De Jongh shines in U19 champs
Golfer scores T45 out of 144 of SA’s top players
The Nomads SA boys Under 19 championship hosted by Golf RSA at the Waterkloof Golf Club in Pretoria was a once-off opportunity for Queenian Gabriel de Jongh.
He had been selected to play last year, but the championship was cancelled due to the pandemic and next year he will no longer be U19.
However, half an hour before reaching Pretoria, where he and his father were to stay with a friend, they received tragic news.
Sadly, the friend’s daughter had passed away that morning from an asthma attack, and so they had to find alternative accommodation. However, another friend came to the rescue but this involved a lot of daily travelling.
Despite this, De Jongh overcame the shock and made the decision to still try his best.
De Jongh was not able to practise at the venue as it was fully booked, so he ended up at the World of Golf in Centurion, where he could practise to his heart’s content.
A total of 144 boys were selected for the championship, the cream of SA boys U19.
The championship entailed 72 holes of stroke play over 18 holes each on the Monday and Tuesday.
The leading 65 players and ties then had to play 36 holes on the Wednesday and De Jongh was in this group.
He struggled on the first 18 holes and, despite doing much better in the second, the deficit prevented him from making it into the leading 32 players who went on to play matchplay the next day.
The end result for De Jongh was that he was T45 out of 144 boys, which effectively means he did better than the other 99 of SA’s best players.
He can be proud of his achievement in that he played solid golf on a course with the fastest greens around, displayed impeccable sportsmanship and was an excellent ambassador for his school, Queenstown Golf Club and Border Union.