Photo: Richard Nel, KZN Senior Chairman presents Lyall McNeill, the A div winner with his medal.

Richard Nel congratulates Ganas Naicker winner of the B Div. Photos: Dave Fisher

The KZN Senior Amateur Classic Open 36 hole tournament was played at the picturesque Kloof Country Club over 29th February and 1st March 2024. Kloof CC was in great condition, displaying all its summer finery over two hot days. The greens were rolling perfectly however, and proved to be very tricky to read resulting in many a frustrated golfer not being able to find the right lines over the two days of competition.

Day one in the A Division ended with Andy Forde of Kloof CC as the overnight leader with a gross score of 69 on this par 70 course. One shot behind was Lyall McNeill of Durban CC with level par gross 70. A further two shots back were Sean Quigley (Randpark), Kobus Engelbrecht (Southdowns), Abrie Ackerman (Waterkloof) and Jauqo Jacobs (Irene) all on 72. It looked like it was going to turn out to be an interesting tussel for first place.

Day two resulted in a close race to the finish with good scores coming from Sean Quigley (Randpark) with two under gross 68, Kevin Sharp (Eye of Africa) with 69, Lyall McNeill (DCC) also with 69, Sean Fenger (DCC) with 70, Gary Welsh (KCC) with 70, Gustaf Verster (Irene) with 71, and Basil Naidoo (DCC), CJ Head (Benoni Lakes) and Leon Scott (Wingate) all with gross 72.

Lyall McNeill’s 69 on day two was enough to earn him first place with a total gross score of 139, one shot ahead of Sean Quigley who finished on level par 140. Third was Kevin Sharp (Eye of Africa) with 142 and fourth was Gustaf Verster (Irene) with gross 145. The Best Nett prize in the A Division went to Gary Welsh (KCC) with scores of gross 75 and 70 for a total gross of 145 and nett of 139. The Super Senior prize went to Basil Naidoo with a gross score of 146.

The B Division players played Individual Stableford over 36 holes and leading after day one was Ganas Naicker of Umkomaas with a very good score of 37 points. One point behind was Jose’ de Jesus (Victoria CC) with 36 points, followed by Chris Howarth (Kloof CC), Colin Weinstein (Modderfontein) and Paul Smith (Kloof CC) all with 34 points.

On day two, Poobalan Govender (MECC) returned a score of 35 points but his first round performance kept him out of the running. Ganas Naicker (Umkomaas) played steady golf and returned a score of 35 points to take his total to 72 and subsequent winner of the B Division. Chris Howarth (KCC) returned another steady 34 points to earn him second place with a total of 68. Colin Weinstein (Modderfontein) returned a score of 31 points which was sufficient enough to earn him third place with a total of 65, Paul Smith also played steady golf and a second round of 34 points was enough to secure the B Division Super Senior prize with a total of 68 points.

Congratulations to all prize-winners! Thanks must go to Kloof Country Club for the condition of the course and for hosting an excellent tournament. Also thanks must go to all the “out of Province” players who regularly travel to support our KZN tournaments. Many thanks to our sponsors, the Golfers Club, for their continued support.