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Live coverage from the inaugural Africa Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek, South Africa.
The championship will feature 72 men from the Africa region competing in a 72-hole stroke play format with the winner receiving an exemption in The 152nd Open at Royal Troon.
An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue during the week of the championship.
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[Applause] Welcome to the first ever Africa amateur championship at the world famous leopard Creek in South Africa surrounded by the natural beauty of Krueger National Park the players will be hunting down the opportunity to become our noral Champions as far as the venue leford Creek is considered one of the best
Courses on the continent and since 2000 has hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship on the DP World Tour 72 men will compete over 72 holes of stroke play while the women’s Invitational will be across 54 but wait it’s not just trophies that they’re playing for the women’s Victor will earn
Many exemptions featuring The Women’s Amer championship in 2024 plus final qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open while the men’s Champion will earn the chance to play in the 152nd open at Royal drune the amateur Championship the Alfred Dunhill championship and waterfall City Tournament of Champions powered by attic history will soon be
Written as we look to Crown our new king and queen of leopard Creek see what I’ve done here like rock oh look a hi hello and welcome to the Magnificent Krueger National Park just on the outskirts of the iconic leopard Creek Golf Club is where we’re beaming to you
Live at the inaugural Africa amateur Championship George Harper J what a fantastic place you have chosen to make your first trip out to the African continent my friend I’m very lucky I feel extremely lucky what a beautiful rugged terrain it really feels like you’re in the wild here and uh the
Weather’s certainly turning turning it on as well certainly Mercury expected to Peak at around 34° C today not too much wind to speak of expected to blow at around 4 to 8 mil per hour today and the St Meetup running at 11 the greens are it’s already been a fantastic week it’s
A gathering of Africa’s best amateur golfers as they’ve all descended on Leopard Creek right here in the province of umum Malanga rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mr Johan ret and M SL there as well 9 years at the helm and this will be his last but what a platform it
Is it’s obviously about camaraderie as well for these kids creating a world class platform for the most talented amateur golfers in Africa absolutely AR of of course want to make golf more accessible more appealing and more inclusive and that’s led to the establishment of this wonderful tournament that brings together the best
From the Continent we’ve already seen some spectacular go early at the start of this inaugural event Ivan F one of the leading players seting the ear pace and the early Mark around the leopard Creek layout took a look at how he went around this a birie at the seventh the par
Three nothing but net for Vera but the man of the moment Matthew bramford he was on a roll here on the 10th an absolute monster birdie pup and that certainly deserves a first pump play from Zimbabwe on absolute fire that was of course to set up back toback
Birdies this at 11 a much shorter and clinical once again this Branford had another chance here on the Glorious 13th the real feature hole here at leopard Creek but he’ll be a little bit disappointed to leave this one in the Jaws but he certainly made up for it
Didn’t he oh absolutely he then went on a run of three consecutive birdies cleaning up for par here at a 13 and 14 15 getting Birds there and this to get it to 700 P at the 16th bottom of the cup and here he is tapping in a superb round
It certainly feels like that back nine is where you need to make your Hy and a seven under 65 to lead the inaugural Africa amateur you’ll take that every day of the week oh absolutely and look at that card how clean is that bogy free 65 to set the early Mark Matthew
Bramford great start for him and let’s see how things look at the moment Matthew bramford there as you can see you just seen him post at 65 got a two shot cushion over Evan fer young man also going along getting betes on the back nine as well Alton fan one of the
Early favorites coming in he’s two under through six well let’s see who we’re going to feature this afternoon some exciting players aib Hughes he’s playing with Dominic mus and Brian Newman match number 17 Christian Mar coming into the week as the hot favorite playing alongside Adel balala anded
Faki at 10:41 this morning they teed off Tanaka chatur they’ll be joined by safani dman and Godfrey sabuga Jordan burnand 23y old he’ll be teeing up alongside Simon dupoy and Issa Abu Ella from Egypt time to check out some live golf now showed you the feature groups and there was Adel bala’s
Approach shop here at the eighth 10th rather nice easy start I believe head to the back nine you can just bomb the fway bankers and give yourself a chance and he’s certainly done that what a way to start the coverage Christian Mass oh he’s looking to BS B
Dropped the shot at the eighth to drop back to one under par part the ninth and looking to get himself his first bu on the back nine and as we mentioned already at the start of the broadcast it seems that’s where most of the scoring is going to happen in this opening
Round the Texas University student back home after being in America for the last couple of months yeah he certainly got some Talent this kid and and you can tell that he’s been one of the favorites this week everyone’s been saying his name so there’s a little bit of pressure on the South
African first look at the PA for ninth hole match number 18 this is of course tanaga chatora sopan dman and Godfrey and Suba from Uganda sophan one of the leading Moroccan players it’s amazing just how much the game is growing on the continent one of many great personalities is
Chatur enjoyed chaning to him earlier in the week he’s got artists hands he loves doing a bit of Art and his away time so he needs a bit of Wizardry here lovely soft hands scares the hole haven’t seen too many players this morning when I went to check up actually
Making the ninth in two it’s a popular spot just that front side before the green at the nth so your short game has to be spot on today yeah these two holes 9 and 18 running parallel are really beautiful aren’t they that’s a lovely effort from the front of the green
There let’s head back to the 10th Del Bala his third shot coming up short below the hole got himself an uphill Pat here Bal made a solid start he was two under at one stage but then an eight really derailed as front nine so looking to start mounting that
Comeback once again fighting a few demons but he’s shown early that he can go so 25y old will be looking to charge back godri Suba really interesting how he actually got to the tournament was out in America last minute ditch efforts to actually get him a Visa once that was actually
Done just to get him here in time landed here last night so it’s good to have him taking part in the AF match up he joined us in the media center for his pre- tournament interview uh and that was meant to be two days ago so as he drains
A very good par a much needed par well done you can just tell the the happiness of course I’m sure the jet lag certainly may be starting to kick in but still enthusiastic as Godfrey very relaxed DEA um seemed like a really good personality and that’s what I’m noticing this week throughout
The whole continent so many great personalities um a lot of energy and a lot of fun so this tournament really does have a great feel for it as chatur finishes off I mean it’s amazing and obviously George you’ve covered a few of these amateur championships but what the RNA
Have actually managed to done in elevating this tournament and you can see in the excitement of the youngsters that have been here throughout the week all looking for the opport unities that really do come with this Championship yeah really elevating the amateur game in Africa and I guess it’s um helping
Them play at the highest level and create a pathway and hopefully be an inspiration for many others in the continent can foror inspire a few people with a birdie here on 10 it’s going up hill everything Slants from right to left on this green so he’s got to get it there and oh
180 he’s a passionate man he won’t like that you give back a shot unfortunately Elm not too many places in the world where you can play with the backdrop being oh the wonderful krga and you’ve been out of course and uh checked out the park a little bit here Georgie I got
Very lucky we went on a lovely Safari 400 a.m. start but um every minute was fantastic as M looks to conver convert a tremendous approach into the 10th agonizingly close 10 and 11 a really good chance to get some shots back and that one will just pull a few heartstrings it will be
A bit frustrating yeah we hoping that frustration doesn’t start to set in as the birdies go by for Christian Mar they didn’t for Matthew ities that have descended upon South Africa to take part in this inaugural event Zimbabwe Zambia Egypt Morocco all represented 24 Nations that have come
Through to play in this inaugural event lots of South African flags they’ll all be looking to derail the hopes of South African champ they’re going to be hard to beat they’ve got a a good group of players here this week Christian Mars might be a bit of anger in this one driveable Par
Four fun little hole Henny zul with us today he’s given absolutely everything to it but it’s leaking right settle settle okay green flag is up that stops short of the heavy stuff yeah right is the only way you don’t want to go on this hole few a few snakes off to the right
Here on the 11th I thought I heard something right next to me I moved on pretty sharpish yeah I need you walking down the middle of the Fe Fe ways please Hy yes noted it’s that uh toss up between getting shade and being safe all right balala he’s got some amends to
Make after the last t- shot that went way left obviously as you said you can’t go left hit but there is a great birdy opportunity awaiting him the pins up the back right so if you can find your way on the left side of the spway it gives you a bit angle AR
He’s leaning and that red flag heavy stuff I’m going to go and do some very tentative searching the wheels just slightly slightly falling off of balala as he looks to reload tough start for some fantastic start for others to the Africa amate Championship Matthew Branford leading
The way 765 that he’s posted in the groups that went out early on as the afternoon heat intensifies the is said the golf will also do the same for the first ever Africa Amer Championship is being played at leopard Creek in South Africa from the 21st to the 24th of February
20124 it follows the success of other men and women’s amate championships organized by the RNA in Asia Pacific and Latin America allowing players from the African continent to compete at the highest level while creating a pathway for future development the championship will feature 72 men’s amate golfers from the
African region competing in a stroke play format with the winner receiving the following exemptions including place at the 152nd open at Ro TR the champion will be decided by stroke play over four rounds the four lowest scores and ties over the opening 36 holes will qualify for the final two
Rounds in the event of a tie after four rounds the winner of the championship will be determined by a whole by whole sudden death playoff an Invitational event of 20 unite women Amit golfers from the region will also be held over 54 holes at leid Creek during the week of the
Championship the winner of this Africa am women’s Invitational will also be awarded a number of exemptions the Africa amateur is a world-class platform for the most talented amateur golfers in Africa to compete against each other find out more about the championship at r.org oh some of the locals have made an
Appearance spot quite a lot of Hippo around AO Georgie yeah you can hear them hear them barking at night looking very comfy in the water back to the ninth glorious looking hole birdie chance here all above the hole this should be breaking from his left to
Right really got to look at the grains here as well at leopard Creek you can see it on the screens how defined they are but it really does change your parts doesn’t it oh absolutely you really have to pay great attention to the grain here at Lepard
Creek you can just check the change and just how the grain flows and with the greens running at 11 on the STM as well if you’re down grein it’s going to be some fun s deploy he would have learned a little bit from that last part this to get back to
Leev will be a good feeling heading down to that 10th T box if this goes down oh yes he certainly has went to school and learned has Simon deploy gets back to even par opened with a birdie closes the front line with a birdie out in
35 Henny koak of course out there for us on the 10th Henny yeah Christian m is just rehearsing at the moment he’s in Prime position but not in Prime position is balala he was actually really lucky to find his ball in that long long long grass but it’s impossible to play out of
There so he’s just taking a drop now sizing up what he has to do for Cory also sizing up I believe they’re both going to wait for bolala to go first well in in his opening speech Mr Johan Rupert did warn the players that if you do push it out into the bush
Rather take a penalty drop and don’t even bother going in there and it was was actually fascinating to see the faces change as soon as he said that cuz there’s plenty black MERS out there oh yeah you don’t want to mess around with it from a wildlife point of VI but also
From an injury point of view I mean it’s a kind of hip height for me okay balala looking to run one in there tough looking shot as I mentioned earlier there’s a little bowl at the back right of the screen so you can use the slopes if you can ride the edge
Which you can just see a tin of there this one he’s got up a little bit higher and judge pretty well that should hold and come back to the pin never so slightly yeah you don’t want to leave yourself short because anything that’s not getting up to that top tier kind of
Runs back off here now look where Christian mass is this is a huge drop off at the front of this green if you fall short it’ll roll all the way back down to where he is so hopefully he’s not in a divot can he get a low one spinning up in
There trying to use the slope ever so slightly keep coming keep coming very curious pretty good effort yeah decent effort gives himself another chance at a birdie but it’s going to be so quick my goodness downhill down grind as we go to Alton Vander mura another hot favorite here this week
This will be hooping from right to left everything goes that way on this hole good attempt for Alton who this week is trying to go back to back got himself a win in the golf RSA International amateur a week ago so comes into this event off the back of some good form
As we go to balala 25 years old I’ll tell you what he’s got a CV like a growing man he runs two businesses into to in logistics and freight and plus a tech company as well fiber optic service provider so and he’s married with a kid when does he get the time to
Practice oh when he was telling me that earlier I couldn’t believe it very mature young 25y old and a nice shot below the hole there you’ll see the players of course with the push cards K’s not allowed at this event here’s a look at another promising young Talent from South Africa Daniel
Bennett this for birdie at the eth look how quick this is 10 oh it listen to you OG benett will not be happy with you but what a young golfer he is 18 years old and he is certainly capable of going low theori will be up first should come slightly from his
Right hand side so slippery here from above the hole both of these players are are going to have some tricky little parts for birdie Christian Mar will be doing a lot of Journalism here it’s just trickled off you get the sense that Mar’s duw he’s been fighting through this
Round currently one under par quite a colorful opening nine scorecard three boo birdies two Bogies as we saw this morning Matthew Branford five birdies on the back nine there out there and you feel if Christian can just slide one in from left to right here it could kick start
His back nine absolutely Ian F also he found himself four back nine birdies so they certainly out there oh using the entire circumference of the whole there Christian Mars can you see the relief in his eyes is that the little bit of luck he needed that never
Looked like it was going to drop tremendous result little Rel some [Applause] stress claims to be a short game magician so nice little up and down here will help begin proving that loves a short game enjoys fun around the greens and a nice up and down after finding trouble off the
Tee back to the eighth Alon fera just stain r numers yeah cleans up he mentioned his win last week it wasn’t just a win was it it was in tremendous Style holding out a bunker shot in a playoff so he will certainly be riding high this week absolutely he
Came back from five behind to actually force that playoff looking at the leaderboard at the moment it’s Matthew Branford leading the way 765 he posted aan Fester playing behind him 6 under 66 he opened with Christian Mar getting his first back nine birdie at 11 gets it to two underp and in third
Place on his own yeah you think if he can just chip away and get around that 4 five Mark he’s well within within reaching where he’ll want to be after the first round just needs to settle and stay in it because it won’t take much for him to light up here he’s
Played in this golf course over 50 times so you have no doubt that he’s got a low one in him this 12th hole is absolutely stunning and it’s wonderful because you come down from Below on the 11th scen you come up to the 12th T you might be
Able to hear it in my mic because there’s a lovely cooling breeze and in terms of the shot that you’ve got I mean it’s in the 120 so just a short little accessible pin right at the front of the green you got a couple bunkers around
But that’s not going to cause too much trouble for these guys wind is coming in as I said and it’s off the right hand side into and off the right hand side and it’s down the hill so you can see that’s out in front of you it’s a really
Really good birdie opportunity this hny this hole for me is when you really feel like you’re in Africa you stand on that tea and you look at that spectacular view you’re like yep yeah this is Paradise this is Africa I am going to have to uh take a look at a thesaurus
Tonight because I’m going to have to come up with a ton of descriptive words that aren’t awesome and amazing because I feel like otherwise I’m going to get quite repetitive over the course of the next few days but you’re not wrong George I mean it’s just absolutely
Stunning you can see the Krueger Park ahead of you the mountains come up there’s no trees in your view really blocking you out all around it’s a breath of fresh air a much needed Breeze of temperature soaring we’ve got two t options here on the 12 one at 120 which Hy mentioned and
Then they’ve clawed one back here to 5 six yards as well so today 132 Kenny di one in oh find that green side Bank up not what he would have wanted Hy it’s a very narrow green isn’t it so distance control is Paramount it is yeah I think he’ll be really
Disappointed with that though because it’s such an accessible pin today I don’t think you can get a more friendly pin for day one I think the danger here for these guys is as I said that wind is coming off the right hand side pushing everything towards that bunker that we
Saw a Mars hit it in so can Corey learn from him you really got to start it out on the right edge of the green and let that breeze bring it back in and a pretty solid effort there uphill par coming from right to left a booty
Chance looks like he’s got a good compact swing and a bit of strength he did say he loves the gym yeah there’s some speed out here in this group and there’s also a lot of patience balala has you know had a really tough last couple of holes missed
One left off the team missed one right I have not seen an ounce of frustration from him which from a professional in the game would be impressive but for a young amateur was so much at stake here on day one I’ve been very impressed with his demeanor so far the wind has just
Got up it really is blowing now the second he’s gotten over this oh as you look at bala’s t-shirt he looks to have pulled it well left we know all about Christian M of course a favorite in the field this week you know what he can do on the golf course we
Know what he’s been doing in Texas but what does he do when he comes back home and relaxes at his family home in Petoria let’s find out hello juy girl I don’t normally eat a lot of Breakfast in America the toast and Bal stuff right well I I love it what do you
Look forward to eating the most when you get back to oh I used to walk around the house doing this the whole day when I was about 5 years old when I was younger I definitely broke almost every window with some sort of ball he’s a baller he’s got a lot of
Ball s and he likes to play R the cricket anything to do with a ball but I can still pass now and then and I love golf so he went with me to the driving range initially and then I saw he’s got a natural ability and
Gave him my clubs to start to play and cut them shorter and basically from 8 9 10 We join Petoria Country Club but he just loves golf so all throughout scho will probably be here every day almost stuff like my Instagram I’m only looking looking at
Gol videos and swing videos of tiger and whoever puts up the best videos of people and everything’s just Golf go should do that more often just h m wow what a young Superstar you know he’s got his Texas bag out here he holds himself like a professional and he will need every single ounce of his professional skills to tackle what he’s got ahead of him here it’s plugged in
The face on 12 with not much of a stance first though balala you’d actually rather bala’s shot he’s down way to the left but it’s a nice line he’s got plenty of green to work with coming back up into the breeze it’s such a big drop off there on
12 I thought we’d see where balala is a bit more often when the pin’s on the left side but we’re getting to experience the Steep drop off early a little bit of coast to coast yeah it’s an interesting one George because it’s the first time you
Really feel that wind and I think balala got unlucky with it blowing on him but that o ran on a little I think he was happy with his pitch spot but just caught the Downs slope of the bunker slightly yeah these short holes they’re beautiful beautiful off the tea but
Proving to be tricky as M tries to Splash one out and he’s he’s done pretty well with the poached egg in that bunker yeah it’s weird to say considering that obviously it’s just On The Fringe but that was actually really good from where he was it was a complete worst nightmare fried egg
Situation I know he’s frustrated a little by that but to keep it where he did well not too bad all he got a bit of work to do to try and save P having gained a stroke in the previous hole he’ll hope not to give it back right
Away can see the change in Grain here on the 12th green just an indication of what’s to come yeah you know if you’re at home and grain is not something you’ve experienced before when it’s dark that means it’s into the green and when it’s light and shiny that means it’s down
Green and it’s quick and so you can use that as a tool to help read the greens and the speed of course aladi VOR one of six my rocking players in the field this week the only one on chance for a birdie but before we get there Christian
Mars after that Splash out of the bunker certainly need some magic here does the young South African former winner of the South African amateur Championship like to dominate on the continent very surprised to see him with a wedge in hand there and a valiant effort I like that little knock on the
Head very well judged indeed gives himself a t in for the bogie Thunder Mur now making the turn his second shot on nine lovely angle in for this pin he plays these beautiful punch he draws really compresses the golf ball and that one is near near got him in trouble but he’s
Dry back to the par three 12 th Al fori this for birdie oh pulled out immediately didn’t start it online yeah that part he was hoping it would work its way a little bit from right to left as that slopes from back to front but no dice but in comparison to his playing
Partners an easy PA is not all bad he’ll take that and run stays at plus one an eagle chance M could he spark up what it’s been a relatively tough day here on the Glorious 13th oh gave it a really good chance and what a eagle it would be on that
Hole we’ve already had one there today from Jad Sanderson oh it’s tending to be a bit of a nightmare now for Del balala look to contain not to give too many shots back another boy for the Kenyon and let’s see if he can finish off a really really solid hole here on
The par 5 13th using that claw grip Taps it in center of the cup lovely Birdie the three par FS on the back nine here at leopard Creek so anytime you get a chance to take advant Vantage you really have to and here’s a look just above that
13th green where M just made birdie as we see your leaderboard Matthew bramford leading the way 7 under 65 a tremendous back nine which included five birdies from Zimbabwe he has set the pace and just one shot back Ivan verer it’s all to play for it’s day one of the Africa amateur
Championship Simon dupoy level as he makes the turn alongside Jack panan r elali as well all level par players from ug Uganda South Africa Egypt all represented Joseph chinai 2 over 74 he posted to open his compan colorful personalities and colorful leaderboard those flags really showing the great countries and
Personalities that come from all around Africa there’s a d balala there in 32nd yeah py Lucas from bana 6 over through 14 great the work that’s happening out in bwana as they look to ignite the game and continue to grow golf in southern Africa yeah it’s a good community of
Golf participation here in Africa estimated 5.3 million adults engaged with the game across all formats so there’s a good base there to build on in bringing this championship to this part of the world is only going to do just that oh I’m looking forward to see how this Championship grows
George it’s amazing just speaking to the youngsters the opportunity that it provides just to come out here and test yourself against the best of the best on the continent really shows you where your game is and where you need to be if you want to kick on to that next step and
That’s what this man is hoping to do played well at the South African Open Championship towards the end of 2023 finishing as the leading amateur and winning the Freddy Tate cup out at Blair Ethel Golf Club oh one of the older players in the field 27 years of age and the camera’s cut
Away at the right time cuz I don’t think he’ll be very happy with that Weir shot good for de man for birdie 11 well earlier on wicha had the honor of the first t- shot the 21-year-old from Zambia is an RNA Foundation scholar and attended the Africa Turf Academy in
Durban we spent some time with him at home as he prepared for the Championship hello um this is my home situated in kaluchi in the Copa Bel Zambia his first sport was actually football when he was very young but how he switched to golf was quite amazing I think he was playing with the few sticks and uh little small
Gu nuts and so I don’t know where the interest came from it was it was interesting anyway and how he’s come to this level it’s quite amazing actually um I’ll just show you my home Club my golf club where everything started it’s a quiet clab that’s what I
Enjoy the most I can practice freely without any distractions Golf Open opportunities for me to go study in South Africa I don’t know if my parents were able to pay for me cuz it’s just too expensive to go study R is trying to help few students to come to the African
CH Academy I can’t put in two words how much I enjoy the green keep inside I love it so much ever since I started playing golf I made a decision to myself that I want to take golf seriously I want to win the career Grand Slam I
Believe in myself that I can do it so I sacrificed a lot spending hours on the heat planing the rain yeah you have to sacrifice a lot for you to chase down what you really want in Life then mura now after a little bit of a dicey Chip he pushed it a long way past this hole he has one for par coming back slippery one towards the water oh not what you want to do there ah let’s go back to the beautiful part
513 T what does faki have left yeah it’s lying nicely just down the right hand side and he’s playing for position he’s done the smart thing just Advanced it up to the entry point of the green perfectly done yeah as soon as you get your t- shot slightly wrong on this
Hole that’s the great thing about it is it forces you to lay up the rough isn’t quite as easy as you’d like so if you’re looking to go for the screen you certainly have to be in the short stuff yeah and in the short stuff and in absolutely perfect condition
Is balala and Mar a little further up who absolutely smoked that like I said on the last T there is not a shortage of speed in this group it’s impressive to watch these future Superstars this feature hole it’s got trouble all the way along it water on
The left out of bounds into the crocodile River shouldn’t be an issue for these players but the bay allowed us to certainly block this slightly right and as you can see there on your screen balala has a little bit of a tree to work around but when you five over he’s going
All in here yeah body language wasn’t great I mean he’s going to be disappointed that he wasn’t more aggressive with that but if that’s your miss you are happy birdie still on the cards he left that at the perfect spot for front right of the
Green he can chip that back up Mars is it’s really interesting to watch he’s got this like confident Scotty Sheffer like Swagger to him as I said he’s kitted out in his Texas gear and he was just sitting on the wheel of his trolley waiting for his playing Partners to go
Now it’s a a relaxed all right what have I got yeah he’s a great personality and he’s in position A1 here no doubt about it that pin right in the middle of the screen so it’s a real chance to get one in close here and surge into this back nine at leopard
Creek yeah this is got Eagle written all over it he’ll be thinking if I can just Nestle this up you’ve got to leave it short of the pin long is absolutely dead you’re gone left that slope on the left comes into play so if he can leave it short short
Right then Eagle is on aggressive line steering it down has it held on looks slightly left Henny oh yeah no as I said but long is dead that bounced off of that long Left Bank we’re going to have to go up there and see if that remained in bounds or
Not oh that’s the danger at 13 gives you a chance but you really have to be spot on there it’s amazing just how big that greenness but with that pen is today back left certainly a sucker one just in a little world of his own here
As Vander murver all of a sudden he’s got a four-footer for bogy and that is disappointing he will be Ying after being in Prime real estate off the tea from where he was you were thinking birdie at one point walks off with a double to turn one over par for Alton
Fera spoke to his coach yesterday and he was saying they’ve actually been working on a bit of a change in his swing for the last 11 days so I don’t know if maybe those old habits are starting to creep in it’s said beautiful Clubhouse here at leopard Creek just behind the 18th and
9th green certainly is stunning there the canvas is beautiful here at the leopard Creek Country Club and players from all over the continent are getting treated to an amazing week courtesy of the RNA scores are starting to flood in here on day one one of those weeks where the
Buildups been so exciting just to get underway to get balls in the air is certainly worth the wait and look at this this 13th hole is very quickly become one of my favorite holes I’ve ever seen think the players might actually start getting their cell phones out on
The screen at some point absolutely and we see Christian Mar walking violently towards his ball what does he have left here is he safe he is a very very lucky boy indeed it took a big bounce but it’s safe it’s inbounds and he actually has a pretty reasonable Chip Shot back up not
Okay is his poor mom who said to me why can’t he just do something safe middle of the green lay up and then she said I’m not going to worry about it I’m just going to enjoy this view there’s a stunning view actually from where he’s playing his Chip Shot straight down the
Crocodile River it’s gorgeous oh the stresses you see parents following their boys and girls it’s not an easy sport to be a number one fan of as we pop back you mentioned Henny the good spot to up and this is certainly it yeah the only I guess unlucky part for
Him here for Cory is that it’s on a little bit of a down slope and there’s a ridge coming off the bunker on the right hand side so it’s going to come out lower than usual he’s using his Loft punching down on it getting a little bit of bite it’s pretty well played
Beautiful hands at this level you really see how good they are when the short game comes to the party yeah there’s no uh fear with the short game at this level it’s actually really nice to see they’ve got some nice speed as well it doesn’t transfer just
Doesn’t apply sorry just to the long game but speed in the short game is so crucial to getting that spin that we just saw from fori balala well pretty much has the same shot but he’s on a little bit of an UPS slope and obviously
A lot closer so he can fly this about 3/4 of the way to the pin leave it below the hole if you can just like that left them a nice uphill pad so as I said from Master’s side when I’m standing at his ball it looks pretty reasonable I’m standing the other side
Of the screen is actually quite quick down from the friend’s got a pitch it to the hole now if that can settle oh that’s absolutely stunning the crocodiles weren’t scaring him there he put the backdrop out of his mind and is stuck it nice and close for
A birdie counts well Georg you mentioned I mean he’s played here over 50 times has Christian Mar so you must be thinking he’s he probably knows if I go and probably just a club extra and goes off he’s not going to be too in danger
And go back into the Krueger so but of course knowledge seems to have worked out there for Christian M at 13 let’s go to the top chatur for birdie of The Fringe won the Doug more trophy in Zimbabwe in January so knows the feeling of getting a win under the belt does CH
Chatur H is this your first look your first glance down at the 13th that um it’s pretty beautiful stuff I can see hippos pretty much all day there we’re going to let Hy move up ahead to the 14th see if aori can get a much needed birdie here get back to level P
Oh and just glces past the hole good effort from the Moroccan this is not the golf course when you on course commentator doesn’t respond you start getting worried so uh luckily H is walking to the 14th we can confirm that she’s safe but we’ve seen right when you get
To the 13th over the years at the Alfred Daniel Championship here you get the elephants coming down to the crocodile River to quench their thirst just such a beautiful sight fantastic backdrop balala loves the short game can he convert for birie and maybe start rting the wrongs of the
Round so far left hand low he’s been good from this distance that will bring a smile to his face birdie gets back to four over par spoken a lot about how fantastic Kenyan athletes are in the world athletic stage you see them win Olympic Games World Championships agre there a lot of talent
Out in Kenya on the golf course as well and I’m sure through this Championship we’ll see many the Kenyans come to the four Christian M for what in the end is a easy birdie gets it back to 200 underp well it should calm Mom down understands
Let’s hope Mom’s hot rate will come down slightly chur now finishing off for par always a good P here on the 12th well done me formality for the young Zimbabwean to the 10th now after a disappointing ninth hole Vander mura he’s got a great angle in everything slanting from right
To left and he loves playing a draw been watching him on the Range earlier this week this suits his eye can he capitalize here just a little bit short a little bit right Daniel benett it’s going to wait for his turn oh will that hold on you don’t want to
Leave it short here away it goes the way it goes love to see how quick he played there he he beat us all to that shot ready golf we love seeing that all around the world pace of play speeding up the great game see there’s three golf balls on the
Green Daniel it setting himself up with a birdie opportunity seeing those RNA boards all across the golf course of course they want to grow the game on the African continent and have gathered a number of ambassadors from across the world and one of them joins us now in
The commentary Booth Brian Abner good afternoon oi how good to be here um I mean the airon is really working I mean both and George need to get out in the course and experience the heat that there’s some absolute Heat going on the course in terms of the play but it is
Boiling out there I don’t think I’ve seen you this year have I happy 2024 then Happy 2024 buddy good to see you tell us your your involvement with the RNA and and in terms of being an ambassador I mean you’re all about development in sport and you came
Through the ranks in rugby and you know just how much at this level you really do need the assistance so o firstly you know massive honor and and privilege to be speaking to the r RNA and and their Development Association and understanding you know how they going to
Grow the game of golf globally I think for me I’ve been very fortunate that golf has been a significant impact in my life and in the game of of rugby you the the socialization aspect the discipline the fun that we’ve had I actually joked to George a few few hours ago that rugby
Potentially got in the way of our golf 2015 at the Rugby World Cup and potentially led to that in loss against Japan Jokes Aside but you know golf has been an absolutely brilliant game and you look at the opportunity that the RNA have now you know put forward in this
Africa Amon Championship developing the game you know throughout the world getting people loving the game understanding the different formats of the game the ease of getting into the game and you just the absolute Brilliance of being able to you know shout on a global stage with some incredible ambassadors you know Kevin
Peterson’s got a great place just off the road here that he loves coming down to Nile horen you know on a stage in front of millions of people uh and just advocating for incredible this game with golf is the benefits the health the health aspects the the discipline that
That you get to um you know for me as a r player the ability to challenge yourself each and every time you hit a golf ball is very much like life continually wanting to be better so a massive privilege and you know resonating with how the benefits of golf
Are really good for you and I mean it’s a beautiful game to play particular if you get courses like this around the world and how incredible it is well as a new New Zealand I’m a bit gutted the South African team didn’t play more golf in
2023 but um great to have you involved Brian and for those that may not know he’s a 124 test cap springb 67 test tries to his name as fori looks to find the fway here on 14 and does so nicely for this oh hold on it might have disappeared but Brian
We talked earlier uh you mentioned being a young boy at the 995 Rugby World Cup and how that inspired you to play rugby do you think people watching the Africa amateur and and even playing it can Inspire them to Greater Heights in the game of golf I was fortunate enough
Georgie to be on the first te uh with the first you know first three bow that went off and you know there’s an interesting moment there where you know one player was given the opportunity to you get on the biggest stage and the nerves and everything that comes with
That and and the learning curve that that meant for you know that that gentleman and you know all those emotions the adrenaline pumping I think for me my journey you know very much like these guys and the ladies playing was really about understanding there’s a route to
Go I was very amateur and my first ever game of rugby was for the under 14 g-side after that you played g-side G I played for the G team a BCD e FG seventh beths we scrum off in King Edward the 7 that’s so hard to believe I promise you
I did immediately go to the bside the next week scor two tries on debut um which obviously was good for the rest of it but again the amateur role you know for me I didn’t play any representative age group level rugby for South Africa and didn’t play sa schools didn’t play
Under 19 but continued forging my way and that inspiration of what 95 meant for me to be able to continue fighting believing working and dreaming and you know very similar opportunity for all these incredible golfers that you get on one of the most incredible golf course in the world the opportunity to test
Themselves and how Ste their their resolve is to to come out best you know with the Accolade of potentially getting opportunity to go play at the open and the AIG women’s open I mean that is as big as possible it sure is that’s right they
Get a ticket to the 152nd open at TR and then they can go to final qualifying for the womens and maybe join them there so there’s opportunities are plenty as wow three balls are on the 12th green that’s a a rare sight for today we did mention
This is probably the most accessible pin you’ll see this week at the top so anytime you can get on the short stuff you certainly do you I mean Brian we are blessed I think I guess in South Africa with like so many Fantastic golf courses
To be able for all the other players to actually make their way down here and play in what is arguably one of the best we have in our country also a massive PR privilege and I guess we have to thank Mr Yan ruper the team at leopard Creek
And just what the RNA have been able to afford these guys what an absolute privilege and honor um you know you look at this this course um you look at that you look at that site you know on the Krueger um crocodile River I mean it’s it’s insane and for these players that
Would never have got the opportunity to test their ability against some of the best on the African continent to be afforded that by you know leopard Creek Mr H ruper and and the RNA is absolutely brilliant and hopefully like we’ve seen in rby the likes of a Fiji a Japan a
Portugal that have been able to test themselves against the best in the world and gone on to to the biggest stage and done some absolutely brilliant things and hopefully the very rough diamonds that we seeing out on the course tonight can you know really Forge into some pure diamonds that become Global
Superstars as we see there Alon F walking off with aart henn’s down there on the 14th and this ball has creeped into the bank of hene it has it’s lying nicely obviously he’s quite close to the face but it’s such a short little shot um the pins at
The front is which makes it tough you just got to play for the meat of the green here if you can water avoidance is key this is all about just playing for safety playing the percentage shot yeah one of the hardest shots in the game aner from this distance so hard to gauge
There and the water could be in play as as head goes down wow little layup fortunately not caught it that well yeah that was one of those happy happy accidents a nice layup there uh fori got lucky actually not ball sort of stayed just up on that
Little bit of rough didn’t Bumble Into the Bunker and so he stayed up on top it’s down the breeze and he’s coming from the rough and with that front pin he’s got to throw this all the way up oh no and we see the flag as well now it
Seems like the wind is slightly picked up there hen yeah it’s kind of Gusty I would describe it as one moment it’s really calm and now right now it’s just gusting and that can happen to you when you’re right over your shot like it just did to fori there so at the moment
Disgusting but for Mars off the Fairway he can generate some spin yeah chug it at the back foot hit down on it bounce bounce and stop slightly long as the safe option and he’s done just that your golf Journey has been certainly interesting Brian um played with Tiger
Woods you know had to throw that in jumped Oni matama almost broke his back and two years later when um you know whens wins the master so I mean if there are any professional golfers out on you know on any other the tours whether you know in South Africa around the world
And potentially want to have an opportunity to try win The Masters jump on or The clar Jug I’m happy to jump on your back and yeah Force an injury and then recover to win I love it how is your golf game Brian I guess now you’re retired you might be playing
A little bit more so I mean I I have to be very transparent and honest given the fact that OG m is sitting next to me and was um at a golf weekend that we had with super sport and bcx in uh in November last year and uh was commenting
On skull Brit’s commentary about my four empty sleeves of balls that were in my cart OG um you you went all out on that one didn’t you H how did you hear that news travels far o um my friends that were watching live uh couldn’t send me that that video commentary of yours
As quickly as they did but that they send you the one on the 18 so you hit a blind of an approach shot and I I I gave him a song and a dance about it did they send you that video no my kid sent me
That saying Daddy you’re not as bad at golf as everyone else says you are um but yeah my my golf’s not great George and you you did a bit of catting for me this morning on on the par 3 um yeah I’ve I’ve been very sporadic you know
When you’re in corporate and you have put in leave days it becomes a little bit difficult to justify 6 hours in the golf course particularly when you have a wife and two kids well there’s many different formats of the game nowadays that’s for sure can be quick and easy like the par three
Course we played here this morning and then right now for Cory looking to tidy up after what was certainly a big era finding that water as we pop to the 11th D mura he’s on a bit of a roller coaster needs to just settle things down
And looks like he’s doing so by laying up on this short PA four member of the any alen fan cord Foundation it’s produced quite a number of great players the likes of Brendan Grace Lou Who won the Danel here in December so Alton coming out of a great Foundation down in George South
Africa and you’ve also got hus ferk in in town this week you know that’s been instrumental and making sure that that Foundation has continued blossoming and you know the likes of you know Brandon Louie that are key instrumental Inspirations that these new youngsters coming through understand that there is
Opportunities to succeed in what the ear foundation on the sun sign tour the foundations that really give back to the game and you look at what the RNA is investing in Africa as as a continent and how special that is and and hopefully these youngsters will you know
Continue putting in the hard work to to go on and Achieve greatness and become their own inspiration you know to to New Generation OG how how important our role models Brian I mean you remember going to watch that 95 World Cup and seeing all the stars there y Fran and everyone
That was there Chester Williams what did they do for you and you know trying to sort of put yourself in a place where you’re like that’s where I want to be and for these guys to know that the likes of louby and charl have won here and they all coming from this continent
That it is possible for them RS RS are incredibly important and I think the biggest thing is to instill a sense of hope um you know you look at the the small percentages that do go on and become go to Q School get their cars get
On it to uh you know win tournaments win Majors it’s it’s a very small percentage but the fact that you have role models you 95 was a massive water shed moment in my life the ability to understand the power that sport has to change my life
And you know you fast forward 12 years later I’m winning a World Cup you know on a bus tour in South Africa and seeing African youngsters in in the Eastern Cape running Barefoot behind the bus yes to get a glimpse of the heroes get a glimpse of that trophy but get a glimpse
Of Hope and you know fast forward another 12 years you have the absolutely incredible caki lifting the World Cup trophy in Japan 2019 they get to do that and back it up in 2023 and you know what this generation of R players has now done is we’ve seen the most
Transformative Springbok team you know go on and and give hope to so many and true Hope Christian M for birdie leaves that short will not be happy with that it was a really good chance he’s just fighting through his round at the moment still managing to be
Two under for the day so if his bad day is too under I’m sure he’ll be right as rain throughout the week cing now a bogey part these are the ones you need to keep your Championship on track after watching Christian Master’s part this should just ease in outside the right
Edge big momentum part here for fot and snakes it in gets away with it two over par feel he let one go there of course that t-shot so important to keep it down the left hand side that 14th Fairway slows from left to right so sneaking into the bunker hurting him
There it’s Matthew Branford leading the way 7 under par with the opening 65 here at the Africa amateur championship Brian I did say to George I won’t reference the 23 Rugby World Cup final cuz I know he’s still hurting from the box winning that over the All Blacks no no no no day
1,582 of being world champions they couldn’t stop rubbing it in post 2015 so any opportunity we get we going to bask in that Glory right surely oh okay there you go Joie cheers boys uh a pleasure to be here in Africa um you know you guys are
Really really looking after me uh let’s not mention the the red cards which one we didn’t get any right oh no you should have but okay sorry just our captain just confirming we’re dead um onepoint wins aren’t we that’s that’s how we go Georgie well to be fair onepoint wins throughout all the
Knockout games was pretty impressive so crit we credits to has benett the young gun looks to d one in here on 11 leaving himself a full shot in certainly making sure you don’t pitch on that front side of the green because it will spin all the way back to almost where he is
About so got himself a tricky downhill pad coming up that’s Daniel Bennett Brian you’d almost be tempted to jump in that water by the sounds of the heat out there no I’m um I’ve actually asked for a bucket of ice because I don’t think that water is cold enough to
Cool us down at the minute it is absolutely swalling out there George and I mean your acon that you’ve got going in in the coms box is is a delightful reprieve that I I haven’t been able to have for for the better part of the day
I’m starting to heat up even with the air con it’s slowly seeping through it’s it’s impressive heat as we look out to the Krueger look at that look at that can’t see too much out there at the moment but wow it’s um certainly worth a
Visitor make sure you do get out on a safari if you are here lucky enough to nearly see all of the big five a few days ago of all animals though I haven’t seen a leopard at leopard Creek that is my spirit animal um there’s actually a I’m
Not quite sure you saw that social media clip doing the rounds a couple years ago I saw that that’s would you say that’s yeah I know so there were a couple of spring boxs that played leopard Creek when we played the All Blacks and to two years ago and um there
Was a incredible clip of Bilo putting his tea shot down putting his b in in the ground and literally the sound of a leopard um in the bush to to his right and they all jumped in the car and went sped off so it’s it’s real in Africa
It’s even realer at lipid Creek Wow first T weren’t hard enough it would top it off birdie pad glces pass for Daniel Benet it’s got that three footer for pop Daniel B it a man that we can expect to go low at some point this week no
Doubt about it he shot a casual 34 under par at The Nomad South Africa under 19s won by a casual record of 21 Strokes 34 under half of his scor and he still would have won by four shots so incredible that is just unbelievable and hopefully he can produce some of that
Magic this week because it would be amazing to watch 62 61 68 and 63 imagine 68 being your bad round of the week I mean that sounds like me on the first nine so i’ i’ take that any day of the week Georgie Bolton Vander
Mura you get the sense if there’s ever a time for a bird it’s right now he’s had a tough couple of holes and this would really get him back on track and excited for this back nine lovely stroke well done son nice birdie time for Vander Mur what’s your favorite course out here
Brian yeah you going to struggle to beat and I’m not just saying it because I I am here but leopard Creek is just special um been fortunate enough to have played a few times I’ve lost a lot of walls in these um in these woods and the
Rough and you definitely don’t go into to look for them um but got to play on the part three for the first time last year and I think the setup I think you know what Yan ruper and the Le Creek Association have managed to B J really
Special you know fan courau links where the d da was you last week OG that SK britz finished on second on the on the leaderboard there didn’t it was a a massive reprieve from finishing bottom of the table with me at the Super Sport last November playing with Sunshine tour
Professional Kyle Barker they finished second in the b ball competition that’s SC Brits also a World Cup winner with the spring box back in 2019 yeah the setup here at leopard Creek is certainly amazing to have a look at that par three uh par three course and the range as well you’ve got
Three positions so no matter what the wind is you can enjoy the range so they have not missed a beat here at leopard great and we’re very fortunate as OG’s mentioned number of times in the program already you know South Africa’s got some incredible golf courses up north you
Know down south the the Garden Route we we really are incredibly fortunate the fancort links is one of the most incredible courses in in the world to actually get to be on um I really enjoy the Met down in Cape Town on DHL Stadium a nice little nine holer that’s
Challenging without being too difficult and when the wind blows you sort of just uh get to C point and um get to giovan to have a bit of a p listen probably one of the most underrated golf courses that met so if you do happen to make your way out to
The African continent go down to Cape Town and go play Metropolitan unbelievable greens they’ve got down there and then also been very fortunate enough to get on some great golf courses around the world um I had the fortune and privilege of playing you know St Andrews after the 150th open you know
With the championship te’s which didn’t bode well for me unfortunately um but it was a great experience and the memories always have George um that’s right Buchanan who just played a lovely wit shot he’s got a bit of Scottish in him so he’s enjoyed a few rounds there but
Yeah the memories that created at the home of golf are simply stunning and you also got it on a very good day as well didn’t you bra it was yeah I mean 2021 uh the Autumn Nation series happening South AFC play against Scotland and myself and uh the co-found of my ftech
Company Dion nrio with my University roommate we managed to win the lottery ticket uh got in early morning slot just ahead of the springwalk rby players cuz they um they had they put a full pulled a few strings to be able to get on there
But it was a peachy 17° no cloud in the sky and I mean 13th of November it’s it’s it’s unheard of um so that was pretty special and they actually actually went good that round but the courses in up north are also spectacular obviously the it’s difficult when it’s
Wet and cold um which is most of the year but when the days are glorious and the nights are long you know you can almost get in 72 holes up up in the UK um I know OG is definitely going to test that out at some point in the next uh
Next 5 years listen after Christian Mars told myself and Georgie that he played over 50 times in two weeks here at leopard Creek I think I could do 72 in one day yeah no worries easy ass Jack beanan even par for the day don’t think my chicken legs could get me around 72
Anymore start breaking down slowly about the same size legs as this guy some days like this when I miss Tony Johnston he be reing about the wildlife the bird life around the Krueger going into the park with his camera to see what he can come up with
As we head back to the PA 3 12 yeah we’ve seen some cross Country Golf on the 12th today and we were mentioning earlier that it’s one of the easier pins 11 on Six from the right so the bunkers shouldn’t really be in play and it’s a chance to stick one in tight
But what a view this is looking over Kruger Park it’s at one of the high points of the golf course 15th T up behind B Mur there but we Dre to see a good one on this hole at right ins side very friendly pin today at 12 playing 132
Yards such a narrow green which will come into play when the pins change position but here it’s a green light been working on retaining the height on his swing has alter fera in the last couple of weeks oh these coaches will be cleaning after that one fantastic
Approach olon was telling me he used to always play Tiger Woods on the Play Station that’s where he it helped him form the Love of the Game every time he’d be tiger and I guess it gets you to learn the course a little bit as well
When you play on some of those big ones as Bennett looks to match them Brian Habana after this shot lands I want you to tell me who your golf inspiration is who your favorite players were as he’s also joined him up close yeah I mean you sort of can’t I
Was in the era where tiger was on song uh from from the outet and an incredible inspiration and how he just dominated the sport was incredible as professional athlete and for us I was very fortunate George Ernie Al presented my very first spring box Jersey back in in England in 2004 and
That was a pretty special moment Ernie’s got a massive laay for the gamer and particular for the spring boxes blown all over the world and that t box brought forward at 15 allows these guys to really cut that corner great t-shots from them great t-shot really good
Opportunity here this is down the breeze the breeze is funneling all the way to a front pin that’s stunning for a par five it looked like he had quite a short wedge in hand so that wind is certainly playing apart yeah it’s pumping down it’s essentially like I
Said funnel is the best word to describe it down this hole and it’s all downhill as well so the guys it’s wide wide Fairway so the guys off the tea can really open their shoulders up balala can he provide some magic launching it high with the wind behind them
Safely on the green which to be fair is normally pretty good on this hole so much water you can see but with this left pin it’s more of a bad option today and what an angle Christian Mar has H yeah you took the words right out of my mouth
George he is over on the middle right hand side of a fairway so it is the perfect angle over this bunker to attack this pin lovely shot chance for Eagle can Christian Mars convert well AB balala is a busy 25y old the Kenan has a young family two
Businesses to run let’s chase his dreams and see what he’s up to hi I’m Adel balala I’m 25 years old from Kenya we’ve had the Asia Pacific they have the amateur we’ve never had the African amateur for countries like Kenya we look at RNA like our fathers of golf
Golf in my country is very demystified we have a few good players and we have a few legendary players as well some which have competed in the DP World Tour and the challenge tour back in the days we’re working towards with the RNA to D my ify golf across the country I started
Playing golf at about 2 years old my father introduced me to it I fall in love with it when I started playing competitively internationally it’s very competitive game and it has no master and this is why I fall in love with it it’s the competitiveness that never
Stops you know week in week out I’m actually a very good football player that was my first love as football and outside the golf course I do Logistics I have a business of my own and I also run an ISP which is an internet service provider golf in Kenya is not a great
Hobby to have because it doesn’t pay as much so good players like me after education are forced to find a job to make a living it’s been a long journey for me especially in the elite amateur level and to get my first win at the African amateur will be so significant
Because I’ll be giving hope not only to the people around me but to all Kenyan golfers who are aspiring to reach Great Heights experience helps me a lot I’ve been playing for a very long time and other than that I say my short game I’m a magician with the wages but on this
Course I say is my mental strength is what’s going to get me through the four rounds Tiger Woods definitely is the most influential player for all of us but primarily I would say most of the Kenyan players who have done well is a Greg snow and this m dieser I’ve played
Leopard Creek a few times absolutely amazing I would even go further than that I can’t really there’s nothing much I could say about it it’s absolutely amazing definitely the best destination I’ve played ever well Adele balala certainly is a busy 25y old we got the chance to sit
Down with him and he’s a real character and it’s been great to meet some of these young players from Africa so many different stories and uh one story we’ve loved getting to know is that of Brian Habana the new RNA development Ambassador Brian thank you so much for
Coming in and sharing some of your stories some of your love of golf uh it’s great to have you on board here this week and uh we really hope you enjoy the occasion yeah thanks George for really looking forward to you know seeing how these absolute James gone and
Use this opportunity capitalizing it talk about proud amazing the benefits of golf is and like I said I I play a lot of golf so there’s a lot of shots to see how much I enjoy the game on a regular a regular occurrence but it’s brilliant to
See what R now are doing across the world getting more people to love a game that you know has had a great impact for so many of us so might have to come frequent this air conditioned commentary box a few times over the next couple of
Days if you gents don’t mind Len I would never say no to you Brian so um anytime you want to pop in do so over the next 4 days buddy I was actually looking forward to to getting of him to be honest OG uh thank you very much Brian well
Done thanks Brian good to see you budy cheers Team all the best yeah Brian did have to go and mention that nice air conditioned comms box that you’re in I’ve been trying really hard to not think about that while I’m out here on the golf course yeah heny don’t go jumping in
That pond right next to you here on the exciting 15th I will try my hardest not to become a hippo and try and cool myself down now Hy is it just me or does this part of the golf course open up and start looking a little bit like TPC s grass
The power five 15th here and into what would be the 17th s grass oh I love that what a comparison yeah very much so you’ve got 16 that you can see the green just across from here at 15 and it’s definitely a cooler part of the golf course but can Mars maintain his
Call here this is going to bank off the right hand side a little bit there a slope coming in from the bunker agonizingly close for Mass what a moment that would have been for his week he left to settle for birdie not often you’re disappointed with a tap in birdie
Absolutely have to take advantage of this shortened hole for these guys this week for the members of course they’ll know this to be quite long especially for the pros playing it off the top top back t- box but that’s not in use for safety reasons this week so giving these guys a golden
Opportunity to walk off with an eagle at 15 so M agonizingly miss his chance can faki get back to level P if he sinks this this is a really tough read where this pin is it’s right in the middle of two slopes so you can almost make it a
Right to left or left to wrer depending on what you fancy it’s on the same line as balala so he’s got a bit of a read beautifully done he’s nailed it straight in the middle that is a huge moment four fory it must make you feel serious
Seriously good on the way home Bennett now to try and feel equally as good OG just to get into red numbers for Daniel oh can you see how quick that is really have to start it online back to the 15th balala for birdie oh no really do feel like you’ve given one
Away if you get off the 15th green with a par and he knows ity a beer each yeah we saw a great t- shot earlier from vand mura Bennett was unable to cash in can vaner mura do the opposite and and oh looked like he walked that in but unfortunately catches the
Lip roller coaster of a day absolutely he knows he should be a couple under par at this stage Alton fera well look at the locals basking in the Sun Lun time for the hippos at the kruer if you were to think of a golfer as part of the animals at the Krueger
Georgie what would you call a hippo well well let’s be honest the hippo is probably not a golf you want to be playing with you know they’re often late to their tea time you probably Rock up with a takeaway bag of McDonald’s from the drive-thru smelling you know bad
Breath you know probably the GOL Polo is way too small for them you’re sitting on the first tea with a teapot but once you actually get them on course it’s hard to keep them on the course a few WDS uh a few first reserves have had to
Come in but uh you know whether it’s the halfway Hut or the water hazard they certainly get distracted and probably ruin your fourball I reckon but uh there that’d be a fun animal no doubts about it there might you always want to invite invite to the party but
You know what you get when they’re coming sounds like a few of my friends won say name at the fear of never being invited back to golf again I look back at the 16th probably the most exposed part of the golf course here at leopard Creek ranks
As H 16 is like the second toughest hole for the members here the stroke two what do the guys have coming up here at the par three usually uh with a par three like this OG you’re looking at the pin and you’re going yeah if I’m pin high right or pin
High left I’m happy whereas here because it cuts in where that bunker is pin high right you’re still in a watery grave pin High left and you’re in this in that bunker or in that Scruff with a bit of a tricky chip so yeah it’s brutal it’s tight and you’ve
Got that wind that we’ve been mentioning that Gusty wind whipping across from the right hand side it’s very exposed here I guess the only good thing about the hold today that might be in their favor is that the pin is the front left which should hopefully keep them away from the water
And yeah I think the Miss is short left um or long online I think that’s probably the two that you’re looking at obviously long long online would be ideal um giving you a putt back down the hill for birdie but I don’t think you’re thinking birdie when you’re standing on
The SE box you’re thinking if I can get out of here with par I will Sprint to 17t yeah I saw a lot of lot of 79 hit here in the earlier practice rounds has to be a flush one no doubt about it for Cory coming off the back of
Eagle asking it to go and it’s the right Club a that’s exactly where you want to be yeah I don’t think he could have run up and placed his ball any better that’s absolutely perfect and actually for his playing Partners I know this might seem like a
Silly thing but it’s so good to see a nice shot hit ahead of you you get a nice example of what to do if he did it in the water you’re thinking oh no that’s all I can see now Christian Mar 30 the last can he continue his
Momentum and he is been scared of the water ever so slightly but that’s still fine from a body language point of view Hy how has Christian been looking these last couple of HS exceptionally he’s a very confident calm young man I would say there’s a tinge of frustration where he hasn’t taken
Advantage of some of the birdie opportunities or even Eagle opportunities we saw in the last I think he feels like he can score a little bit better but that’s exactly the position that you want to be in on day one if you can leave this golf course unscathed thinking I can score a
Little better you’re absolutely golden and interestingly here on the back of 16 to the left there’s a leaderboard so for the first time in since I’ve joined these players in the back nine they’re going to be able to see what position they’re in so I’m going to be watching
Like a hawk his body language after he sees that leaderboard great let’s head over to 13 Alon F from net danger right inside there geie yeah the rough’s so tough to get a read on sometimes it’ll be sitting up sometimes it’ll be low as he asks it
To come back to the left and it’s just trickled Into the Bunker which is a daunting shot as it’s on a slight downhill unlucky Miss but it just shows how important it is to find the Fairway on 13 to give yourself the best chance to the shortage par 4 14th burn for
Birdie coming up just slightly shy would have taken him to Fourth spot on his own will be interesting to see how physically these guys will be after 4 days if you’re not quite used to playing with a push trolley just add that extra bit to think about Daniel Bennett in Prime position here
13 looks like he’s trying to play a big high Mighty Fade to get it to sit still and he’s just going to trickle into this back right hand ball which will capture a lot of balls and he’s going to have a tough little shot into the Grain and up the hill from
There at least he’s dry but all the same he can be relatively aggressive up the hill but he’ll be disappointed and is disappointed knows that a good chance to set himself up to possibly get an eagle we’ve seen the quality of Christian short game before he loves
This little Chip Shot where he just descends the club head on the ball pop stood up this is going to break hard off his left hand side down the hill oh yeah the Bermuda grass has just caught his club and caught it very sharp as you can see by
The mowing strip that he was right into the grain there yeah it was a little bit of an unfortunate lie I guess that he had in terms of that Mo strip but I don’t think he would have had any question marks on playing that shot obviously he’s gone
Back to his b bag he’s got another different wedge just to switch things up a little bit but I think in his mind there’s no doubt that it’s a chip it’s not a PT yeah I just thought he had a quite an open Club face and a lofted
Club rather than dropping it on the back foot and just punching it on the head when you’re into the grain but yeah and I think that’s sometimes where like confidence can you know as I said he does have a great short game he knows he’s got a great short game he wouldn’t
He would have approached that shot not even thinking about that outcome and that’s where you see you know sometimes it’s that f balance between thinking about what’s the worst thing that can happen here let’s move across to balala though he’s on a very similar line this is
Going to be quick and down the hill breaking from his left hand side yeah B part here this would certainly be a bonus Birdie on a very challenging hole little Bobble off the sand early hopefully that hasn’t slowed it down and it’s certainly hasn’t what a two on the beautiful 16th balala goes
Bang oh the light after missing that birdie at the previous hole goes on and gets the more unlikely one at 16 yeah M with a chip again putting it to about 2 ft that’s just going to be a tap in for him for Cory as Mars TAPS in is eyeing up his birdie
Opportunity meanwhile balala walking off the green with a big smile as he strides towards up towards the leader board he’s a confident kid no doubt about it and that will do him the world of confidence what a beardy too yeah his attitude’s really inspiring he’s had his fair share of troubles hasn’t affected
Him whatsoever so he takes a nice well-deserved rest in a seat under a tree as vori tries to match him with his birdie opportunity back up the hill this is very very makeable wow lovely part that is for Cory walks off with a wonderful birdie at 16 Eagle birdie he goes
CES putting on a good finish to his opening round in the Africa M championship and you can see that leaderboard that Hy was talking about and I think a moment ago you would have seen chrisan M staring it down knowing very well that he’s falling back with
Two hes to play look to get a strong finish what a 15 20 minutes for faki the 18th hole what a beautiful spot that is now here we go with a very open Club face Vander mura such a tough shot just over that bunker the green
Slopes towards the pin so he decided to try and carry that but almost impossible to try and get some bite on that ball so he’s he’s done all right but frustration levels will be slowly grouping up this is match number 20 innocent Mumba Jack panon as bomi it’s amazing how that little creek
You don’t don’t think really comes into play here at 14 but the t-shot simply critical if you are to give yourself a chance for a birdie yeah it’s a tricky little hole short path four Buchanan now 19 years of age actually has some family ties to Scotland ancestors built
Buchanan Castle back in the day so his great grandfather is Scottish he mentioned that the one he wants to win is the open as his birdie put rolls things go well from this week he might have that chance to play the 150 second at Royal TR he must be licking
His lips can you imagine very confident young kid dreams big and you get the sense if he can accomplish half of what he wants to it’ll still it’ll be an amazing career so an exciting player to watch no doubt imagine that that one week you’re playing
In Africa at lipid Creek and then you find out you can play at the Open Championship at Royal trone it would just be huge for any golfer absolutely also get to play in the Tournament of Champions on the sunshine tour presented by attack and I heard the other day that
There might be a spot as well I don’t know if it’s been confirmed yet to even playing the Zimbabwe open so Zim open coming up in not too long from now about a couple of man so that might just happen as well well the tournament director is down here Michael
Part of the rul officials for the week yeah they certainly do get a handful of of exemptions we mentioned the open they also go to the amateur Championship which is a massive massive occasion Christo lre is the defending Champion so South Africa have had some great
Success as Bennett has some of his own success at birdie put after a good up and down three of the last six champions of the amateur have been South African so huge opportunity there and then also obviously the Alfred Dunhill championship in water fall City Tournament of Champions so plenty to
Play for this week in Africa furi’s t-shot at 17 lots of space on the left but you don’t want to tuck it down there oh oh de don’t go in there just leave that one a donation to leopard Creek unfortunate after being on a really hot little run there boy Eagle birdie will
Do well to walk off with a par here at 17 let’s go back to 15 the power five shatur slick booty pad coming for him had a great 2023 to chatur 10 top 10 finishes and wagger wagger events including three wins so he’ll get it hot running at some point Christian
M don’t think the bankers are in play for him keep it straight avoid the left hand side that’s all the trouble is it seems he has pushed it out right though oh no I wouldn’t bother going to look for those two t- shots oh one of the best finishing holes
In golf as you overlook the 18th here at leopard creck in the opening round of the Africa amateur Championship Matthew bramford you would think he played a different golf course this morning himself and aan f a 65 and a 66 respectively Christian Mar battling his way two under through 16 and he’s in
Trouble at the 17th mil kapana currently one under change of weapon for Christian going with fairywood this time what a bizarre day he’s having one of the more colorful scorecards out there four Bogies six birdies so we thought he’d settle down but unfortunately the birdies haven’t been as prevalent oh there we
Go there the big gos you know if you’re a rules official that’s not who you want playing on your golf course don’t think you want them walking on a green there a mil Cabana that’s for birdie at 18 get it to 200 part it’ll be in a tie for third
Place after his opening round started online as he got the oh looked good great effort there head to go on to tap that in as we once again see the main leaderboard feels like a long time ago since Matthew Branford shot 65 can anyone match him to the par for 14th
Home out the long that’s the smart play I think yeah yeah y huge sloping faway a lot of people normally hug the left but then there’s a couple of pot bunkers which you can’t see from this camera angle oh no oh what have we got here Christian the confidence is through the
Roofs someone drag him out we need him for the rest of the week that’s his manager there helping to look for his golf ball is that Mom in the background there as well mom also she must love her son if that is joining nikan rburg in the search oh
No found something I hope so but also just how tough would it be to hack it out of them microphone that yeah oh wow they found the incorrect gol doesn’t like it no not yellow balls aren’t for me and fair enough you can collect for sure now
Who’s on this camera I want to make sure that’s on Zoom I need you out of there as well who is out there he’s not taking chances we mentioned he’s played over 50 rounds here he must know every corner of this course so we’ll trust Christian Mar on this
Occasion fast running out of time though to find his golf ball provisional is in play while they’re searching let’s go to the path through 16th we saw some highlights here not long ago de Mani hanging off that one and he’s got away with it he’ll be breathing easy now he’s
Flirting don’t want any part of that water on the right hand side and it looks like Christian Mar has given up the fight he’s looking to move back to his provisional ball in the middle of the fway hinny you were down there watching all this unfold uh I’m surprised not to
See you in there helping Christian Mar what was going on I think my exact words were I’m so sorry but in no world am I getting into that rough I’m far too terrified yeah it’s been a little bit of a catastrophe down here on 17 two left one
Right and in terms of the two left as well fi is in the middle of the Bush I am tentatively standing by waiting to see it seems like a a group that are following each other into trouble or into the good stuff everyone’s all over
The show a little bit here today heene I feel yeah it’s a surprise cuz there’s nothing specifically challenging about 17t that you’d think oh my goodness me um Mars meanwhile as for cor is figuring that out Porter Club going for it pins on the right hand side needs to catch
That slope that’s disappointing there’s a ridge in the middle of the screen if you can’t can’t quite see it there which feeds it down to this pin as well fori is trying his best to find the right angle for a drop it’s going to be pretty tough
Because if you look to where the pin is and come back on a line you’re going to go further into the bush from what I’m seeing so great confidence by everyone Spectators rules officials everyone on this group is just casual as you like not worried about the black numbers certainly not no
He’s yeah rules official there David saying he’s going to play it that’s interesting heny yeah exactly I’m standing here with the rules official and he didn’t have many great options as we were saying um so he’s going to try and play it going to try and Chip it out he does have a
Line one of those one of those balls that you just kind of hope you don’t find after a while stop looking too hard I guess the only danger was is that he was five in the Fairway so you’d think that this is better than playing a six just trying to punch it
Out yeah amazingly done just Fairway to Fringe little cut over on the right hand side that’s a very happy man walking out of that there he is is a good personality feeling triumphant after getting out sneaking out the bushes there to the part 316th don’t want to be anywhere on the
Right hand side here chatur staring it down oh what a fantastic shot that is golden opportunity for a birdie coming up for chatur seems like a long time ago now since we saw Adel balala he’s been waiting for his playing partners he’s been patiently waiting sitting on
His trolley wheel now it’s his time and this is your bread and butter little pitch in here great shot nothing scary about that pin and he’s taking the chance a really good look at birdie there using that back stop really well a very similar story just over on
The right hand side of the Fairway here for fory he’ll be a little shaken after all the events from the tea and in the bush and now this is a chance to just settle down Nestle one in close if you can little sa off follow through dialing
It in and he’s matched it and just ever so slightly better what a par this would be he clearly wasn’t listening to Mr ret when he said don’t go in the push certainly not would be an amazing P to the par 4 14th and Prime spot for Alton fera the front right
Pin controlling your spin really key here maybe pitch it just beyond the flag and work it back just like that it was a very flamboyant little weird Shot Hands going everywhere really natural chatur a 17-year-old on 16 can he finish off a superb shot Jeffrey thought so Godfrey is
Playing partner thought it was in but not to be what a two that would have delivered all the same a lovely part for chor a few near misses this afternoon most of them that catch the lip have not dropped in for these future stars as we go back to Vander mura
Sloping down towards that Creek so this is just going to slowly peel to his left this would really help him coming home just hasn’t been able to quite get his aame together still surviving at even par is one of our tournament favorites at 27 is a taken slightly
Longer to mature than most of his peers that he played with as a young St said to get married soon 27y old winner of the Freddy Ted cup the South African Open championship for the leading amateur in the second oldest championship in the world let’s go back to
17 this would be a good bogie if he sings This tricky downhill right to left up goes the other way his Eisenhower teammate Christian Mar played a lot of golf together those two players very up and down day for the young South African fera cleans up at 14 he stays level on his
Round it’s funny Joor we got on here on air we were saying the back nine is really where the birdies are but it’s proving to be tough for some but not for this man fantastic birdie for Adel balala at the 17th yeah he’s created a couple of nice highlights on this Homewood
Stretch really got his chin up now the wouldn’t this be power of the day went on an intrepid journey off the t- shot chipped out and he’s got to here he seen his Partners part moments ago so this would be one of those first part moments if he can get away with par
Here get oh oh we wanted him to sink that didn’t we would have been a really wild but fantastic power will be a drop shot unfortunately oh goes down to that initial t-shot what a dramatic H this has been they’ll have to check the clock after this I feel like we’ve been been
Here for half an hour Christian Mars colorful scorecard for him at the moment po birdie boy birdie po birdie bogey double now at 17 for the 20-year-old Daniel Bennett now a mere formality silky smooth pting stroke he is at one under an exciting prospect no doubt just
18 years old 306th in the world am golf rankings as we look across the Krueger National Park here is your leaderboard the inaugural Africa amateur Championship Matthew bramford what a morning it was 7 under 65 for the Zimbabwean and he is chased by a handful of South African flags Ivan Vera the
Only one to keep up with him at this stage 6 under 66 so it’s out there but it’s been hard to find this afternoon Christian Mar came in as the hot favorite into the tournament ranked 13th in the world amateur golf rankings level PA through 17 Al faki is playing partner today also
At level par you can see the multitude of nationalities that are represented here Uganda Zimbabwe South Africa morius Morocco Kenya all thanks to the wonderful work done by the RNA to expand and create opportunities on the African continent and golden opportunities they are for these playing this inaugural Africa amateur
Championship it is all about opportunity isn’t it giving these guys a platform to know what it’s like to be the best to be on the similar stage to where all the best play week in week out a lot of these players wouldn’t have seen a set
Up like this so even walking through the gates is experience that they need so it’s a truly tremendous pathway no doubt about it as we go back to berand an eagle part this would rifle him up to third out right and he’s done it what a way to sail up the leaderboard Jordan
Berand certainly one to watch this week oh that IC 18th here important t-shot coming up for these three here heny yeah and probably one of the hardest t- shots on the golf course it’s bunker avoidance from that left hand side everything’s downhill but you’ve got these ridges going down stepping
Down throughout this Fairway that can throw you gleefully off the Fairway into the rough under a tree amazing to see how the swing of balala has changed from when he was having his troubles and he was left missing it left missing it right to just holding that
Birdie P the swing on the last the swing there it’s a different guy he really looks to have given that one a fairly good rip and the result is showing what a perfect Drive it is a Simply Stunning final hole isn’t it OG looking down towards the clubhouse quite visually intimidating as
Well oh yeah it’s all about the decision making once you found that fway at 18 do you go for it do you lay up but the first job is right here at the tea box yeah it’s an elevated tea box and to your point about it being intimidating
You can’t really see much of the Fairway all you see ahead of you is Bunker and trees you got to trust your line forri leaning on it you don’t want to go too close to the creek in between 18 and N but if he’s Square yeah that makes a
Huge difference being on The Fairway really opens the daugh to going forward and two this really is the ninth hole on steroids such a fun dramatic finishing hole we saw Louis and B last year at the alred danhill Christian Mass can he finish in sty and try and
Give him something to look forward to tomorrow takes shots of the two playing Partners golf balls back to 16 Jordan bnard on the Run what a few weeks Jordan has had OG winner of the South African stroke play just two weeks after he had pneumonia and bronchitis
So he’s been on fire the last month and then he came second at the South Africa amateur Championship so results have been in his favor if his health stays good it’s even better but he did not touch a club leading into that victory at the stroke play until his practice
Round then shot five under on his front nine for for the opening round so he’s got it he’s got all the goods as Ella takes on the 16th takes it on with style as well oh great t-shot Jordan certainly one of the leading prospects and the great
Youngsters that will be in full dis playing at the Africa amate see look back into the crew G 16 probably one of the most exposed parts of the golf course not much really protecting it tough t-shot because you got water down the right bunker protecting on the left
Inside short probably your best option but we’ve seen a couple get it really close to the pin here can see s DLo backing off heny mentioned earlier when she was passing through there with that group of Christian M that you get a burst of gust now and again at that
Area yeah it’s all coming over their right shoulder here and once again he’s decided I’m not quite ready and he’s even changing clubs I think that one’s probably just picked up a level or two and he’s trying to take the water out of play it’s a great thing about this oh hold the
Phone be he goes again we love seeing t-shots providing Mindcraft decision making finally settled looking forward to the result going left oh and short he’s probably just given up on that water and gone I’m out of here let’s just lay up you can see the way he’s set up going
To cut that corner at 15 tiger L and should be good here for Alton fer position a what a shot he really launched into that one right over the corner and he is in Prime real estate to try and have a go at Eagle as we go back to
Chatur going for the safe shot coming out that left hand rough you see that pin tucked on the right hand side there big drop off to the the right if you miss the green we’ve now made it down to the faway on 18 one of our feature groups Hy it’s a
Pretty scary Golf Shop it is you know looking at the screen you’re thinking where can I pitch this to get this onto that top flat level it’s uphill for the first section as soon as you get past that pin location it’s back down into more water I think probably short left as you
Leave on the right hand side you’ve got the bunker and everything goes a little longer and away from you it’s surrounded by water it’s yeah I think intimidating is probably the correct word yeah it’s almost like an Infinity green and what we can’t see is how steep it drops off at the back
Yeah thei launching and looking to finish and sty he hangs on it there is a bunker there oh and there is that back stop we talked about he is trickled into the water he is blushed at and unfortunately he’s gone for a swim oh Georgie over the
Years we’ve seen this happen so many times at 18 especially with that back pin coming off from where they are to try and get there two it’s hard to stop faki suffers unfortunately yeah just saw him walking off checking the breeze you feel like the breeze is
Into and off the right hand side when you’re standing here Bala checking the breeze as well you’ve got the clubhouse there looking absolutely stunning you’ve got that surrounded by trees and it’s very picturesque but also makes it difficult to read the wind and the wind can swirl within the clubhouse and
There’s a little circle area here there is Flags back left that are saying it’s into and off the left hand side balala what can he do he’s looked away very quickly and that is because he loves it he must have been talking talking to oh yeah there he goes oh yeah talking to
His mats I’m going good here boys I’m back well done what a shot hen you mentioned the I guess when other teammates hit good shots the first players hit a bad one now he’s hit a good one how’s Christian Mass fearing again just has that very confident body demeanor he’s a little
Further up he’s out the rough but he hits it higher he’s got a much higher ball flight as much footwork as Scotty schiffler as he plops one onto the front left it’s dry which after the roller coaster of a day he’s been on that is not all
Bad would be great for him to close out with a birdie get into raid numbers group overnight and come back try to do it again tomorrow Matthew bramford certainly said a high Mark early on I guess there’s a bit of pressure that comes with being that favorite coming into a tournament like this
Everyone’s watching you all the interviews are you all the players that are coming about being like Oh that’s the number one you’re talking to so lots of pressure for the young man yeah and also when someone com Ys are seven under 65 it can add to that little bit of frustration as your
Round’s not quite clicking into gear and things aren’t working out because he’s provided enough birdies but he seems to just let it slip so it’s certainly been a long day for Christian as we go to Bennett he’s going to have to shot shape one round the tree
Here as he looks to get in tight for Eagle 11 15 oh he’s done well if it can sit sit unfortunately it doesn’t but it’s not a bad Miss there for these guys that pun shot should be no sweep guess that’s the danger with that taking that tiger line at 15 you don’t
Want to go too long cuz then that tree kind of comes into play interesting to see what sort of line does Alton fura have well we talked about Alton vanda’s success last week he has jumped 30 spots on the world am at golf rankings today they all change on a
Wednesday so he’s now 166th so maybe that bit of news will help him ride high after this round but here he goes this tree looks to be just slightly in the way here well not slightly clearly in the way see he look into shape and fade around the tree
He has gone up over and safely on the Dance Floor superb shot he really worked that ball high into the air good result for Alton fera set himself up for Eagle opportunity at 15 deploy he was deploying every Club in the bag in the last shot yeah what’s he going to do here
Here lovely touch oh and easy as that easy as that go he’s made a birdie too what a birdie he had troubles off the tea and he wouldn’t have dared to dream and walk off with a two Simon deploy tip of the cap changed the club three times I was
Unsure with that wind of the left there at 16 but who needs a pter if you can just chip it in oh we see Emergency Services there on the edge of the 13th green hope no one’s falling into the Krueger I I can see them just checking
Out the great view a little bit of a smoke over there fair enough berand he was my pick at the start of the week he just seems so composed so mature and let’s see if he can tidy up and looks to have done just that on the 16th what a
Chiping that was from deploy to the 18 thei has gone over the back Hy we can see players have made it to the to the island green how are they all fearing there yeah we’re just waiting on a rules official uh to come and help for
Cory he has a drop zone option which is um the other side of the Water by the bunker as you come down and then he can also drop it by the interview board the other side of the water again but he just wants to double check all his
Options uh and I think in the meanwhile that he’s waiting Mars is going to go ahead sizing up his put pretty long one back up the hill this is all about Pace control for Mars yes they have got yellow stakes on the 9th and 18th that so it protects the
Integrity and the toughness of the hole so they can go back to the Drop Zone but it certainly gets very tough um to do back on the line from where he’s gone in the water so he’s going to have to go back on the line from the
Pin uh and it’s going to be a dainty little shot so I think you’ll see most players fall back to the Drop Zone on those two holes this week yeah it’s interesting because when you look at both of them there isn’t really a good option one shorter than
The other um yeah It’s Tricky it’s going to be interesting to see what he chooses I just get the sense there’s more green to work with uh if you come from the Drop Zone rather than short side and yourself ever so slightly yeah correct I think it’s just
Visually a little bit more daunting from the Drop Zone um so let’s see meanwhile Mar up over needs to set and he’s got a pretty good look for birdie there on the final hle he need something doesn’t he just a birdie to make lunch taste just a bit
Better for the 20year old let’s go back to the 15th the second of the power FES on the back nine Daniel Benner tried to work it around the tree didn’t fade enough so going oh great touch out the bunker should be a formality for birdie yeah the good thing about a
Couple of these greenside bunkers here on 15 as they often from a good angle to the pin so they might look daunting but they are relatively easy up and downs and here’s fori just deciding what he should do looks like he’s hitting off what’s his decision it’s consulted with David Young the rules
Official now Vander mura an eagle but he is too much like Christian Mar a roller coaster of a day very colorful scorecard but he’s having a solid back nine can he spark things here with an eagle oh so close but a tap and birdie all the
Same if he can just ride things out and get to one or two under that is certainly job done back to one end up for Alton fera the game of golf it tests your emotions four and a half five hours in the heat things can go great things can go bad
It’s uh it’s certainly a game of mental strength nothing quite like it Joie this young man has shown great mental strength in his game a rising star in South African golf is Daniel Bennett this to go to two under jump into fourth spot by himself no problems there second Birdie on the back
Nine well on Daniel Benner starting to creep up that leaderboard nicely into fourth place on her Z as we see fori heading back to that drops as we talked about h a nice little ride for him as well yeah so I’m actually down here with Arna diversity Ambassador Zayn Scotland
We’ve been laughing back and forth on what you would do initially fi thought that he was going to drop Behind the Green which is what I said I would do um but it’s it’s it’s downhill you’re in the rough it’s too difficult so he did actually walk all the way there with his
Ball with his wedge thinking that was what he was going to do after having a look at it last minute changed his mind and has gone back to the Drop Zone which is in the Fairway uh Zam Scotland was irate at the thought and possibility of
Him not going to the Drop Zone in the Fairway saying that this drop that he was initially looking at way too tough uh So eventually fori agreed with Zay now he’s going back to the Fairway yeah the same thing happened earlier on the 9th today when I was
Watching on and it’s just a pretty much a know Raider to come back here and you’ve got a 60 yd pitch in and well to be fair he can make a way up and down here and walk away with par oh or maybe not that is a big mistake from
Faki hopefully that bunker has saved him there is one short and right which has helped out a lot of golfers over the years seems like he’s asked for another golf ball though George oh no sarcastic first P the year you can’t be too cute around the 18th we’ve seen championships being lost
Right on this hole lots of History Alfred Daniel championships amateur competitions over the years I think Christian Mar has just launched a golf ball back to oh that’s a salant to the wound he’s just got to compose himself here sitting at even par for the championship he can get away with a
Bogey here and just take your time which she seemingly hasn’t done here we go that’s been a dramatic last two holes for this group no doubt about that and we thought he was on that quite the comeback having got the eaglet and the birdie to kind of Bring It Back
But that bogey at 17 and what could be at least a double Ed 18 right to some normality Bala Eagle chance what a interesting day he too has had but golf’s all about that one shot that brings you back could this be it the grand stand finish in the
Making and he’s just leaked it out to the right he’ll finish with a tap and birdie and a round of three over it’s been an eventful round a good one to watch great to get to know him yeah great finish for the Kenyon three straight birdies to get him to
Three over par certainly go back today reflect and come back feeling very good that those birdies at 16 17 and 18 yeah a very good finish and a great character to have out here as well he’ll have his little baby boy Saleem at home watching with wife mu as Christian Mar
Finishes with a birdie as well 71 today one under for the highest ranked player in the field clear frustration but I’m sure he there only one way to go from here for him he’s too good not to improve on that as fori has a double bogey but and why not
Train it and have a bit of fun to finish well it’s been an interesting feature group here today two over for Ali fi highly entertaining Two Eagles on the card for the Moroccan so he can definitely score out there just needs to minimize the damage and the
Mistakes ah beautiful view of the 18th and the n9th here at leopard Creek and this the opening round of the Africa amateur Championship the wonderful leopard Creek Matthew bramford setting the early Pace 765 out in the morning Stan Dhaka the Zambian opening with a level par 72 as the the likes of Jordan
Vessels and Jack banon Assan sahed from Egypt with a one over 73 ad Del balala wonderful finish to his round today opening 75 crowned with three closing birdies Daniel Bennett now on the 16th PA three silky smooth swing he’s looking anxiously at this one it’s got a great bounce and although
It’s not on the green it’s a certainly a chance for these guys that’s a good result here on the tough 16 Jordan burnand from The Fringe at 17 to jump into third place going along nice and steadily isn’t he Jordan three under stress free
Par here at 17 and a birdie chance at 18 all of a sudden he could finish the day at four and just be three shots behind so very solid start and a very solid three or four weeks from The Young South African as we look out it is a stunning
View the 18th green there looking little bit like a muffin little muffin top there in the water glorious scenes here at leopard Creek 6566 posted nice and early not too many in the red we thought there’d be a few more in the red today conditions haven’t been overly difficult but as you can
See it clicks into this blue part of the scoreboard really quick views for Africa uh if anything I hope they enjoyed the views those that are not in the red it’s been a great game of golf though in the opening round of the Africa MHL championship and really I guess even for
The guys that haven’t really played well Georgie it’s all it’s all to think that you know what maybe the nerves and everything else has been flushed out of the first round cuz you’ve been anxious you’ve been thinking about this great tournament now that you’ve played maybe you go out and play
Freely just to try and make the last two rounds here absolutely right one man that has his eyes on only one prize is B the Mur that is a simply superb shot here on the 16th would you like some fries with that he says setting up a birdie chance
That 16th green is starting to throw some nice highlights at us and some dance moves even uh from the wildlife they loving the footage so much oh how gorgeous is that Matthew Branford certainly had zero butterflies this morning going out to shoot a b fre 765 eagle and five birdies for the
H deploy now on the T from South Africa one of 16 players representing the hosts in the field member of the golf RSA national squad can he do part one little bit of noise in the background there not the first time we’ve seen him pull away but this time not his
Choice after chipping in on 16 he’s found his way to two under can he deliver the killer blow here on the last he’s gone left don’t go too far left there isn’t out of bounds there be very careful there is an internal out of bounds to stop players from launching it
Onto the practice Fairway hopefully he’s a okay down there back to the 16th Daniel Bennett just missing the green left at the par three but this is makeable I like Bennett I like his Swagger I like his very natural looking golf game just 18 years of age he seems like
He’s got a lot of potential there Alton Vander mura now is on a different hole so let’s go to berand instead on the 18th 524 yards job one give yourself a chance at going for this green can it hold on to the Fairway here that is going to be interesting
It’s all about the lie that’s sitting up could go for it but I just get the sense if you’re three under it’s not a bad opportunity to lay out there and and get home safely yeah don’t take any unnecessary risks certainly with one of of the shot of the day into
16 yeah there was a truly glorious shot into this challenging hole really needs this he deserves this oh no got to be kidding me is that just me or have we seen a lot of that today we have haven’t you Georgie we certainly have a point reflection he’ll know so
Many chances that he left out there today Daniel benett no problems for him cleans up for the PA Remains Two under currently in a tie for fourth place alongside Simon deoy we’re going to go have to talk to head green keeper Frey po to see what he’s doing to those holes
I think he might Quicken up the greens if everything’s so immaculate that the edges of the cups are just got no leeway and and the team have been working tirelessly to get everything looking simply Sensational this week if anything for these youngsters I mean you come here for the Alfred Daniel
Championship and I can tell you there is absolutely zero difference between that DP World Tour event and this inaugural Africa amateur Championship so they playing on a course that’s been set up in almost the same way same conditions for sure so this if you’ve never tasted is
Certainly what it’s like to play at the top Matthew bramford nestled in very well into leopard Creek with a 7 under 65 Ian fer 6 under 66 for him and still had two Bogies on his card there’s a nice touch of shade sit down have a rest big day walking around Krueger
Park here we go nin little afternoon nap maybe a 20 minute pound nap get back to the rest of your day can’t be too relaxed out in the Krueger that’s right you’ve got the 20 minute nap is Paramount us you wake up to I might just not wake
Up it’ be a scary wake up cool wouldn’t it yeah loud one indeed as well start to look at that lower part of the leaderboard guys going to need to go super low tomorrow couple of 78s few players still out on the course at six over par as
Well but if anything lots of lessons to be learned this week jogging back to the 17th T is Hanny and she is with Alton Vander mura I am indeed and let speak a a little bit scarred from this t-shot to be honest with what I saw earlier on with the
Group going left two left one right it was a very dramatic dramatic half hour when you were there last time I I’m a little scarred in my mind this is the toughest t-shot in the world but let’s see well maybe Vander mura has heard about what happened and just taken an
Iron to be safe and there’s a bit of space there so it’s not all bad if you’re in the rough there yeah it’s interesting because since I was here um what was that about 30 45 minutes ago the breeze really has got up it’s a marked difference so whereas before I
Think you had to take driver this is back up the hill now it feels like you can take an iron but it is a short path for Daniel Bennett looking to do the exact same here and lovely little baby fade into the middle well hen you won’t have to go
Help look for any golf balls with this Trio really has been impressive Daniel Bennett just 18 years of age but showing great maturity here’s Ella on the 18th humming one in low at the camera there beautiful view and a beautiful result huge chance for Eagle on the last Super impressive there from Isa
Abuella Simon deploy left inside at 18 no problems for him sit down set down settle oh SLE settle settle oh no s maybe yes a you would have readed about it sh I thought I’d cursed him I’d said no problems he’s gotten out of trouble at
16 who knows maybe he chips this one in as well that is unbelievable how felt like it was in slow motion do you think he knows he probably thinks it’s not yet not yet surely you it’ll be a nervous walk as berand looks to join them on the Dance
Floor wow he’s uh Gone the long route but he’s there he’ll be breathing a sigh of relief to be dry Jordan Bernard great Prospect 23 years of age ranked 288th in the world amateur golf rankings winner of the 2024 South African stroke play Championship so many great names before
Him that have won the trophy and gone on to be great golfers in the world finished second at the sa MH Championship as well and last year has 16 top 10 finishes including a win in a wgr event as well we mentioned that Victory from Alton V Mur in the playoff
Well someone’s got to be the Unlucky customer when Alton chipped in to win it so Jordan shine he’s been in the mix the last few weeks and there’s absolutely no doubt he’ll be in the mix again here this week Al as we’ve seen today you can
Tell he’s really in great form if his health stays up I think we’re in for great week of water the CH Jordan Bernard even got time to say hi to everyone yeah’s no worries for him enjoying the gallery enjoying the the company of the onlookers and of course this week there’s 20
Women that are also taking part in the Africa amateur Invitational Caravan Khan leading amateur in the country great approach into 14 really amazing by the RNA to continue to grow not just the male golf on the continent but the woman’s game as well Kai moodley back home from college in the us currently
Leading the way by just a single shot yeah we’ve just come back from the women’s am Asia Pacific as well and hopefully one day the Africa amateur women’s invitation will can grow to stature like that because they are truly providing some great opportunities for both men and women amateurs all around
The world now so very exciting to to open what’s a a good can of worms here in in the Africa region certainly is the next Frontier African golf is on the rise Ashley bu High certainly taken the game to Great Heights and a lot of those ladies will be taking part this
Week we’ll be hoping that one day they can get themselves to the AIG wom’s open any what’s the distance here you know he’s just pass this tree that’s been causing everyone a lot of trouble on the left hand side of this hole but it’s down a little bit in the
Rough so it’s just a sandwich for him but he’s got to really hit down on this try and generate some speed try and throw it up yeah we talked about the rough before it’s 50/50 whether it sits really high or gets tucked in so as hny
Said it’s pretty low but a lovely angle into this pin and should be able to feed it in there use the slope in the middle of this green he is very aggressive needs it to hold as you can see there the rough has not allowed the ball to stop so a lot of
Run here we go again can he do it again Simon deploy chipped in at the 16th would have been against him doing it again goes up high down really good touch well all of a sudden he’s steering down a very makeable bird part when he was an inch Away From Misery in the
Water van can go on Lovely Birdie on the 14th superbly done the highlights are starting to roll in here late on day one one Bernan now from range here on the back of 18 and just over reading that as it holds its line still a very good chance
To finish with a birdie and complete what has been a very steady round of golf that for four under yeah pull to within three of the lead give yourself a good chance head of tomorrow to mount the challenge it’s really warm out there said the Mercury would get up to
Around 34 feels like it’s about 40 though beautiful look back at the iconic 18th hole at leopard Creek Ella for big eagle P oh has hit it not quite run out of speed leaves himself at T in birdie to close out opening 76 interesting round of gol really
Wasn’t it not too much color on the scorecard but just a few chances that he couldn’t quite convert all the same happy to be in the Hut as we go to deploy he is currently two under this would bump him up to third place just a tickle off the right Edge
And he’s done so beautifully what a last few holes for the young South African that always feels nice on the last hole of the day yeah you know that hole is not going to offer birdies all week so when you do get an opportunity you have to make them
Count Al for he needs to try and finish birdie birdie unfortunate with the approach couldn’t quite stop it out the left hand rough this will be quick coming down this should just Cruise off the right Edge pretty straight really just got a get the pace cuz it is slightly
Downhill should come slightly from his right hand side as he got the speed really good attempt superb effort no doubt about that certainly had lots of chances out there today geie yeah you can just see how those parts haven’t been dropping and his body language is starting to get a
Little bit I guess showing a little bit of frustration but at the end of the day Alon Vander Mur is one under par and if you’re in the red numbers here at the Africa amateur you’re doing just fine this man’s doing well messes the closing birdie though wasn’t positive with that stroke
Still good enough though three under 69 to open his campaign four shots off the pace currently being set by Matthew bramford yeah very solid round from a man in form a little s taste to his dinner at the end there but three under day one he
Sits level with Simon deploy and a tie for third looking to join them Daniel Bennett for birie on 17 and he bends it he now goes in a tie for third as well three underp here come the South Africans massive birdie P there for Daniel Bennett got ourselves a three-way tire
For third place Matthew bramford 7 under 65 seemed like himself and aan fer were playing a different call of course but conditions much easier out in the morning and they took full advantage I mentioned here come the South Africans uh the flags on the left say just that it’s a very dominant
Looking leaderboard but all the way at the top from Z barway Matthew Branford is the man to chase no doubt Stan daa the leading Zambian out there in nth spot at the moment Med faki certainly gave us plenty of highlights today battled his way to a 2 over 74 Adel
Balam 75 for him finished with three straight Birdies can see the multitude of nationalities that have descended on Leopard Creek for the inaugural Africa amate Championship yeah truly special week has kicked off no doubt about it the inal plane of this Championship when B chander he got us away early this morning off the first t a special moment for
Him as we look at the scores all at 8 overp 80s it’s the type of course that if you’re on the wrong side of it it can really bite you these greens are so detailed and the pins are in very unique spots and if you don’t land it in the
Right place you can get found out here at leopard Creek you really have to know where to miss it where to hit it don’t shter yourself in any way shape or form you can to just hitting down the leaderboard how difficult leopard Creek can be 72 men will compete over 72 holes and
At the moment it’s Matthew bramford at the top 7 under 69 highlighted by an eagle on the sixth and then five birdies on the back nine a truly tremendous opening for his campaign Ivan Vera 6 under 66 to be one shot behind and then there’s a little chasing peton starting to mount with
Berand deoy and Bennett all at three under K Daniel Bennett maybe go one B on the last the par five 18th to jump into solo third it’s an exciting looking leader board no doubt about it can’t wait to see what happens throughout the day Certainly been an interesting day here in the opening round of the africaa championship we’ve seen some fantastic golf so far let’s take a look back at some of the highlights from the first Round starting us off is deploy he provided a few highlights didn’t he here’s a birdie opportunity at the ninth green pouring one in from his left to right certainly a lovely way to end your front nine Christian Mars showed glimpses of Brilliance throughout the day this is birdie at
11 just hangs on by the skin of his teeth that one we thought that would trigger something special as we go to furi and what an eagle this was dead center on on 15 at the 16th Bala looking for a strong finish to his round gets the birdie at the par
Three well and we stay here on the 16th he went Eagle on 15 and forur goes why not do it again on 16 for a birdie tremendous two holes from him Jordan berand this for Eagle at 15 no troubles for the young man and now
For the fun one on 16 quite frankly an awful t- shot but well did he bounce back in style in for two Daniel Bennett 18y old looking to make a mark fantastic birdie for him at 177 and with one hole to go as mentioned not
Long AG go can he go one better and jump into outright Third 20 women competing in their own Invitational here at leard Creek this week South Africa number one em kav van Khan currently leading the way alongside Kai Moodle both level par through 14 and 12 holes respectively yeah some great opportunities on the line for these golfers and they look to be performing
At a very high standard as Well Simply Stunning views all day every day day here at leopard Creek so as we Cruise back to car on the 15th as you saw in the highlights a few Eagles from the men side of the draw van can looking for an opportunity to do it herself as well there second in position A1 ball just slightly back in his stance
Really good angle into this back left pin great movement through the ball from Van can and the result is even better that is a nice uphill put a great look at Eagle great shot there from Kyra let’s go back to the 18th be Canon this for Eagle
Oh that would have really shot him into the mix there it looks like a nice tap and birdie though to go into red numbers I’m sure there’s PL of people on site here at liard Creek that would love to have a waterfall nearby you Canon a little tap in birdie to finish a
Solid day at the office he moves to one under par AC quiet back nine but finishes in style and speaking of style that haircuts got a little bit of it it does doesn’t it oh producer would love to have he like that always a pleasure walking off the
18th here at leopard Creek with a birdie can tell the wind has picked up slightly from when we first came on air nearly 3 hours ago flying high from this morning Matthew Branford opened with a 765 has himself a one shot lead over Ivan F look at a bunch at 3and all giving
Chase Daniel Bennett might even jump into third place on his own if he can get a bird or Eagle at 18 yeah that would certainly change things around wouldn’t it what an electric way to finish it would be for him leopard Creek is putting on a show
Delan darker even par along with Dylan Kane Jordan vessels and Jack Canon and then we get into the blue numbers but it’s great to be here and what’s been a long awaited championship and the buildups been exciting to see all the effort that’s gone into the Africa amateure has been nothing short of
Special so to see some balls in the air round one underway he been good to see and Bruns look to have look like they’ve had a lot of fun out there as well over J oh yeah they certainly did and even for those who are not really at the top of the
Leaderboard this will be a great great experience for them get to come out here test yourself out against some of the top amateurs on the African continent see where your game is see where it could go the possibilities that the RNA are putting here for you it’s a
Definitely a nice learning ground for you if you come out this week it certainly is and if you can witness close up in person what the best of the best is not only with the players but also the setups and everything that goes into a championship like this if you can
Come here experience what it feels like to be competing and joining some of the best in the world you’re going to take away a lot from that aren’t you and not just the players just all the federations across the continent you see what golf RSA are doing in South Africa
What they’ve done for the players a lot of others can take it go back home and really put platforms for you to create greatness on the African continent because the talent is certainly there not only is there Talent there is wildlife Galore Krueger national park right on your
Doorstep where else would you rather Be
