By Michael Vlismas
It started in an open field near Franklin Manchest’s home when he was four years old, and on Monday the 17-year-old golfer again underlined his potential when he finished as the leading South African in the Sanlam SA Amateur Championship’s 36-hole stroke play qualifying at George Golf Club.
PHOTO 1: George local Franklin Manchest finished the 36-hole qualifying for the Sanlam SA Amateur as the leading South African on nine under par. Credit: Pieter Els.
On another magnificent day at the foot of the Outeniqua mountains, the Scottish golfers continued their dominance of this part of the Sanlam SA Amateur.
First place and the Proudfoot Trophy went to 17-year-old Scot Rory Franssen, who posted rounds of 64 and 68 to win on 12 under par. His countryman Craig Ross finished second one stroke back with rounds of 67 and 66.
PHOTO 2: Scotland’s Rory Franssen won the Proudfoot Trophy as the top qualifier on 12 under par. Credit: Pieter Els.
But it was Manchest’s third place that caused quite a stir as he put together rounds of 68 and 67 to finish as the leading South African on nine under par.
The George golfer has been one of the success stories of the South African Golf Development Board (SAGDB), which he joined when he was eight years old. That was the year he also played his first round at George Golf Club, where he is still a member.
“We used to have an open field near our house in George, and when I was about four years old I remember seeing this man, Joseph Booysen, chipping golf balls in that field. I went and asked him if I could pick up his golf balls for him, and I did that just about every day. When I turned five he gave me my first golf club, a Ben Hogan seven iron,” he said.
As a George local, there will be plenty of expectation on Manchest when the main match play section of the tournament tees off on Tuesday.
“I grew up on this course and love it here. Every time I play here it feels like an honour. I didn’t expect this kind of low scoring though, especially that eight under from Rory on day one. The Scots are putting some pressure on us, but I like knowing that we have to beat some foreigners.”
Franssen’s victory marks the second consecutive year that a Scottish golfer has won the Proudfoot Trophy. Greig Marchbank did so in 2015, and Scotland went on to claim the double when Daniel Young won the Sanlam SA Amateur that year as well. Scottish golfers have won three of the last five Sanlam SA Amateurs.
But Franssen is not about to get ahead of himself.
“I’m overwhelmed and so happy to have come out on top. I can’t wait for the match play. I’ll just stick to what I’ve been doing already. As for the rest, at the start of the week I was just happy to be entered in the competition let alone be the top golfer. It’s a massive boost of confidence for me,” he said.
Scores:
132 Rory Franssen SCO 64 68
133 Craig Ross SCO 67 66
135 Franklin Manchest 68 67
136 Aubrey Beckley 67 69
137 Darin de Smidt 73 64; Altin van der Merwe 69 68; Luke Mayo 68 69
138 Matt Saulez 71 67; Dylan Naidoo 70 68; Sentanio Minnie 68 70; Luca Filippi 68 70
139 Jamie Bower ENG 71 68; Luke Trocado 70 69; Noel Anderson 69 70; Albert Venter 69 70
140 Christian Basson 74 66; Angus Ellis-Cole 73 67
141 Jovan Rebula 75 66; Sandy Scott SCO 72 69; Emilio Pera 70 71; Kyle McClatchie 69 72; James du Preez 69 72; Paul Kinnear ENG 68 73
142 David Meyers 72 70; Marco Steyn 71 71; Yashab Chandra IND 70 72; Nicholas Mitchell 70 72
143 Deon Germishuys 73 70; Garrick Higgo 73 70; Fezekile Kana 72 71; Quintin Wilsnach 72 71; Dylan Mostert 71 72; David Amm ZIM 71 72; Tristen Strydom 71 72; Neal Woernhard SUI 70 73; Calum Fyfe SCO 69 74
144 Keegan Steyn 75 69; Richard Maree 74 70; Andre Nel 73 71; Gerhard Faber 73 71; Veer Ahlawat IND 72 72; Scott Gibson SCO 71 73; Loris Schuepbach SUI 70 74; Attie van Wyk 69 75
145 Andrew van der Knaap 78 67; Cameron Moralee 75 70; Michael Sherriff 74 71; Jade Buitendag 74 71; Michael Harradine SUI 73 72; Louis Albertse 73 72; Kyle Barker 73 72; Paul Boshoff 72 73; Herman Loubser 72 73; Kieran Vincent ZIM 71 74
146 James Pennington 77 69; Alistair Snowdon 75 71; Therion Nel 74 72; Lwazi Gqira 73 73; Philip Kruse 72 74; Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 72 74; Gerlou Roux 72 74; David Mcintyre 71 75; Steven le Roux 70 76; Pietie Loubser 70 76
147 Mandla Dlamini 76 71; Jamie Savage SCO 76 71; Theunie Bezuidenhout 74 73; Michael Pfeifer 72 75; Gregory Mckay 71 76; Kyle Klopper 69 78
148 Elmo Barnard 78 70; Andre van Heerden (Jnr) 76 72; Alfie Plant ENG 75 73; Dalan Tait 75 73; Hendrikus Stoop 73 75; Divan Marais 73 75; Hennie O’Kennedy 73 75; Terence Coutinho 72 76; J P le Roux 72 76
149 Cole Cruickshank 77 72; Will Stogdale 76 73; Stephen Morrison 76 73; Sean Bradley 75 74; Henri van der Walt 75 74; Marco Loubser 75 74; Craig Kieswetter 75 74; Evance Vukeya 74 75
150 Jason Ackerman 79 71; Anuerin Gounden 76 74; Robert Foley SUI 76 74; Calvin Ferreira 76 74; Jason Smith 73 77; Brandon Cloete 71 79
151 Julien Sale 77 74; Wilco Nienaber 77 74; Jean-Pierre Meyer 76 75; Allan Toy 75 76; Nic Elliot ENG 72 79; Ruhan van Dijk 71 80
152 Jason Rossiter 77 75; Shaun Bernstein 77 75; Nicholas Souranis 76 76; Jandre Fullard 76 76; Heinrich Penzhorn 76 76
153 Siyanda Mwandla 77 76; Riaan Coetzee 77 76; Alex van Wyk 75 78; Liam Mc Ilroy 73 80
154 Marcus (Jnr) Smal 81 73; Melvin D Geldenhuys 80 74; Phillip Swanepoel 80 74; Brandon Gildenhuys 79 75; Werner Welgemoed 78 76; Neswill Croy 77 77; Caylum Boon 77 77; Carlo Heunis 76 78
155 Fritz Orren 81 74; Henk Geldenhuys 79 76; Valerian Huelin SUI 78 77; Hanno Besselaar 76 79
156 Matthew Kiewitz 84 72; Pieter (Jnr) Zietsman 83 73; Carl Nebbeling 79 77; Clayton Mansfield 78 78; Tyrone Gibb 78 78; Andrew Plint 78 78; Heinrich Frylinck 73 83
157 Zabastian de Jager 80 77; Erhard Lambrechts 80 77; Byron Sampson 78 79; Malcolm Mitchell 77 80; Carlo O’Reilly 74 83
158 Luke Woods 83 75; Cameron Walker 82 76; Matthew Hands 76 82
159 Samarth Dwivedi IND 83 76; Nico du Buisson 81 78; Burt Gildenhuys 80 79; Tom Watson 76 83; Tristan Kempenaar 75 84
160 Paul Keyser 83 77; Nicholaus Frade 81 79; James Tyler 78 82
161 Crismar Engelbrecht 82 79
162 NJ van der Walt 83 79; Gert Olivier 82 80
163 Gabriel Shikodi 81 82; Lukas Malan 81 82; Johannes Petrus Strydom 80 83
167 Likius Nande 84 83
169 Stefanus Bonifatius 87 82
St Francis Chronicle 