A young talented golfer affiliated to De Zalze Golf Club has set his sights on furthering his golfing career abroad after completion of his schooling.
Jack Brugman, of Stellenbosch, is fast making a name for himself in local and national golfing circles, as he drives, chips and putts his way to the top of junior golfing rankings. The teenager was a member of the Western Province junior team that made history when it won six-out-of-six matches and all the honours at the South African Under-19 Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT) in Kimberley last month.
“I really enjoyed the IPT,” the humble 17-year-old said. “I played some good golf and ended in fourth place on the Most Valuable Player list with eight-and-a-half points.”
His passion and love for the sport was born when his father handed him a set of irons in October 2017. Jack, who is also affiliated to Strand and Hermanus golf clubs, recalled immediately picking up the equipment and taking a swing; the then 13-year old was immediately hooked and started to put his focus on improving his game through regular practice sessions.
Since then, the Paul Roos Gymnasium learner has been selected for provincial age-group golf teams, starting with his inclusion in the Boland u-15 team in 2019 and the WP u-17 team last year. He also represented WP at the Junior Triangular Tournament between WP, Boland and South Western Districts at Robertson Golf Club last May. The year 2021 was definitely a good one for the Grade 12 learner, as he also won the WP Junior Matchplay at Strand Golf Club last July.
Jack attributes his success on the green to his dogged work ethic and tough-as-nails mental strength. “I practise almost every day and take off only if I need to study for a test or exam,” he pointed out, adding that he gave up playing cricket in 2019 to focus on his preferred sporting code.
“I am very good at managing my time, which helps me to get my schoolwork done, even though I practise a lot of golf. I believe my work ethic and my mental game will help me to become successful at golf in the future.”
Jack hopes to one day grace the world’s greatest golf courses as a professional golfer and rub shoulders with his role model and former world number one Rory McIlroy, whom he describes as “true gentleman and exceptional golfer”.
But for now he has set his sights on improving his own game and his national ranking, and completing matric. “I would like to attend college in the USA and study while playing golf, and then hopefully be good enough to turn professional after my studies.”
