Tag: Sage Valley Golf Club

Georgia-bound Savannah De Bock is everything that’s great about junior and amateur golf

So much attention is paid to pro golf that it’s easy to forget the true essence of the game is at the amateur level.

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – Nobody had more fun than Savannah De Bock at the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.

The Belgian had such a big smile on her face all week at the nation’s top junior tournament that you’d think she won by a landslide, when in reality she finished on the bottom half of the leaderboard. When’s the last time you walked off a green with a smile after making a double bogey? De Bock did it at least twice.

“Well, it’s really important for me to stay positive, because nothing good can come from me being negative,” she explained. “I’m a really outgoing person, really positive person, so that’s just my way of being and if I’m not joyous, what am I?”

De Bock, No. 51 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, has an infectious personality that you can’t help but gravitate towards. She was sitting alone eating lunch after Saturday’s final round at the pristine Sage Valley Golf Club when four players from the boys’ side of the annual competition immediately came to join her as soon as they saw her. Not long after sitting down the laughter ensued.

“I made new friends, not only my roommates and other girls, but actually other boys, so that’s cool,” said De Bock. “I think I’ll remember the spirit of friendship that was here, I felt at home here.”

Wire-to-wire: Anna Davis, Aldrich Potgieter dominate 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley

She entertained her caddie all week long with songs and jokes and had animated discussions in the middle of the round with fellow players about scrambled eggs. De Bock danced around the property from event to event each night, often in her Gryffindor sweatshirt (a fitting house placement for all you Harry Potter fans out there). After dinner one night, De Bock grabbed a piece of chocolate cake for desert but couldn’t find a fork. Without skipping a beat, she grabbed some chopsticks and went on her merry way.

While she didn’t leave Sage Valley with the trophy, De Bock will take home countless memories, new friends and the unofficial title as the Most Fun Player of the Week.

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“It was just amazing. Everyone is so nice here. I made a lot of friends so that’s really cool,” De Bock said of her experience. “The course is in such great shape. I’ve never played a course so well maintained in my life. The greens are really hard but it’s really fun to play. I learned a lot, so that’s cool. I’m a bit disappointed about my score overall, but I’ve learned a lot, so that’s nice.”

If De Bock was impressed with Sage Valley, she’ll be blown away in two weeks when she ventures 20 miles down the road for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“Mostly excited,” she said of her ANWA debut. “A little nervous because it’s such a big competition but I’m looking forward to it.”

De Bock isn’t new to big competitions, especially after her appearance at the Junior Invitational. She won the 2022 European Ladies’ Amateur and finished 14th at the Ladies European Tour’s The Mithra Belgian Ladies Open. That said, she doesn’t have a television at home, so she hasn’t seen much of the ANWA or Masters, but she has spoken about it with her friend and fellow Belgian Clarisse Louis, a two-time ANWA competitor.

After competing in the ANWA, De Bock will head home to Belgium before returning to the Peach State in the fall to attend the University of Georgia, where she’s interested in studying anything from genetics to communication and journalism.

“I’m really looking forward to it because it’s such a great place to train. I know I’m gonna be able to study at the same time, which is always a little hard in Europe. So I’m really excited about it.”

There’s so much attention paid to the professional tours and the millions of dollars at stake that it’s easy to forget the true essence of the game is at the amateur level. Thankfully there are players like De Bock to remind us of that.

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Wire-to-wire winners: Anna Davis, Aldrich Potgieter dominate en route to 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley titles

Last year’s Junior Invitational featured a pair of playoffs. The theme of this year’s event was wire-to-wire winners.

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — Last year the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley featured a pair of playoffs to decide the boys and girls titles. The theme of this year’s event was wire-to-wire winners.

Aldrich Potgieter and Anna Davis were out in front all week at the nation’s top junior tournament and will leave the pristine club among the South Carolina pines with the trophies and the event’s signature gold jackets. Each player held a five-shot lead entering Saturday’s final round and won in impressive fashion.

“I went into the week wanting to win, thinking I was gonna win,” said Davis after the final round. “I’ve always had high expectations for myself.”

Nika Ito, who finished solo second, holed out from the fairway for eagle on the 17th hole to put the pressure on Davis, who was keeping tabs on the leaderboard all afternoon.

“That’s my second time getting holed-out on having the lead, so I was used to it and thought, ‘Okay, it’s fine. It happens,'” said Davis. “When you’re in that position, you kind of have to expect that stuff to happen so it doesn’t catch you off guard.”

Davis responded by hitting a “pretty bad second shot” that narrowly avoided the water guarding the 17th green.

“I had room because I’m left-handed. If I was right-handed, I would have been standing in the water,” explained Davis. From there the rising star followed Ito’s lead and chipped in to stop the momentum swing.

Davis, an Auburn commit, turned 17 on Friday and celebrated her birthday by walking in the winning putt from just off the 18th green with some serious swagger to finish at 7 under for the tournament.

“Kind of a douche bag move,” she said with a chuckle after the round. “Right off the putter face I thought, ‘that has to be in,’ so I walked it in.”

Ito finished two shots back at 5 under, with Kiara Romero in third at even par after firing the day’s low round of 5-under 67.

Next up for Davis is her title defense in two weeks at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, where she’ll enter with even more pressure and expectations after her win in 2022.

“I think it just it helps like knowing that I can play in this area,” Davis said of the momentum she’ll take to her ANWA title defense. “Augusta and Champions Retreat are very similar to this course. I think just being able to play this kind of golf, being comfortable and being familiar with the area is always very helpful. So I think that just adds on to my win last year.”

Potgieter, the defending British Amateur champion, made eight birdies to win by a whopping 10 shots to set a record for the largest margin of victory in tournament history. The South African fired rounds of 65-70-68 to finish at 13 under for the week. Lee Byungho and Aaron Pounds finished T-2 at 3 under, with Eric Lee in fourth at 1 under and Preston Stout in fifth at even par.

“Yeah, it was awesome week, I really enjoyed it,” Potgieter said of his Junior Invitational debut and win. “Today was good a round. I struggled for a stretch, the par-5 fourth I missed a five-footer or something for birdie and then missed one on five. So that was kind of a disappointing break, but I knew that the back nine had a lot of opportunities and still having to play three par fives, I was still confident enough to put a good score on the board.

“I always run back to what Tiger Woods said, you don’t come to a tournament not to win. I came to kind of prepare for the Masters and getting the win here just gives me more confidence going into that,” added Potgieter. “I think this golf course is pretty similar to Augusta National, so I’m taking this as a learning curve to that course and if I play like this week, I think I’ll do pretty good.”

Potgieter was pleasantly surprised that the rest of the boys field struggled to score while he was under par each day this week.

“Most of the guys were just kind of pissed at me because I was hitting it 50 yards passed everyone,” he jokingly said with a laugh, “so I guess that makes the golf course a little bit easier, carrying all the bunkers and getting in play still.”

As the British Amateur champion, Potgieter earned an spot in the field for the 2023 Masters and will join Davis at Augusta National in two weeks time.

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Anna Davis, Aldrich Potgieter lead at Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, where no lead is safe

The first-round leaders remain atop the leaderboard, but each has a few players within striking distance.

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – The players at the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley are treated like royalty the minute they step on the picturesque property tucked away behind the South Carolina pines. They also have 18 king and queen-sized challenges waiting for them as soon as they put a tee in the ground.

Known as one of, if not the best junior golf tournaments in the world, this year’s Junior Invitational – which boasts a field of the top girls and boys golfers from around the world – has been a survival of the fittest test this week, and Friday’s second round at Sage Valley Golf Club was no different. The winds were high, and for the second consecutive day, the scores were as well.

First-round leaders Anna Davis and Aldrich Potgieter remain atop the leaderboard, but each has a few players within striking distance entering the final round.

Davis looks to celebrate 17th birthday with win

Davis turned 17 on Friday and celebrated by taking a five-shot lead over the field to hold a commanding lead ahead of Saturday’s finale.

“It was kind of the same thing as yesterday, I hit just about every fairway and green and then one putt or two putt and then move on to the next hole,” said Davis, who was dissatisfied with her putting on Thursday despite taking the early lead with a 2-under 70. The defending Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion was one shot better on Friday with a 3-under 69. “I just started off a little better, I didn’t have as many three putts so I just had a better start to the round.”

Nika Ito is in solo second at even par, with Fiona Xu and Andrea Revuelta T-3 at 2 over. Kati Li and Bailey Shoemaker round out the top five at 3 over.

While you may think a five-to-eight-shot advantage may be insurmountable, don’t forget what happened last year at Sage Valley, where Shoemaker lost a seven-shot lead in the final round and wound up falling short to Amalie Leth-Nissen in a playoff.

“I love to come from behind, I think that’s the best place to be. Having a lead is pretty hard, especially having a two-day lead,” explained Shoemaker, a USC commit. “I know what happened to me last year, so I’d like to turn the tables and get my own little taste of it. So hopefully, hopefully, I can do a little bit like Amalie did to me last year.

“I’ve been thinking about Sage Valley for the last three months, just hoping to get my little taste of revenge. Hopefully,I can shoot something tomorrow and just post the score and give myself a chance.”

Can anyone catch Potgieter?

Over on the boys’ side, Potgieter has a five-shot lead of his own after following a Thursday 65 with a Friday 70 to sit at 9 under, but he’s not the only player to go low this week. Connor Williams, bound for Arizona State in the fall, fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 on Friday to clip Eduardo Derbez Torres (68) for the day’s low round.

“Honestly, the first few holes I was hitting it really good, gave myself chances. I had a rough stretch off the tee from Nos. 7-10, hit a really bad drive on 10 but got a good break from a kick back in the fairway,” Williams said of his round. “From there I locked in, took it low and made a good eagle on 15, hit a really good drive and only had a 7-iron in, so that helped a lot. Closed it out well.

“You gotta give every shot your full attention because you know the next one can be just as hard,” added Williams, who has become friends with Potgieter after sharing a cottage with him this week. “I did a great job with that today. I took it one step at a time, didn’t really get ahead of myself and it worked out well.”

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With their eyes on Augusta National, Aldrich Potgieter and Anna Davis take early Junior Invitational at Sage Valley leads

Both players will be at Augusta National in two weeks, but they still have 36 holes to go in South Carolina first.

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – The beauty of Sage Valley Golf Club disarms you when you step on the property.

And then you take your first swing.

The pristine course proved it’s a more than capable test of talent Thursday during the first round of the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, where the best junior players from around the world were largely flummoxed on a nearly perfect (albeit chilly in the morning) day.

Well, not everyone.

Aldrich Potgieter put his windows down and his round on cruise control to the tune of a bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the opening round. The South African made birdie on his first four holes of the day and added three more on Nos. 6, 11 and 15 to take a commanding six-shot lead into Friday’s second round. Bryan Kim, Eric Lee, William Jennings and Preston Stout are all T-2 at 1 under.

“I hit most of the fairways, was unlucky on the last hole, it ran through the fairway just on the left side and went into a divot so didn’t really have a look for birdie there, but yeah, really solid,” said Potgieter. “Left the chip short on 17, almost holed it, and on 16, so that was really good. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

The 18-year-old is also looking forward to a trip 20 miles down the road in a few weeks to Augusta National Golf Club. As the defending British Amateur champion, Potgieter earned exemptions into both the legendary 150th Open at St. Andrews last year, as well as the Masters this year.

“(The Open) just gave me so much experience and I’m looking forward to the Masters now coming up,” he said. “I’m trying to use this week to prepare for Augusta, both have quick greens, and this golf course is so good.”

Potgieter has yet to make his first trip down Magnolia Lane, but he did pick the brain of two-time PGA Tour winner Tom Kim, who played Augusta National earlier this week before an appearance at Wednesday’s Nike Night at the Junior Invitational.

“The Masters is probably the biggest tournament I grew up watching on TV. Seeing that chip in from Tiger, I watch that probably five times a year on YouTube,” explained Potgieter. “To play (the Masters) at a young age is just unbelievable.”

Speaking of, on the girls side of the leaderboard, 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis leads the way after a 2-under 70 on Thursday. Davis struggled at the start after two bogeys over her first three holes but found some rhythm with four birdies over Nos. 6-10 to take a two-shot lead into Friday. Nika Ito and Andrea Revuelta are T-2 at even par.

“I was hitting it really close most of the day. I kind of had a rocky start there for a second on the front nine, but I brought it back,” said Davis of her round. “I think I was just hitting every fairway, hitting every green, putting kind of let me down a little bit today, but other than that it’s good.”

Around this time last year, the now-16-year-old from Spring Valley, California, was an underdog winner at the ANWA. These days, she’s the favorite every tournament she tees it up.

“I’ve gotten used to it, kind of knowing people know my name now, people know my face. People are gonna put pressure on you because they expect you to win these tournaments, but I just don’t really let that get to me,” said Davis. “I know all these girls are great players. I know everybody has a chance to win. The attention is nice sometimes, but yeah I think I’m alright with it.”

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