NMU’s De Beer in SA team for world event
PE golfer aiming for top spot at university champs
PORT Elizabeth golfer Kyle de Beer will be gunning for top spot as he prepares to take on the best university golfers in the world at the FISU World University Golf Championship in two weeks’ time.
De Beer, 19, will form part of a three-man team competing at the event in Lubao Pampanga, Philippines, from May 16 to 19.
“I am very excited about attending the championships and honoured to have been selected to represent South Africa again, having also attended the World Student games in 2017, so I have had experience playing at this level,” De Beer said.
Including Emilio Pera and David Nortje, the South African team would be a force to be reckoned with when they took to the course, he said.
A human movement sciences student at Nelson Mandela University, De Beer, a former Woodridge pupil, also assists with part-time coaching at the PE Golf Club.
He said he was happy with his game, but improvements could be made to certain aspects heading into the championships.
“Obviously, I am going to put in a lot of hard graft, no matter how good my game is.
“I think the reason I have been performing so well recently is that I have worked a lot on my short game, but going into the championships I will definitely be working on all the aspects of my game.”
De Beer is quietly confident of the team doing well as both Pera and Nortje, who are students at the University of Pretoria, are strong players,
“On paper, we have a pretty strong side so I think we are very capable of competing for the top spots,” he said.
“We just have to stick to what we know and give it our best out on the course.
“I will approach these championships as I do any other tournament I participate in, although there will be additional pressure seeing that it is a world event.
“But on the day anything can happen.”
Graeme Whale, who has been working with De Beer for the last five years, said it was a fantastic achievement for De Beer to have been selected to represent his country again.
“His game has developed a lot over the last few years,” he said.
“He works very hard on his game and his selection is the benefit of a lot of hard work.
“He has developed a lot over the last few years, is very disciplined and knows what he has to do to improve.
“He has become a very consistent performer.”
Whale said the team were a talented bunch capable of competing with the best in the world, but it would be the experience they took away from the championships that would count.
“It would be nice if they could come back with a medal, but ultimately it would be the experience they will gain.
“It will be very difficult to beat the Asian countries in Asia.
“All the conditions with the grass, heat and humidity are vastly different from those we have in Port Elizabeth [or South Africa], so it would be a real test for them,” he said.