Koster and Morris Schiefner, have been within the chasing pack, hoping to catch the gifted teen.
A bogey on the primary gap may need given them hope, however a string of pars adopted by a birdie on the par-five ninth noticed Newman end the entrance 9 on degree par. After a drop on 12, he chipped in for an eagle on 14 and a birdie on the par-three sixteenth lined bogeys on the ultimate two holes.
“I definitely played a bit more conservatively,” he defined. “I knew that the fellows chasing me would come onerous, and so they did, however this course is a troublesome one to assault, so my technique was to maintain issues regular.
“I drove the ball well in all three rounds, but a lot more putts dropped in the second round. My putting saved me again on the last day because I had a lot of two-putts and got away with a lot of pars. You have to respect this course, plan your way around it and play to your strengths and I think I did that well. I’m very honoured to add this title to my list of wins.”
Bennett fired a ultimate spherical of 69 that included 4 birdies and an eagle, however in the end the 17-year-old fell one stroke wanting Newman’s report complete.
Kayne, who wanted a birdie on the final to get right into a playoff, made a closing bogey to slide again into third place, with Koster ending fourth, the final of the gamers in crimson numbers.
The 78-strong restricted subject included 19 of the main lights from the South African Golf Development Board. First-round co-leader Devon Valentine and Zinan Maimane led the problem, ending joint thirteenth on six-over, with TJ Sandys third finest in a tie for 18th on eight over.
Nedbank Head: Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing, Tobie Badenhorst, was delighted on the success of the third version. “We are proud to have partnered with GolfRSA and Sun International to launch this main junior event three years in the past. We constantly search alternatives to help the event of golf in South Africa and the Nedbank Junior Challenge has exceeded our expectations.
“Not only does the Nedbank Junior Challenge showcase the depth of junior golf talent in South Africa, but it is wonderful to see how the SAGDB players embrace the opportunity to level up and gain invaluable experience at one of the top courses in South Africa,” provides Badenhorst
Every South African golfer who has lifted the Nedbank Golf Challenge trophy started their profession within the buildings of GolfRSA, and Tournament Director Ken Payet is impressed with the expertise coming by way of the ranks.
“We are very proud to host this tournament, together with our longstanding partner Nedbank, and to play our part in helping GolfRSA grow and develop the game in South Africa,” he stated. “The Gary Player Country Club is a challenging course which puts a premium on course management, and it is wonderful to see the progress from youngsters returning for a second or third year. It is also encouraging to see SAGDB players improve year on year, and to hold their own among the top-ranked juniors in the country.”
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