The new SA Open champion is only 22 and he might not have made the field without an outrageous slice of luck. But he’s here to stay.
The European Challenge Tour had reached its final event of 2015, the NBO Golf Classic at the Almouj Club in Muscat, Oman. The 22-year-old Brandon Stone was lying 19th in the Order of Merit, with only the top 15 guaranteed a card on the full European Tour in 2016. On Saturday, Stone had shot a fine 68. Eleven holes into the final round he was 10 under and in contention for the title. Then came the moment that will stay with him for the rest of his life.
‘When I stepped on to the 12th tee box I was right where I needed to be. All I needed was to finish the nine strong and solid. At the worst possible time, I made the worst swing I had made in months. I just hit a violent snap-hook, straight into the ocean, or so I thought. As I was walking up to the fairway, all I could think about was how I’d thrown away a whole year’s work in one shot.
‘I looked up and saw a photographer looking into the ocean. He called me over to show me that my ball had in fact managed to somehow find the beach. The only reason there was a beach was because it was low tide. My ball was actually lying quite nicely, although it was right where the waves were brushing on to the beach, so it was slowly sinking deeper into the sand. I ran down, quickly got it back into play and managed to make par. The season was back on track.’
With sand still in his cleats from the Gulf of Oman, Stone finished with another 68, enough to clinch sixth in the tournament and to move from 19th to 14th in the Order of Merit. The tides respond to the movement of the moon, and for Stone it seems that the moment on the beach moved the stars into alignment. He flew home to Pretoria and the following week won for the first time on the Sunshine Tour, at the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open. As it happened, in addition to a hefty winner’s cheque of R190 000, Stone also ate rather well, courtesy of his father.
Kevin Stone won six times on the Sunshine Tour. His best years were between 1992 and 1997 and now, at the age of 49, he is busy grooving his game before a tilt at fame and fortune on the Champions Tour. The Cape Town tournament was part of the process and a finish of tied 44th wasn’t half bad. But it’s possible the R7 500 he earned wasn’t enough to feed his eldest son. Kevin takes up the story:
‘Every time we play against each other we play for a car wash. This week we decided to play for dinner every evening. I managed to win the first day but that was the end! He played much better on Friday, but Saturday was the day that made the win, I believe. I was off about an hour earlier than he was and the wind was howling, with rain for the first three holes. I figured that if I could post an even par round I might be able to win dinner that night.
‘When I walked to the 13th tee box there was a scoreboard with “Stone” sitting at minus 10. I went to the scorer and advised him that he had my score wrong as I was only even par. He laughed at me and said, “It’s not your score, it’s the golfer in the family’s score.” Brandon was five under after six holes in that weather and eventually scored 63, and that cost me supper again. From that point on I had the belief he was going to win and I was just trying my best not to lose another dinner.’
Rather than rest on his laurels, Brandon buckled down to practice even harder over the festive season. He took a day off on New Year’s Eve, flying to Durban to join his family, for the birthday celebrations of his mother, Desiree. The next day he flew back to the Highveld to continue preparations for the SA Open at Glendower. In 2011 Stone was the leading amateur in the tournament. In 2016 he would go one better, becoming the sixth player in the professional era to win the Freddie Tait Trophy and the championship. He joins Dale Hayes (1969 and 1976), Tony Johnstone (1978 and 1984), Ernie Els (1989 and 1992), Trevor Immelman (1998 and 2003) and Hennie Otto (1997 and 2011).
This time dad wasn’t in the field, but walking the course with his own father, Sam, and Brandon’s younger brother, Jarryd. ‘They call my dad Stone, I’m known as Stoney and Brandon’s been called Pebbles ever since he was a laaitie,’ said Kevin. ‘Funny enough I wasn’t nervous at all the whole week. I was just super proud to see how he was handling the pressure. During the final round he had a five-shot lead after five holes and everyone came up to me and started to congratulate me on his win. But being the old, grey, experienced bullet I am, I knew it was a looooong way from over. Six holes later he was two shots behind!’
Brandon had dropped six shots in seven holes, but said, ‘I never got down on myself. I never even doubted if I was going to win the event. I knew I had the game. I knew I had to get back into the right process and put myself in play for the last seven holes. My caddie, Chris, was incredible. He kept me calm and in the moment. When we stood on the 12th tee he said one thing to me: “Let’s hit every fairway and every green home,” which we actually did. I got up and ripped my 2-iron down the 12th fairway, and the rest is history.’
It’s a history that always looked likely, given Brandon’s prodigious talent, manifested at an early age. One old friend tweeted after the win at Glendower, ‘We witnessed the work that went into this over the years from our days as kids at Centurion to young adults at Copperleaf Country Club. I don’t think I ever went to the driving range, putting or chipping green without the Stones being there practising.’
Kevin said of Brandon: ‘He was practically born in the Rustenburg Golf Club car park, so he has been involved in golf his entire life. He was swinging clubs before he could walk, I think. He always had the passion for the game and would sit on the range with me and watch me practice when he was still in a pram. I remember when he used to go down to the range and hit practice balls before he went to nursery school. He was only five years old! That passion hasn’t changed to this day.’
The big break for Brandon came after Victor Markram, a friend of the Stone family, raised money to send him to the Junior World Championships in the US. Brandon finished sixth under the watchful eyes of a number of college scouts. He was offered a scholarship at the University of Texas, where he shared one semester with current world No 1, Jordan Spieth. Brandon said, ‘I learned a lot from him there, and I’m still learning from him today. People often ask me what he’s like as a person, and my answer is simple. He may be an incredible golfer, but he’s a better person and friend. He’s always been there to congratulate me and support me.’
As it happened, the same day Stone won in Johannesburg, Spieth won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Maui. Spieth shot the faintly ridiculous score of 30 under par for the win and bagged $1.2-million. The time will surely come when Stone and Spieth play together as professionals as they once did as amateurs. Stone has already had to adjust his sights for 2016: ‘My main objective is to climb into the top 50 on the World Rankings. Once I get there the world becomes my playground.’
He wants to emulate his hero, Ernie Els, and the SA Open win was made even more special by the fact Els was in the field and acting as the host for the event. On the day of the final round, Kevin posted two pictures to his Facebook page; one of Ernie posing with three generations of Stones in the locker room at Glendower, the other of a two-year-old Brandon sitting in Ernie’s arms.
Kevin said, ‘That one was taken in 1995 at Houghton Golf Club. We played the PGA there and Desiree and Brandon just arrived at the club to come see me. Ernie was about to tee off and spotted Des. We actually have a photo of Madiba also hugging Brandon on the same tee box. He came to watch Ernie tee off and it was a really awesome moment.’
At Glendower, Ernie was on the podium to help with prizegiving. Twenty years after cradling ‘Pebbles’ in his arms, he said of the new SA Open champion, ‘This is the future of South African golf.’
So what advice does ‘the future’ have for the past, as his father attempts to qualify for the Champions Tour? Brandon chuckles and says, ‘What he’s forgotten, I still need to learn. So basically just try to remember what you’ve forgotten.’
