Teenage phenomenon doubles up
10 April 2006
Ashleigh Simon, the 16-year-old darling of South African amateur golf, won the Sanlam SA Amateur Match Play Championship at Pretoria Country Club on Saturday, following up her third consecutive victory in the Sanlam SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship.
Even though she is still a teenager, Simon has already won some of South Africa's leading professional tournaments, including this year's Nedbank SA Women's Masters. She also came third in the Telkom Classic, fourth in the Acer SA Women's Open, and fifth in the Pam Golding Ladies International - this against some of Europe's finest players.
Simon has twice represented South Africa at the Women's World Cup of golf, where she has come up against the likes of world number one Annika Sorenstam, Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer.
Stiff opposition
On Thursday, in perfect weather conditions, Simon, who was three-under-par when the game ended, first beat Caitlin
Beckwith six-and-five in the morning quarterfinals.
Then she met with stern opposition in the form of Glendower's 14-year-old Yushira Budhram - the find of the tournament - before prevailing three-and-two.
There are many good young players in South African women's golf, and Schoeman Park's Lumien Lausberg, 19, came from two down to beat 13-year-old Larissa Ras, who plays out of Woodhill, three-and-two. Ras is definitely a golfer who will be putting up a serious challenge in the near future.
Later that afternoon, Lausberg faced 19-year-old Stacy Bregman of Country Club Johannesburg, who came third in the stroke play event, a clash between two players vying for a coveted place in the three-player SA line-up for the World Team Championships in Stellenbosch in October. Lausberg was up for the challenge and beat Bregman four-and-two in a very tight match.
Gearing up for the final 36-hole countdown, Lausberg said: "Ashleigh's a pretty big player these days, but
I'm playing well and will give it my best and see what happens."
Fierce battle
The battle waged fiercely over the first 18 holes, before swinging in favour of Simon at the turn. Her golf armour and mental toughness proved too much for Lausberg, who didn't convert some birdie opportunities and let things slip away.
Simon, who already held a big lead, got the job done on the thirteenth hole to win seven-and-six.
It is the second time she has achieved the double of SA strokeplay and matchplay titles. The first time she did the trick she was only 14 years old - that made her the youngest winner of both championship events in 2004.
Two years ago at Strand Golf Club, when Simon was just 14 and Lausberg 17, the two young players battled appalling weather conditions - rain, wind and cold - and each other, before Simon clinched the title on the very last hole.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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