JOHANNESBURG, 28 January 2025 – Astin Arthur produced an almost perfect final six holes on Tuesday in the first round of the GolfRSA International Amateur Championship played on the Royal Johannesburg East Course as he carded a superb seven-under-par 65 to take the 18-hole lead.
Arthur, who turned 21 on January 15, took on the intimidating championship layout rated one of the toughest tests in the country with the aplomb of a seasoned veteran, and racked up five birdies on his way in from the 13th hole.
He’s been South Africa’s number one since April last year, and his back nine of six-under 30 put him well clear of his pursuers to underline that status. Teammate Jordan Burnand and Frenchman Octave Bailo shared second three strokes back on five-under-par.
“I drove the ball well all day,” said Arthur, “but I was hitting it close from 150 out, particularly on the back nine, and that gave me all those opportunities for birdies. I don’t think my putting was especially good, because my proximity to the hole was pretty good, and that left me so quite easy putts. And when I was far from the hole, I lagged the ball well, and didn’t leave myself too much work in tidying up.”
His good driving was underlined by a near eagle on the 354-metre par-four 17th after landing on the dance floor from the tee. “I got a good bounce on the drive, I will confess,” he said. “I gave the putt a good chance and it went about four feet by. I was able to make the return putt to keep the good streak on the stretch going.”
The Mount Edgecombe golfer is fairly familiar with the Royal Johannesburg East Course and used that knowledge to his advantage. “I’ve played it a few times, but my coach knows it well, and I’ve been able to work out lines to use, where to miss, and all of that sort of thing,” he said. “It’s a challenging course, but because I was driving it well, and the fairways are not so hard after the rain, I was able to take advantage of that.”
Although he is relatively new to the international scene, he picked up his first international win in the MCB Indian Ocean Open in Mauritius in July last year when he defeated French professional and local favourite Pierre Pellegrin on the first play-off hole after the pair tied on two-under 214 at Anahita Golf Club. He tied for third in his debut for South Africa in the All Africa Team Championship in Zimbabwe, helping Team South Africa to victory and combined with Burnand for a fourth-place finish in the prestigious Copa Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup in Argentina.
“I am finding my feet still in the team aspect of things,” he said, “but we’ve got a great bunch of guys, and I enjoy it a lot.”
Together with Burnand, Dian Kruger and Ivan Verster (whose two-over 74 did not count for the first round), Team South Africa pulled comfortably clear of their Team South Africa Junior counterparts which included Bryan Newman and new caps Johndre Ludick, Dewan de Bruin and Roelof Craig.
Astin and company were a combined 12-under thanks to his seven-under, Burnand’s four-under and Kruger’s one-under.
The GolfRSA President Team with Devon Valentine, Timothy Daniels, Vuyisani Makama and Mitch Phigeland were in third on one-over, Team Scotland was on two-over and Team Reunion were fifth on 14-over.
In the women’s section, South Africa’s Lisa Coetzer made two birdies in her final three holes to get within a shot of the lead. Up front, it was Reunion’s Melliyal Schmitt who was in the lead with her three-under-par 69 consisting of seven birdies and four bogeys.
Coetzer had to overcome a double-bogey on the 15th after she had dropped just a single shot up to there. She made three birdies on the front nine, and the bogey came on the 10th. After the double, she bounced back with birdies on 16 and 18 for her two-under-par 70.
Lourenda Steyn and Olivia Wood shared third on one-under 71, while Casey Twidale and Bobbi Brown were on level-par in a share of fifth.
In the women’s team contest, Team South Africa with Coetzer, Kesha Louw and Zane Kleyhans, whose score of nine-over 81 didn’t count for the first round, were in the lead at level-par after Louw carded a two-over 74.
They were one clear of Reunion, while the GolfRSA President Team of Odette Booysen, Kamaya Moodliar and Phenyo Sebata was on 10-under in third place.
Round 1 results from the 2025 GolfRSA International Amateur Championships at Royal Johannesburg (East Course | Par 72) on 28 January; all competitors RSA unless otherwise indicated:
MEN’S INDIVIDUAL
65 Astin Wade Arthur
68 Jordan Burnand; Octave Bailo FRA; Logan Leisher
69 Jeré Brits; Craig Jacobs; Tristan Leonard; Vian Jansen van Vuuren
70 Johndre Ludick; Gregor Tait SCO; Devon Valentine; Josh De Aguiar; Sean Paxton; Nathan Schuldt
71 Matthew Mortimer; Michael Wallace ZIM; Dian Kruger; Tristan Fichardt; Thomo Mokgatle BOT; Christiaan Heyman
71 Benjamin Weber; Harry Watkins WAL; James Truter; Minjun Heo KOR
72 Dewan de Bruin; Roelof Craig; Timothy Daniels; Max Hopkins ENG; Marno Lange; Oliver Scriven ENG; Kamoza Longwe MAL; Keegan du Plessis
73 Keegan Shutt ZIM; Keagan Crosbie; Werner Potgieter; Lorenzo Sakota ITA; Charl Barnard; Darren Strachan FRA; Cilliers Craig; Bradley de Beer; Janko van der Merwe; Andries van der Vyver; Daniel Copeman; Juan Coetzee; Gerard Hartman
74 Bryan Newman; Jack McDonald SCO; Jamie Mann SCO; Tanaka Chatora ZIM; Ivan Verster; Camille Taillefer-Wolf REU; Liam Ross; Fabrizio de Abreu; Liam McKenna; Kaiden Chetty; Kyle Kistensamy
75 Gerhard Botha; Travis Procter; Samuel Aiach REU; Vuyisani Makama; JP van der Watt; Damian Osner; Harry Llewellyn ENG; Jean du Toit
76 Andreas Yiallouris; Morris Schiefner GER; Nicolaas Weber; Ben Willis WAL; Stefano Marchetti; Nicholas Lewis; Jandré van Niekerk
77 Mitch Phigeland; Dujuan Snyman; Andrew Curlewis; Tylor Phillips
78 Andrew Wahome KEN; Noa Auch-Roy FRA; Gilbert Chalwe ZAM; Sebastian Greenan; Pieter Coetzee
79 Willem Lotriet; Saul Moss
80 Emilio Meijer NED
81 Francois Alexandre REU; Ben Jacobs
84 Edwin Kutara NAM
87 Mongiwetfu Masuku SWZ
WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL
69 Melliyal Schmitt REU
70 Lisa Coetzer
71 Lourenda Steyn; Olivia Wood
72 Casey Twidale; Bobbi Brown
73 Shannon Butler
74 Kesha Louw
75 Maegan Webster
76 Odette Booysen; Megan Marais; Ophelie Odin REU
77 Danielle Chong
78 Zayaan Hendricks; Liezl Smit; Jasmine Furstenburg; Kamaya Moodliar
79 Kaitlyn van de Vyver; Gia Raad; Phenyo Sebata
80 Valentina Sakota
81 Paola Sakota; Lucia Mhlabane; Bea Breedt; Zané Kleynhans
82 Hanne Rademeyer; Charlotte Millard
83 Celeste Darloy FRA; Kaylee Webster
84 Tze Ning Chang
86 Keisha Wiltshire UGA
87 Holly Duddy; Danielle van der Merwe
94 Ellandri van Heerden
TEAM COMPETITION – MEN
(54 holes; best 3 scores to count)
204 Team South Afric
214 Team South Africa Junior
217 GolfRSA President Team
218 Team Scotland
Should you require individual action of the team members, kindly contact Lali Stander on lalistander@golfrsa.co.za
For further information, please contact:
Grant Hepburn (GolfRSA CEO) – granthepburn@golfrsa.co.za
Deon Nel (South African Golf Association President) – deongolf@yahoo.com
Susan Andrew (Womens Golf South Africa President) – susan@wgsa.co.za
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