MIND / LOCAL ACHIEVEMENTS M
Eagle Canyon Club Champion at 12 Amy Stanton benefits from membership of Hendrik Buhrmann’s academy
Amy Stanton on the range at Eagle Canyon.
devoting themselves to practice,” says Buhrmann. “I’ve had kids with low handicaps coming to the academy after matriculating from school, and expressing a desire to become a pro. Unfortunately I have to tell them it’s too late. You really have to be under 18 to start this process.” Amy is small of stature, and uses light graphite-shafted clubs with short shafts. “It’s important for kids to be fit properly for the clubs they use,” says Buhrmann. “The length of a club is key to their development, and that’s why US Kids Golf supplies clubs with specific measurements. Amy now has a set of Ping junior irons. She pays for them once, and as she grows taller and needs longer clubs, Ping replaces them at no extra cost.” Amy has a Callaway Paradym driver, a newish acquisition, and the big clubhead and short shaft look distinctly odd. But she is soon striping her drives over the 150-metre marker on the range. Buhrmann points out two poles on either side of the marker, the furthest ones about 10-15 metres apart. “This is a random task for Amy, to keep
became interested in golf at the age of eight, and she is focused. Hitting balls is clearly fun and fulfilling, and at week- ends she’s eager to tee up in junior tour- naments. She’s played in US Kids events in America, the UK, and Italy, winning her age group in London. Buhrmann works mainly with juniors who have a desire to play competitively and explains to me the three different types of motivation for kids as young as Amy in embracing the discipline of hitting balls and improving their skills. “Some do it through incentives, oth- ers through fear, and Amy has what I call internal-drive motivation, which offers the best chance of success. She practices with a purpose and is building a routine and experience that will serve her well in the future. “Pro golfers are criticised for play- ing too slowly, yet they cannot play quickly due to the routines they have absorbed in their youth in master- ing how to use all 14 clubs in the bag. I always say that club golfers practice until they get something right, while pros practice until they cannot get it wrong. To become the golfing equiva- lent of a Formula One driver, you need to have the best technique possible.” Amy might be South Africa’s young- est female club champion, yet she isn’t an outlier. Last year at Pecanwood the winner of the men’s club champion- ship was 14-year-old Jayden Jacobs, and 13-year-old Megan Marais the women’s champion. Eagle Canyon has already produced an outstand- ing female teenage champion in Kera Healey, 14 when she first won the club championship in 2017. She retained the title for another five years, and is currently a college golfer in the United States. “To be a professional golfer today your child needs to be working hard on their swing and discipline from a young age, forming good habits and
A my Stanton graduated from playing US Kids golf last year to winning the women’s club championship at Eagle Canyon at the age of 12. What made her victory extra impres- sive though was scoring a one-under- par 71 in the final round, from the blue tees, making three birdies in the last five holes for a one-shot triumph over 16-year-old Casey Twidale, the defend- ing champion. I met Amy, a slight dark-haired girl, on the range at Eagle Canyon where she is part of teaching professional Hendrik Buhrmann’s BDGA academy. She’s there Monday to Thursday every week, hitting between 200 and 300 balls a session – Buhrmann is a believer in the effectiveness of daily practice – and later on perhaps nine holes. It helps that her family has a home within the Eagle Canyon estate. For the next couple of hours Amy goes through a repetitive routine of hitting balls with four different clubs, working on her address, posture, swing path and clubface angle – an alignment stick always in place by her feet. Buhrmann refers to this as “block practice.” Her 9-iron shots are precise and fly 100 metres. She is certainly no novice. Amy
Hendrik Buhrmann and Amy illustrate with their hands how to judge the length of club to use.
22 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2024
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