Tuksgolf Academy Helps Lombard and Stone to Excel

TuksGolf Academy helps Lombard and Stone to excel The coaches at the TuksGolf Academy are certainly doing something right. The results of the South African Open and Joburg Open are testimony to it. Last week Brandon Stone won the SA Open at Glendower Golf Club while on Sunday (17/01) Zander Lombard finished second at the Joburg Open played at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Club. It is interesting to note that Stone is only 22 and that Lombard turned 21 on Monday (18/01). Hopefully this is just the beginning of great things to come. Llewellyn van Leeuwen (head coach at the TuksGolf Academy) boldly predicts Stone has what it takes to become one the best golfers in the world. He should know because he has been coaching Stone from when he was six years old. He also got high regards for Lombard’s golfing abilities. Van Leeuwen ascribes Stone and Lombard’s success to the fact that the various members of the Academy’s coaching staff complement each other in the way things are being done. “There are never any individual decisions. Whenever we work with one specific player we all first get together as a team and work out what is going to be best way forward. So everybody knows exactly what to do so as to help the player to succeed.” Lombard who only turned pro last year has been impressive during the last six weeks managing two top five finishes at European Tour- events. In December he was fourth overall in the Australian Open PGA Tournament at the Gold Coast. Another good result for him was finishing tied 12th at the SA Open. The HPC sponsored golfer is slightly disappointed in not winning the Joburg Open but he makes it clear that Haydn Porteous was the better player on the day. “I only got to blame myself for not winning. Golf is a mental game therefore your state of mind has a great influence on the way you play. There are many players who can hit a ball really well. They are also able to put well and know how to use their irons but they still battle to put together a good score because they tend to be self- destructive at crucial moments. “At a rough estimate you will end up playing 270 plus shots during any tournament. The difference between winning and losing is often merely one shot. This means that it is the guy who can keep his cool at a crucial moment who ends up winning. “It is a given that you are bound to play one or two bad shots at any tournament, but the challenge is to remain patient and not to allow the bad shots to get to you. I made two crucial mistakes at the Joburg Open and that costed me but all was not in vain. I have earned an invite to the Open Championship. That is a nice consolation prize.” In 2014 Lombard became probably only the third South African player to finish second in the Amateur British Open Championships. He quickly mentioned that the legendary Bobby Locke was the only South African golfer who was able to win the tournament. Lombard’s next tournament is the Tshwane Open (11-14 February) at Pretoria Country Club. .

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