Lindi welcomes pressure as she claims her maiden series win at Glendower

JOHANNESBURG – South African female professional Lindi Coetzee says her maiden win in the Standard Bank Pro-Am series tournament at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday will bring with it a welcome degree of pressure as the season rolls on.

Coetzee backed up an opening round of 68 with a score of 1-under-par 71 on Thursday to claim a one-shot victory over Tandi McCallum in the season-opener of this eight-tournament series.

“I came into this tournament not very confident in my swing,” said Coetzee after her win, “my swing was all over the place. So, from the start, I made a game plan and that was to accept everything that comes my way this week; just to accept all the bad shots that I was going to hit because I knew I was going to hit a few of those.

“I think I did well to manage myself and eventually come out top. I think winning the first event in this series will bring a lot of pressure but the kind of pressure you need. Now, I am going to want to be in contention for all the tournaments. It’s the pressure I like because it makes you want to get better and better.”

Hers was no easy victory because McCallum, Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann and four-time winner Ivanna Samu were chasing hard and not giving Coetzee room to breathe in the final round.

“I stayed very calm today and I was rewarded for it,” Coetzee added. “you want to keep a cool head around Glendower because it’s a great golf course and can punish you just like that. But we are all grateful to Standard Bank because South African women’s golf is at a high level and this series will only grow stronger.

“I think we will look back at it in 10 years and say ‘wow’ because the growth that is going to come through this series will be amazing. I am very glad to be among the winners in the series because there are some really good golfers here and I think you can see by the scores. I am just happy I’ve won my first tournament and hopefully, it won’t be the last.”

McCallum might have lost this week but she played some solid golf, and she too, will look forward to the next tournaments with optimism, especially after her outing at Glendower this week.

The tournament carried a purse of R600 000, a significant increase from last season’s R150 000 prize money per event. The next tournament in the series will be held at Atlantic Beach Links in the Western Cape as the series establishes a national footprint. The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and the North West are the other three provinces that will be visited this season in what is a clear ambition to grow the series.

Founded by Lifestyle Golf in partnership with the Women’s Professional Golf Association of South Africa, the series promotes women’s golf in the country while developing talent for a future in the game of golf.

For more information: Standard Bank Pro-Am Invitational and the Standard Bank Golf Development Programme – contact Lifestyle Golf – Jenny Havenga or Gina Read.

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