Cool-hand Luke shoots six straight birdies en route to Randpark Junior title

Super-cool Luke van Vuren stood on the first tee on Bushwillow in round one of the Club’s Junior Championships on Sunday morning, aiming to birdie the par-5 and get himself off to a good start.

A big drive, an approach that finished just off the green followed by two putts for a four saw him achieve his objective. Birdie, perfect start. Then he birdied the second hole, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth and the sixth! Six straight birdies to open his challenge! What a dream run. Par is 5-4-5-4-4-3. He went 4-3-4-3-3-2. “I was hitting my wedges close and the hole was looking like a bucket,” he explained. So, Luke, did you feel a bit like Scottie Scheffler out there? “Yeah, it certainly felt great. I think even Scottie would have been pleased to make six straight like that! Tiger too!”

Luke would go on to shoot three-under-par 69, after bogeys at 7, 8, 10 and 16 before picking up another shot at the home hole. The 19-year-old is a powerful striker and at the daunting par-5 17th with water fronting the green he hit drive, and a massive five iron over the green. “Pity I didn’t make birdie there because I failed to get up and down and had to settle for a par. But at 18 I hit drive, sand-wedge to about 12 feet and made the putt which was a nice way to finish.”

As it turned out, the 69 was good enough to see him win the Junior Champs as only nine holes were able to be completed on a storm-interrupted afternoon on Firethorn. The rules state that if the second round cannot be completed, the first round leader wins. This was unfortunate for playing partner, Randpark’s highly rated Grant Labuschagne, who posted a 72 on Bushwillow in the morning and, by playing nine holes in two under par on Firethorn after lunch had drawn level with Van Vuren.

Rules are rules, but for the record 18-year-old Grant has been playing some excellent golf. He is close to being South Africa’s top ranked junior, is ranked 16th in the country’s men’s open rankings and in this year’s Senior IPT, where he represented the Central Gauteng team that finished second, he was named the tournament’s No.2 MVP (Most Valuable Player). In the Ekurhuleni Open at Reading he shot 73, 73 and a sensational 64 to finish runner-up. All this fine golf has seen him land a college golf scholarship in the US, starting in the middle of next year.

Liam Harbron on 39 points won the B Division on Sunday, counting out Daniel Bierman while Ben Aucamp with a 64 nett took first place in the C Division.

The club’s hot-shot 12-year-old Danielle Chong (yes folks, she’s only 12 – turning 13 in November!) was drawn with Van Vuren and Labuschagne and played off the same white markers as them. Maybe she didn’t win this time, but what a fine player she is turning out to be. Her role model is Nelly Korda and she’s got a great swing that, quite honestly, looks a bit like a hot swing from a top player on the LPGA Tour. Her handicap stroke index going into the Junior Champs was a super low 0.4 – a sure sign of her talent. In the South African Under-13 IPT this year there were 85 contestants, all but five of them boys. But she outplayed almost all of the guys to finish tied ninth overall. At Magaliespark she shot 76, 82 and 73 which, let’s face it folks, is pretty hot golf for a 12-year-old girl!

Written by Randpark member Grant Winter.