Tag: 2024 African Amateur Championship

Altin Van der Merwe captures inaugural African Amateur Championship in playoff, earns spot in Open Championship

Talk about coming up clutch.

Sometimes scorecards don’t paint the full picture of how spectacular a shot or hole was for a certain player during a round of golf.

Altin Van der Merwe has a story he can tell the rest of his life after his triumph Saturday at Leopard Creek in Malelane, South Africa.

In the 2024 African Amateur Championship, Van der Merwe birdied the par-5 18th to earn his way into a playoff, then he birdied it again in said playoff to claim the inaugural title of the latest major amateur event and punch his ticket to the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. He bested Texas sophomore Christiaan Maas and Ivan Verster, both fellow South Africans, to claim the trophy and win a historic championship in his home country.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Van der Merwe said. “I think it’ll kick in later. Right through the day, the two competitors I played with, two great friends actually, we went back and forth, back and forth. I think all three of us had the lead at one stage, then there was three holes, they didn’t go in, they didn’t go in, and then the last hole I just pulled a blinder out, and in the playoff I made a good two-putt. I can’t describe the feeling.”

Needing a birdie to tie Maas and Verster, Van der Merwe, 27, hit a spectacular second shot into the par-5 18th hole, giving him a chance at eagle and the win in regulation. It’s a putt he said he has hit many time before, but he couldn’t get it to fall. Nevertheless, he made birdie while Maas and Verster carded pars, and it was on to a playoff.

On the extra hole, it was again Van der Merwe carding a birdie while Maas, who a day before set the course record with a blazing 9-under 63, made par and Verster made bogey, sealing the victory.

Just last week, Van der Merwe won the Golf RSA International Amateur in a playoff. A week later with higher stakes, he did it again and punched his ticket to the Open Championship in July.

“I can’t wait,” Van der Merwe said. “Honestly, I can’t wait. It’s links golf, as well, so I’m going to be licking my chops out there with just a little sting 2-iron all day, and I just can’t wait until the time comes.”

On the women’s side, South African Kyra van Kan won the 54-hole event by nine shots over compatriot Bobbi Brown to clinch the title on a 1-under 215.

The 18-year-old earned places in the Women’s Amateur Championship, final qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open and The Investec South African Women’s Open in 2024, and the Lalla Meryem Cup and Magical Kenya Ladies Open in 2025.

R&A hosting inaugural African Amateur Championship in 2024 at Leopard Creek

An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue.

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HOYLAKE, England — The first African Amateur Championship will be played at Leopard Creek, South Africa, from Feb. 21-24, 2024, the R&A announced Wednesday.

The championship will feature 72 men from the African 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.

“It’s a hugely exciting initiative for African golf, and it’s the last part of the continent around the world where we don’t have our own championships that we now do,” said Martin Slumbers, CEO of The R&A, said during a press conference.

The introduction of the championship complements existing amateur championships jointly organized by The R&A in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and will enable players from Africa to play at the highest level, as well as creating a pathway for African golfers to develop and become an inspiration for others to follow.

The championship will also build on an Africa High Performance Program established last year by The R&A and delivered to players and coaches in African countries as part of a wider effort to develop golf and provide support to players aspiring to reach elite levels of the sport.

“We are creating a world-class platform for the most talented amateur golfers in Africa to compete against each other and realize their ambitions in the sport,” Slumbers said in a press release. “We have already seen talented players emerge from the continent with three recent winners of the British Amateur Championship, including Christo Lamprecht at Hillside last month, and hope that in the years to come we will see golfers follow in the footsteps of Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen and Ashleigh Buhai who have won The Open and AIG Women’s Open.

Leopard Creek has hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship since 2004 and winners there include major champions such as Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who has won the event three times at the venue.