Down to Light to slay Scottish hopes
It’s down to unheralded Southern Cape golfer, Andrew Light, to break the Scottish stranglehold on the Sanlam SA Amateur Championship in this afternoon’s semifinals at Country Club Johannesburg.
The 23-year-old George golfer will go into battle against 17-year-old St Andrews golfer Ewan Scott, who is shouldering the hopes of a Scottish hat-trick in the country’s most prestigious amateur championship.
Light dispatched Werner van Niekerk, Tertius van den Berg and fellow George golfer Jovan Rebula on his way to the quarterfinals and booked his spot against the last Scot standing with a 3&1 result against Wanderers golfer Michael Spacey this morning.
Meanwhile the St Andrews teenager, who eliminated Murray Smith, Hennie du Plessis and Teagan Moore en route to his quarterfinal match against compatriot Fraser McKenna, claimed victory at the 20th hole.
In the other semifinal, Louis Taylor will face off against 16-year-old Thriston Lawrence from Mpumalanga.
Taylor, who claimed the final spot into the 64-man match play field in a play-off, has enjoyed a dream run in this year’s tournament.
The Harrismith golfer caused the first major upset of the championship when he knocked out reigning Stroke Play champion Haydn Porteous in the first round. He edged out Ruan Botha and his twin brother Eddie to reach the top eight and nailed his spot in the semis with a 6&5 win over Callum Mowat.
Reigning SA Boys Match Play champion Lawrence got past Shane Martin, Tristen Strydom and top English golfer Toby Tree and showed maturity beyond his years to fight back from three-down and claim his biggest scalp when he dispatched SA No 2, Zander Lombard 2&1.
But Lawrence said he will have to draw on all his match play skills to get past Taylor.
“Louis is a great player and going into the semifinals, I know it’s going to be a very tough contest,” the 16-year-old Nelspruit golfer said.
“I have to try not to make him bigger than he actually is. I have to stick to my own game, approach the match like stroke play and try to play under par. You can’t afford to get too aggressive on the Rocklands course; you have to stick to fairways and greens and try to apply the pressure that way.”
