RISING female junior golfer Danielle Bekker carded a superb final round of level-par 72 as she ended the season on a high note with a commendable second-place finish at the Kids Golf World Championship in Malaysia at the weekend.
BY SPORTS REPORTER
Bekker, who had earlier carded rounds of 81 and 75 in the 54-hole event, finished seven shots behind eventual winner Kwankamon Meesombon of Thailand (74, 72 and 75) on 12-over-par 228 as she continued with her brilliant run of form in international tournaments.
The 13-year-old prodigy had earlier suffered the misfortune of being penalised in the first round for getting on a cart between holes 9 and 10 — along with three other players.
After recovering to shoot a solid 75 in the second round, Bekker put on a brilliant performance in the third and final round to finish seven strokes behind the winner and three ahead of third-placed Mariel Isabella of Mexico.
The second-place finish in Malaysia completed what has been a remarkable year for Bekker on the international circuit, which includes a third-place finish at the European Junior Championships in Scotland, 5th place at the World Stars of Junior Golf in Las Vegas and another 3rd place finish at the Teen World Championships.
Her biggest win of the year, however, came at the Junior Africa Challenge where she claimed top honours in the U-13 age group. She also remains top of the Zimbabwe Ladies’ Golf Union Order of Merit standings.
Bekker, who also recently helped the national junior team to a historic All Africa Junior Girls Championship victory in Kenya, will now take a week’s break before playing in two tournaments in South Africa, the Boland Junior Tournament in Roberts from January 4 to 5 and the Nomads Western Province Junior Tournament from January 7-8.
