Haider Hussain is second in the South African Stroke Play Championship at Randpark Golf Club after an opening seven-under 65. Picture by ERNEST BLIGNAULT

SCOTLAND’S James Wilson fired a stunning eight-under par 64 for the first round lead in the South African Stroke Play Championship at Randpark Golf Club.

Wilson, the reigning Welsh Amateur Strokeplay Champion, will start the second round with a one-shot advantage over Gloucestershire’s Haider Hussain, who stole into second late in the afternoon.

Hussain – the winner of The Berkshire Trophy in 2019 – was particularly impressive with a seven-under 65, which also featured an eagle on the 14th.

The former England Boys squad member also lost just one shot to the field with a bogey at the scenic 439-yard closing hole.

The Firethorn Course’s best defence – its fast and challenging greens – were left soft after torrential rain fell upon the home of the South African Open over the weekend.

The soft conditions favoured players with a firm control on their approach shots, like Wilson, who could get aggressive and go flag hunting to set up birdie opportunities.

Wilson, from Balmore GC, north of Glasgow, made a perfect start with short-range birdies on the 10th and 12th holes.

The runner-up in last year’s Tennant Cup then accelerated through the field with an eagle at the par five 14th.

Another birdie followed on 18 and further gains came on the second, third, fourth and ninth.

His scorecard sported just one blemish – a lone bogey at the par three fifth.

“I played really nicely; hit a lot of fairways and most of the greens and I took advantage of the par fives,” said James Wilson.

“The tees were up so just a lot of short irons in and I played sensible on the tougher strokes.”

Scotland’s James Wilson who led the South African Stroke Play Championship at Randpark GC after carding an eight-under par 64. Picture by ERNEST BLIGNAULT.

Wilson broke par only once at last week’s African Amateur Stroke Play Championship, in his third round 71, but certainly came into his own this week at the Firethorn course, which stands at 19,363 feet above sea level.

“This course is way more forgiving than Leopard Creek,” Wilson joked about his experince of playing at altitude. “It’s cooler – the greens are not as grainy and less slopey and it’s not as penal off the tees.

“It’s been more relaxing around here and it’s not as long,” added Wilson, who was fourth in the 2019 St Andrews Links Trophy – one of the top three strokeplay events in Europe alongside the Brabazon and European Amateur Championship.

Big-hitters Casey Jarvis from South Africa and Ireland’s Rowan Lester also capitalised with some great pin-seekers and tied for third on six-under.

Sixteen-year-old Jarvis fired a 64 at the Firethorn on his way to winning the Joburg Junior Open, in December, and only a bogey finish meant he had to settle for a 66.

“I really played nicely and I got the putter going early on,” said the GolfRSA National Squad member.

“I didn’t putt well at Leopard Creek, so I worked on it over the weekend and I was rolling it well.

“I hit it just left of the fairway on 18 and had a perfect shot into the green, but I shanked it and had to get myself out of trouble.

“Came away with a good bogey. Shots like that happen some times. I’m not going to dwell on it too much. Still 54 holes to go.”

Lester, who won twice times while playing US college golf in 2019, got off to a very fast start and racked up six birdies through the first nine holes.

“Last week was a bit of a struggle; I wasn’t hitting the driver well, but everything else was solid,” said the Hermitage GC member, who won the Nassau Invitational in New York, in October.

“Today it all just worked. I got the driver going and thought I would do well.

“The back nine was okay. I just kind of hung in there,” Lester added. “The course is amazing. Last week and this week – we are really spoiled.

“I’ve been in college in America, which is why I couldn’t make the last few years, and it’s really great to be back,” said the Texas Wesleyan University player.

South African pack chasing leaders

AT least 14 players will start the second round within five shots of Wilson, and with favourable scoring conditions set to continue, the leaderboard could change hands dramatically in Tuesday’s switch draw.

Kyle de Beer, who skippered Team South Africa to victory in the Team Competition in last week’s African Amateur Stroke Play Championship, drew on his 36-hole experience in the SA Open to register a round of 67 for a share of fifth with Scotsman Connor Wilson.

Martin Vorster, who edged out Olly Huggins in a four-hole play-off for the African Amateur title at Leopard Creek, is also back in the mix at three-under.

Vorster is tied in seventh with fellow GolfRSA National Squad members Kieron van Wyk and Tyran Snyders, compatriots Louis Liebenberg, Shaun Jones and Thabiso Magwaza – a member of the South African Golf Development Board’s KwaZulu-Natal chapter – as well as Germany’s Constantin Unger, and Dutch pair Bob Geurts and Koen Kouwenaar.

•To follow the progress of James Wilson in the second round of South African Stroke Play on Tuesday, click here.

A first round six-under par 66 gave Irishman Rowan Lester, from Dublin’s Hermitage Golf Club, a share of third place at Randpark. Picture by ERNEST BLIGNAULT

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Jayden Schaper (left) with the Freddie Tait Cup as the leading amateur and South African Open winner Branden Grace. Picture by GOLFRSA

SOUTH African Amateur Jayden Trey Schaper chipped in at the last to end a remarkable week at the South African Open.

The 18-year-old’s 13-under total left him in a share of sixth place, alongside fellow South Africans George Coetzee, Hennie du Plessis, JC Ritchie and Martin Rohwer, and the 2015 champion Andy Sullivan.

But more importantly Schaper picked up the Freddie Tait Cup – named in honour of the two-time Amateur Champion, who played some of his golf while stationed at Hampshire’s Aldershot Garrison in the 1890s.

After being paired with defending champion Louis Oosthuizen over the first two rounds, the GolfRSA No. 1 shot rounds of 65 and 67 to go into the weekend just one off the lead.

A round of 69 on moving day despite a cold putter saw the teenager start the final round just three shots behind Oosthuizen who was looking to become the first South African to defend the title since Trevor Immelman in 2004.

Although Schaper couldn’t match legendary Denis Hutchinson – who won both trophies in 1959 – Schaper became the fourth-highest amateur finisher in the SA Open.

Four-time Major winner Ernie Els finished fourth at Glendower in the 1989 South African Open.

Shaper, who won three times as an amateur in 2019, was delighted by his finish:

“It’s a huge privilege to be mentioned in the same breath as four-time Major winner Els,” said Schaper.

“That’s a pretty big name. Ernie is someone I’ve looked up to because he has been one of the most consistent golfers to play the game.

“It’s pretty cool to see my name up there with his and other names like that,” added Schaper.

“It was a special week, and one that I’ll never forget.”

Like Grace, who surged to victory with a closing nine-under 62, to win his national open and complete the “South African Slam”, this weekend’s tournament is the one Schaper also wants to win.

“I really want to win this one,” said Jayden. “Seeing Branden coming down the stretch holing putts, watching Louis win last year and so many great South African golfers in the past – I also want my name on the big trophy.”

Records are important to Schaper – the only golfer in history to record the ‘Grand Slam’ of South African Junior National titles.

Last March, he shot a course record 62 to win the South African Strokeplay Championship, at De Zalze Golf Club.

He also became the first South African winner of the prestigious Junior Players Championship, at TPC Sawgrass, last year.

“I like achieving records,” Schaper admitted. “Now I’ve won the Freddie Tait Cup, winning the South African Amateur at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington next month is high on my bucket list.

“It’s the only one left before I will look at joining the pro ranks.

“I’ll be gunning for in the future and it will be so much more special because of the memories created this week.

The list of past winners of the Freddie Tait Cup is a Who’s Who of South African golfing greats and includes Bobby Locke – who won the South African Open eight times – Jock Verwey, Denis Hutchison, Dale Hayes and Ernie Els, the winner in 1989.

More recently Trevor Immelman – who claimed the Green Jacket at the 2008 Masters, Charl Schwartzel – who won at Augusta in 2011, Hennie Otto, Branden Grace, and Brandon Stone have won the Freddie Tait Cup.

The trophy was purchased using money left over after a trip to South Africa by some UK golfers in 1928. It bears the R&A Club die and crest, and the medal die of the Army Golfing Society.

The following year the Freddie Tait Cup was awarded to Bernard Wynne as the leading amateur in the South African Open.

The South African Open dates back to 1903, making it the third oldest professional championship in the world of golf. Gary Player has won the trophy 13 times – four more than Locke.

Sid Brews is the next most successful South African in the event’s 118-year history with eight victories followed by Els with five – the last in 2010.

Scotland’s George Fortheringham won the title five times between 1908 and 1914 and he is still the most successful player in the competition from outside South Africa.

How Freddie Tait put Hampshire golf on map

Freddie Tait pictured with The Amateur Championship trophy in 1896

BLACK Watch solider Freddie Tait – after winning the inaugural Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship in 1894 – was killed in the Boer War in 1900.

Tait finished third at The Open in 1896 and 1897 and was the leading amateur three times in the championship between 1891 and 1899.

His father Peter was a physicist who carried out some of the early research into how far a golf ball could travel.

Tait, who was a member at St Andrews and won many of its medals and trophies, once hit the ball 340 yards on a very icy Old Course – after it carried 250 yards in the cold air in 1893.

He was a regular visitor to Royal St George’s – not only did he win the 1896 Amateur Championship there, Tait also claimed the St George’s Grand Challenge three times in four years at Sandwich – the last time a year before his untimely death in the Second Boer War.

His second Amateur crown had been claimed at Royal Liverpool in 1898. A memorial plaque to his (and his father’s) memory stands on the inner north wall of St Johns Episcopal Church on Princes Street in Edinburgh.

Tait played golf in Hampshire while a member at Aldershot’s Army Golf Club having been sent to the Royal Military College, at nearby Sandhurst, in Berkshire – he is said to have introduced the game of golf as part of life at the officers’ training academy.

Interestingly, other top Hampshire golfers have blossomed at both Hoylake and Royal St George’s like Tait.

Future Ryder Cup player Steve Richardson won the English Amateur at Sandwich in 1989, beating county team-mate Bobby Eggo in the final, while in 2017, Harry Ellis claimed the Amateur Championship, like Tait, at Royal St George’s.

Rowlands Castle’s Darren Wright – one of only 10 players to have won both the Brabazon and Carris Trophies in their amateur career, claimed the English Men’s Open Amateur Strokeplay at Royal Liverpool in 2010, having won the Boys’ title at Sherwood Forest four years earlier.

And Army Golf Club member Sam Robertshawe, who is now playing on the European Challenge and PGA EuroPro Tour, also won the St George’s Grand Challenge and the South East of England Links Trophy at Sandwich, in 2011.

The former Hampshire Boys champion has his name on the stunning gold trophy alongside a certain Jack Nicklaus – who won at Royal St George’s in 1959 when he travelled to the UK before playing in the Walker Cup, at Muirfield.

The South East of England Links is played over 72 holes – with three rounds at the host course, including 36 holes on the final day, with 18 holes at the other course.

Royal St George’s and Royal Cinque Ports, just down the Kent coast at Deal, alternate being the host venue.

Past winners of the St George’s Grand Challenge, include John Davies, who holds the records for six successive wins, Phillip Scrutton, Captain David Blair – who was a member at North Hants GC, and postwar Walker Cup player and captain Laddy Lucas, who was a member at Prince’s.

The St George’s Grand Challenge goes to the winner at Sandwich, while the Deal champion receives the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup, which was won by European Challenge Tour winner Steve Tiley, a member at the host club, in 2003.

The Prince of Wales has been won by the likes Lee Westwood and great amateurs such as Kent Walker Cup player Peter Hedges – a member at Royal Cinque Ports, as well as Blair, Davies, Scrutton and Lucas, who famously landed his damaged Spitfire on Prince’s Himalaya course during WWII, returning from a mission over Northern France.

This year’s South East of England Links Championship will be played from September 3-5. The championship was won by Chelmsford’s Jack Brown at Royal Cinque Ports, in 2019.

•For the 2019 results click here.

Sam Robertshawe with St George’s Grand Challenge Trophy after his victory at Royal St George’s in 2011

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Branden Grace with the South African Open trophy after his stunning 62 – matching the lowest-ever round in Major Championship he produed at Royal Birkdale three years ago. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

BRANDEN Grace produced a masterful putting display in a closing 62 in his national open to complete the South African Slam at Randpark Golf Club.

Grace’s ninth European Tour victory in the South African Open was his first since his Rolex Series triumph at the 2017 Nedbank Golf.

The win sees him complete the “South African Slam” after winning the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and Dimension Data Pro-Am.

The home duo could not be separated at the turn as they put on a stunning show, with Oosthuizen sending the huge crowds at Johannesburg’s Randpark into raptures with a hole-in-one at the eighth.

But Grace put his foot down on the way home, taking his tally of putts to just 22 as he finished at 21-under, three shots clear of Oosthuizen.

The victory secured Grace a place at this summer’s Open Championship, where he will be joined by fellow qualifiers Marcus Armitage and Jaco Ahlers.

Yorkshire-based pro Armitage birdied the last to finish at 16-under and secure his spot at Royal St George’s Golf Club, with home favourite Ahlers a shot behind alongside Jack Senior, who was edged out for The Open spot by virtue of being eight places lower than Ahlers on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Grace finished 113th on last season’s Race to Dubai after being in the top 10 for four of the previous seven seasons.

But he showed a return to form at last month’s Alfred Dunhill Championship with a tie for third.

“That was remarkable,” said Grace. “I played flawless golf and I can’t remember the last time the putter was that hot.

“This is the one I really wanted. This means so much to any South African, winning on home soil, the guys get so behind you and it’s such an emotional feeling.

“It’s the first win with the little one here so he’s going to have a photo with the trophy and then it’s a good birthday wish to my Mrs today, she’s a birthday girl today so it’s a good birthday present.”

Grace bogeyed the second but hit back brilliantly, making a gain on the third, before eagling the fourth from 25 feet.

The first player to shoot 62 in a Major at Royal Birkdale in the The 2017 Open, made another birdie on the fifth.

The 31-year-old was in a tie for the lead when Armitage three-putted the sixth.

And Grace hit the front with a 15-foot right-to-left putt on the seventh.

An excellent up-and-down at the eighth kept him in front, but Branden was soon leapfrogged by Oosthuizen as the 2010 Open Champion produced the shot of the week.

After seven straight pars, his tee shot looked to be heading right and towards the water.

But it took a big hop left off the fringe and rolled into the cup for an ace.

Grace responded with a 25-foot birdie on the ninth and he edged back in front on his own after a stunning recovery from the rough on the 11th.

Armitage just loves Randpark – here’s why

A wonderful approach brought Oosthuizen level on the same hole but Grace found another gear.

He sandwiched a birdie from 12 feet on the 13th with a birdie four at the 12th and a three at the 14th to open up a three-shot lead to complete his South African Slam.

Armitage’s birdie on the last for a 69, then saw his 11-under total matched by Ahlers, while Senior went two better.

But the Fleetwood GC member missed out on a spot at The 148^th Open by virtue of being spots lower on the Official World Golf Rankings.

•To see the final scores at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg click here.

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West Cornwall’s Harry Hall, who has remained in Las Vegas after graduating from UNLV last summer, was among the early leaders in round two of the South African Open.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

CORNWALL’S Harry Hall continued the bright start to the West Countryman’s professional career as he fired a 68 at Randpark inthe second round of the South African Open.

That score saw him move into a share the clubhouse lead in the European Tour event, hosted by the City of Johannesburg.

Hall, who played in Great Britain and Ireland’s Walker Cup defeat against the USA at Royal Liverpool, in September, only made his professional and European Tour debut at last season’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

He did not disappoint then, outscoring playing partner and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy in the final round as he finished in the top 20.

Hall moved to nine-under alongside local favourite Daniel Greene, who fired a 66.

That was one shot behind overnight leader Johannes Veerman.

South African Hennie du Plessis made five birdies in a row from the third on the Bushwillow Course,

He then added another on the ninth to become the first man into double figures before dropping two shots.

Thirty-four-year-old Greene was also playing the Bushwillow Course.

He turned in 32 with birdies on the fourth, seventh and eighth, before sandwiching another gain on the 12th with bogeys on the 11th and 14th.

A hat-trick of birdies from the 15th catapulted Greene up the leaderboard – but he soon had Hall for company.

The Las-Vegas based Englishman, who graduated from the golf programme in the gambling capital in Nevada last summer and is sponsored approriately by MGM Resorts, was also playing the Bushwillow.

Hall, who was the first Cornish player to have appeared in the Walker Cup since Philip Rowe in 1999, was level-par for his round after 11 holes with two birdies and two bogeys.

Harry Hall and Gough win leaves GB&I two points clear of USA in Walker Cup at Hoylake

But birdies on the 12th, 15th and 17th gave him a share of top spot.

Cheshire’s Matthew Baldwin, Peter Karmis and JC Ritchie were all on course in the morning at eight-under, with Italian Nino Bertasio, who was second after the first round, also at that mark but among the later starters.

•To follow live scoring at Randpark, click here.

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Louis Oosthuizen will defend the South African Open title he won at Randpark Golf Club in 2019 but face stiff competition from fellow countrymen including Branden Grace.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES.

DEFENDING champion Louis Oosthuizen would love to make a successful defence of his South African Open title.

But the 2010 Open Champion will have some serious competition from two more home favourites desperate to lift one of the oldest trophies in golf at Johannesburg’s Randpark GC this week.

Oosthuizen has been at the very top of the game ever since he claimed the Claret Jug at St Andrews.

He achieved another long held ambition when winning his national open for the first time 12 months ago.

With Ernie Els eligibile for the senior circuit since last season, Oosthuizen will now become the flagbearer for a proud golfing nation at the age of just 37… and he will have plenty of support.

While 20-somethings Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Brandon Stone and Erik van Rooyen are making a name for themselves at the start of their careers, experienced heads like Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel continue to compete at the very top in their 30s.

Grace and Schwartzel have 19 European Tour wins between them including a Major Championship and a Rolex Series win – but have yet to lift the trophy at the second oldest open in golf.

And Oosthuizen knows all too well how special ending the long wait for that victory is.

“It means a lot,” Oosthuizen said. “I was wanting to win it for a long time. It’s always nice coming back and just playing it, defending it is very special.

“It was a tournament I was really trying to get to win with all the great champions on there: Ernie, Retief (Goosen), Mr Player, all of them. I wanted to have my name on the trophy.

“It was nice having a big lead at the end there so I could take it all in,” added Louis, who will play alongside Bezuidenhout on the Bushwillow Course, at 8.35am local time, in Thursday’s first round.

The last player to win the South African Open back to back was another South African Major winner Trevor Immelman in 2003 and 2004 – the second victory four years before he claimed a Green Jacket at the Augusta Masters.

Schwartzel – the 2011 Masters winner – secured his seventh top five at this event last season.

But the South African – who claimed the Brabazon Trophy at the English Amateur Strokeplay at Royal Cinque Ports, in Kent 18 years ago as an 17-year-old – saw the rest of his 2019 campaign derailed by a wrist injury.

A top three on his return at the Alfred Dunhill Championship before Christmas showed Charl is close to a full recovery.

And Schwartzel is aching to get over the line at Randpark Golf Club for a ninth European Tour win in South Africa – having won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopark Creek four times between 2004 and 2015.

“It’s been a quest of mine for quite some time,” said Schwartzel. “I’ve come real close a lot of times, I’ve thrown one or two away, but at least I’ve been up there quite a few times.

“Hopefully I’ll break through. It’ll be a dream come true. As a South African, it’s definitely high on the list.”

Grace won his first European Tour title at the 2012 Joburg Open and has since added the biggest titles in South African golf with the Alfred Dunhill Championship, the Dimension Data Pro-Am and the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

And the 31-year-old feels a win this week can complete his set on home soil although three of the last five winners have been English – Sullivan, Graeme Storm (2017) and Chris Paisley (2018), although they all won at Glendower GC.

“This is the one that I’m missing,” Grace said. “This is the one that I need, this is the one that is short for me to win it all in South Africa.

“I’ve been close a few times now so hopefully the time is ticking on for me to put my hands on this one.

“It would mean the world,” added Grace, who will join Van Rooyen and 2015 winner Andy Sullivan in their three-ball, which tees off at 11.55am local time on the Firethorn Course.

The latter will host the weekend’s play after the 240-strong field have played a round on each of the two courses being used this week.

•For tee times for the first round of the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg, click here. To follow first round scoring click here.

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