Golf: South Africa Under-19 Inter-Provincial tournament |19 December 2022

Deltel with the winner’s trophy

Seychellois Jaden Deltel rewrites history books

Young Seychellois golfer Jaden Deltel can’t stop rewriting the history books. Last week he became only the second player in 70 years to win every single one of his matches ‒ 12 ‒ and was awarded the Most Valuable Player accolade as his Central Gauteng team were declared the winners of the South Africa Under-19 Inter-Provincial tournament.

Played at Mbombela golf course which has a rich tournament history and a fine layout that proved to be challenging and a true, but fair, test of the young players’ abilities, South Africa Under-19 Inter-Provincial tournament was contested over a week of competitive gold (December 12-16).

Playing in division A, Deltel’s Central Gauteng team managed by Michael Fassen, also comprised Pascal Gunther, Amilkar Bhana, Vuyisani Makama, Stefan Jacobs, Grant Labuschagne, Hannes Strooh and Filip Sakota.

Seven provinces competed against each other in division A over five days from Monday December 12 to Friday December 16. The morning sessions saw pairings from each province competing against a pairing from another province. In the afternoon, there were one-on-one matches (singles). A win earned each winner one point for his, a tie was worth half-a-point and a loss 0 point.

The province with the most points at the end of the tournament was declared the winner.

Jaden’s province, Central Gauteng, were declared winners and Jaden personally made history by being only the second player ever in 70 years to win every one of his pairing and singles matches ‒ 12 in total. No surprise then he was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolade.

Central Gauteng succeeded Western province as the winners and before this year’s win they had triumphed in 2013 and 2016. There was also a B section.

Speaking top Sports NATION, Deltel, 18, said: It was the best top best 48 junior golfers in South Africa, and I knew I had to play superb golf and contribute to my team’s goal of winning the event. I had a lot of self-belief going into the tournament. I was happy that my game was on very good form. My desire to win and my confidence increased even more as the week went on and I’m delighted to have made such an important impact on the team’s success. My partner for the morning pairing sessions was Filip Sakotar (Italian origin) and we brought incredible energy and fire on to the course.”

Deltel added: “It just feels awesome after all my hard work, determination to come out on top winning the MVP award. I won 12 out of 12 matches and was the only unbeaten player of the week.

“I feel I’ve come a long way from my roots at Anse Royale, Mahe, Seychelles (laughs) and my dream is to play professional golf at the highest level in the coming years.”

Deltel once told Sports NATION that his “love for the game really started when he saw Tiger Woods on TV.

“My love for the game really started when I saw Tiger Woods on TV playing an incredible shot before going on to win the tournament. My dad had recorded the round and I must have watched that one amazing shot more than 50 times,” he told Sports NATION three years ago.

No wonder wife his mum Caroline Deltel calls him “My Tiger”.

This was the second big win for Deltel in South Africa this year. In January, he was the winner of the inaugural Pawpa Sewgolum Cup played in association with Nomads at Selborne Golf Club, near Durban in South Africa. This was Deltel’s first under-19 win.

In fact, it took him two extra holes, but a solid approach on his third trip down the 18th set to nail the birdie putt to seal victory in the Pawpa Sewgolum Cup played over two days ‒ Thursday and Friday January 6 and 7 ‒ on a tricky coastal course. A total of 36 holes were played on day one and the remaining 18 the following day.

A member of the South Africa national squad, Deltel defeated fellow Bryanston strokes after the 54 holes. Deltel fired rounds of 71, 72 and 70 for a three under par total which was enough to get him into the payoff to decide the winner against Gunther who scored 72, 70 and 71.

Gerard Govinden