May 27 is the date for our Newest Golf Championship!
Foursomes is a golf competition format in which a team is comprised of two golfers, and those two golfers alternate hitting the same golf ball. That’s why Foursomes is also very commonly called “alternate shot.”
The first player tees off, the second player hits the second shot, the first golfer hits the third shot, the second golfer hits the fourth shot, and so on until the ball is holed. The two golfers on a side also alternate hitting tee shots so that the same player doesn’t hit every drive.
Here’s a hint for Foursomes strategy: Try to determine before the round which are the toughest driving holes on the course being played. Factor that into the decision on who hits the tee ball on the first hole. You want your best driver to be teeing off on as many of the toughest driving holes as possible. The golfer who tees off No. 1 will continue teeing off on odd-numbered holes.
FOURSOMES ON THE WORLD STAGE
There are hundreds of golf tournament formats and games played by golfers (and probably hundreds more variations on those games), but foursomes is one of the better-known ones.
That’s because pro golfers (and prominent amateur golfers) play foursomes (as match play) in some very high-profile events:
Ryder Cup: Foursomes has been played at the Ryder Cup in every single tournament, going back to the first one in 1927.
Solheim Cup: Foursomes has been part of every Solheim Cup since the first in 1990.
Presidents Cup: Foursomes has been part of every Presidents Cup since the first in 1994.
The foursomes match-play format is also used in the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup, the USA vs. Great Britain and Ireland tournaments for top amateur men and women, respectively.
Pick your partners now and get planning for the 1st Annual Foursomes Champs!
Enter as a Men’s Team, a Ladies’ Team or a Mixed Team
Two Great Guests – one played with Hickories!
One, a PGA Professional from Ohio and the other, a course superintendent and “grow-in” specialist, joined Thinus and me for a great 18-hole game and conversation that centered around the history of the game, the great architects of all time and great courses around the world. Chris, the golf professional with a love for the hickories, arrived with a set 2-iron to sand wedge with long, leather grips, hickory shafts and heads that all looked like butter knives with different angles. CJ, the SUP, came with a set of “raw” irons only 10 years old that looked like they were found in a bag in Grandpa’s garage. They were actually specially made with no chrome. He could hit them properly and so could Chris with a the antiques. Chris nearly flew his 4-iron (mashie iron) with the loft of today’s 6-iron, in the jar at 14! This was after he drove it past the bunker at 13 with his brassie. Both were highly complimentary of our course, the design and the condition – having played Leopard Creek, Durban CC, East London and Humewood, it was the highlight of the trip. They met at Pacific Dunes where Tom Doak designed a masterpiece – Chris in the shop and CJ on the course. Today, CJ resides in New Zealand where he has finished off Doak’s latest gem, Tara-iti – set to debut in the world top-50! Chris goes back to Ohio where he is at what is considered Jack’s “most playable” course by design. The great man was impressed when that was the answer Chris gave him on a recent visit. Below are the boys and their courses past and present.
The originals Pacific Dunes in Oregon, USA
Tara-iti, New Zealand – carved out of a pine forest in the sand near the sea.
Seasonal packages are now on offer
It’s also the time of year for golf travel. We join others in advertising our course countrywide. The are are a couple of subtle differences between what you pay and what you receive in a golf package. We pride ourselves on over-delivering with personal services, additional opportunities, special events, shoot-outs and so much more. We’ll supply the braai or what you need to do it yourselves; we’ll serve your meals here or recommend the area establishments who will exceed your expectations (and of course, we’ll do the booking for you). Why? Because we can and we want to!
Why not sign up for the special events coming up in the future and expand them into a few days of play! Play in the Inter-Estate Challenge, enter the Ernie Els for Autism in June, start planning for the Invitationals – ladies and men; Invite your friends in for the best golf in SA (and beyond).
Keep Reading…
More to remember!
This was our best year to date in almost every way:
- We finished our 106th home on the estate (57 are permanent residents)
- 16 homes are under construction
- 25 homes are in the planning or application stages
- We are financially sound with great lifestyle choices for the entire family
- To date, we are 500 rounds UP on budget
- Our golf rounds featured golfers from more than 20 different countries – from Wisconsin to New South Wales
- We moved up in the nation ratings to No. 7 in Golf Digest
- The UK rates us No. 6
- The Swedish press rate us No.4
- With our members, No. 1
Don’t stop yet!
Time to say farewell
Evan & Elri Veldsman
This fun and loving couple has been part of the St Francis Links team for the past 4 years as our Pastry and Sous Chef. They have decided to take a big step in their careers and will be following their passion and dreams at Grass Roof.They have become part of the St Francis Links Family and everyone here at The Links is saying goodbye with a heavy heart.
We here at St Francis Links wish them all the best and we will miss their fun and loving personalities. We wish them the best for their future.
“It was so much fun working with all these wonderful people and getting to know them all on a personal as well as a professional level. All the challenges that everyday brought us made our work fun and exciting as well as very interesting. We both gave each other motivation and our families also pushed and motivated us to do the best we could possibly could and I think we made them very proud. We pushed our self to the limits and that made our work relationship stronger as well as our personal relationship. We will miss everyone here at the Links, everyone became family here and it is not easy saying goodbye, but we will see everyone soon. Thank you to everyone who motivated and inspired us and pushed us to do our best, especially Luzanne and Mieta. Our road forward is exciting and we look forward to it.”
“Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light”
-Evan & Elri
Will be our sponsors for OPEN Wednesday (2nd Wednesday) with meat and added prizes. Invite your friends to enjoy SA’s best with special rates for golf, snacks after the game and great prizes – Hey, Curry Night follows – stay or take away!
Monday Roll-up! Pitch up and play (9 holes from 3pm) let’s add you to the What’s app group
All day Saturdays-Morning and afternoon fields – the afternoon field will be booked from 12 noon backwards with emphasis on “ready golf” – Prizegiving and Happy Hour at 17h00
May 10 ITEC Open Wednesday
May 12-14 St Francis Bridge Tournament
May 14 Mother’s Day (and Family) Lunch
May 18-19 Woodland’s Dairy Golf Days for Hospice (course closed from 11am)
May 27 FOURSOMES – pick a partner ans sign up!
June 3 Ladies’ Invitational
ST FRANCIS LINKS “MAJORS” AND “SPECIAL EVENTS” FOR 2017
Jan 2-3 Men’s Member-Member, St Francis Bay wins by .18 of a point! Well done!
Jan 7-8 The Pam Golding Annual, Derek Ryan and Scott Keevy, Champions
Mar 11 Greensomes over 18 holes (NEW) Sandra Marais/Ingvild Stiansen; Mauro Nettl/Yan Coesens
Apr 28-30 Club Championships – Ralph Richardson and Helen Bridges, Champions
May 7 Inter-Estate Challange (St Francis Links)
May 18-19 Woodlands’ Dairy Golf Days for HOSPICE
May 27 Foursomes over 18 holes (NEW)
Jun 3 Ladies’ Invitational
Jun 10 Sanlam – Links Qualifier
Jun 22 Els for Autism at St Francis Links (finals at Highland Gate)
Jul 2-3 National Junior Order of Merit
Jul 20-23 Men’s Invitational
Jul 23-25 The Annual “Road Trip”
Aug 6 Sanlam Cancer FINALS at St Francis Links
Aug 8-23 Spring Programme – Course and Clubhouse Closed
Sep 30, Oct 1 Links Cup
Nov 11-12 Pam Golding Ladies OPEN Weekend
Dec 2 Ladies’ Member-Member
Dates for Mixed Events, as well as the Knock-outs to follow.
Every Great shot starts with a SMILE 
