KNYSNA NEWS - Plettenberg Bay teenage golfing sensation Jonathan Ackerman has been awarded a Big Easy Tour card for 2025, marking the start of his professional career.
"I was notified about it on Friday," Jonathan (18) said on Monday 14 April.
"The Big Easy Tour [named after Ernie Els] is an interleading tour to the Sunshine Tour.
"I'm very excited about getting the card, actually. You have to be 18 to obtain a tour card and be a professional, and I turned 18 in November."
Professional debut
He said that he will be playing in a tournament as a professional for the first time on 6 May.
"It's the Big Easy Tour Blue Label event, to be held at the Dainfern Golf Estate in Johannesburg."
He will be participating in the event alongside four other top young golfers who were awarded Big Easy Tour cards: Dillon Germshuys, Jacques van der Merwe, Triston Leonard and Reece McKain.
Major milestone
In June last year, Jonathan achieved a major milestone when, as an amateur, he won the Blue Label Bushveld Tour professional tournament at the Kyalami Country Club in Midrand, Gauteng, registering scores of 70, 68 and 70 to finish eight under par.
He went on to finish second in a Bushveld Tour event at the Wanderers Golf Club in Johannesburg in August last year.
"I had a score of six-under, and was second by one shot."
Jonathan said he was hoping to play in an event that forms part of the Sunshine Tour.
"I'm looking to get an invite to the Fortress Invitational, which takes place in the middle of this year [in Johannesburg].
Marius Ackerman (left) caddies for his son, Jonathan Ackerman (right).
"My focus is on professional golf, now that I've finished my schooling."
Irish Open
Jonathan is presently based in Johannesburg with his father, Marius, who caddies for him. His mother, Annie, travels there frequently from Plettenberg Bay.
The teen has also set his sights on qualifying for the Irish Open, which takes place in September this year, and playing on the Asian Tour.
'Gained a lot of wisdom'
At home in Plett, before winning the Blue Label Bushveld Tour event, he was the club champion at the Goose Valley Golf Club for two years in a row.
His mother said at Goose Valley, he regularly played with retirees in their 70s and 80s, "from whom he learnt life lessons and gained a lot of wisdom".
"He's only 18, and he is looking for sponsors that he can carry with him on his journey," Annie said.
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