Demi spot-on yet again on fairways

ON East London golfing talent Demi Flanagan’s first international outing she added the All Africa Challenge Trophy (RAACT) with the SA women’s team, to the Bank Windhoek Namibia Amateur Ladies Strokeplay Championship title she claimed two weekends ago.

It was South Africa’s fifth consecutive title at the Challenge and they dominated all three days of action as they triumphed on a seven-over-par 439 total, a huge 30 shots ahead of Zimbabwe in a distant second place, with hosts Namibia a further 14 shots back.

Flanagan could not replicate the brilliant form that saw her claim the Namibia Champs, where she shot a fantastic four-under 212, beating local favourite Caro Els by three shots and fellow South African Cara Gorlei who took third on even par, but she still enjoyed a solid tournament with Gorlei.

“I had I great time out of the country, it was a new experience and one that I will never forget,” said Flanagan.

“Winning my first international title felt good. I was really pleased with my performance. I put in a lot of hard work and it paid off. “This is my biggest win so far.” Gorlei, SA women’s second ranked player and Flanagan, 20th, took the Challenge by storm, posting the top two scores in the final two days and the best and fourth best on day one.

How the Challenge works is three players from each team compete and the best two scores on each day are counted towards the teams’ totals.

Individually Gorlei finished as the top golfer with a three-under 213, with Flanagan in second with a 10-over 226. De Lange posted three non-scoring rounds over the tournament, but her scores were enough for her to finish fifth overall, sealing a top tournament for the SA team.

“It was spectacular being a part of that team with these girls who play brilliant golf. I really enjoyed sharing that moment with them,” said Flanagan.

“We all knew each other before so it was awesome going away together, and I was also glad to meet golfers from the other countries.”