In late March, Lisa Coetzer won the Ebotse Links women’s Club Championship by an astonishing 30 shots.

Let that sink in for a moment. Now throw in the fact she’s 14 years old and you get a sense of the precociousness and promise she brings to the course.

A week later, she captured the Nomads SA Girls Rose Bowl Championship at Lost City Golf Course, winning by seven shots and reaffirming the buzz that surrounds her game.

Earlier this year, she finished strongly with a fifth place at the prestigious SA Women’s Stroke Play at Modderfontein and the GolfRSA International Amateur Championship at Houghton. This was followed by a runner-up spot at the North West Women’s Open Championship. She then topped off a stellar six months by winning the GolfRSA Most Improved Women’s Open Player of the Year 2023-24 award.

Little wonder people are talking.

The Golf Mag caught up with Coetzer as she was preparing for the Junior World Championship in Jakarta, just another stop on her golf journey that began at the tender age of two.

She says she’s happy with where her game is at, preferring to set her goals around rankings and tournaments and who she might be up against from one week to the next.

She plays a lot of golf, because she is crazy about the sport and has shaped her life around it, to the extent that she’s home-schooled and ensures she fits in as much playing and practice time as she can. Her mother Diana does the heavy lifting and is happy to accommodate this unusual dynamic, so it often means that early afternoons or evenings are taken up by school work, albeit from home at Ebotse, on the fringes of Benoni on the East Rand. Somehow, she makes it work.

The seeds of excellence were planted long ago. Coetzer was just two when her father Chris took her along to the driving range, where she would pick up a club and push balls around the grass. Back at home, she’d take aim at water balloons placed on the grass, doing so until they all popped. “Golf became my happy place,” she says.

By all accounts she was a natural, playing as much as she could, in South Africa and overseas. She became a member of the GolfRSA National Squad three years ago, an important move that helped improve her game. She has thrived in the team environment and been given the support every young player hopes for, not least in developing the mental side of her game.

A happy, vibrant person, she enjoys the time with her teammates who freely share tips and advice.

Although golf precludes Coetzer from participating in other sport – she used to compete in athletics and netball – the Benoni teen has benefited from cross-training under the care of Gavin Groves. A fitness specialist with qualifications in biokinetics, TPI (Titleist Performance Institute), and the PGA of South Africa, Groves’ gym routine has made a significant difference. Coetzer played a good length at Sun City and has gained 20m-30m on her drives since teaming up with the trainer a year ago. She’s now one of the longest hitters around.

It has boosted her confidence no end, and she thrives in what the game gives her.

“Golf takes my mind off other things,” she says. “It’s a stress reliever, I just love it. It’s beautiful.”

Despite her youth, or perhaps because of it, pressure isn’t something she necessarily worries about. Having played for 12 years, she’s quite used to golf’s highs and lows. Little appears to bother her or take her off her game.

Coetzer has also competed at many US Kids and SA Kids championships, which help develop players' resilience and with how to become accustomed to competition.

“I definitely suggest others also do that. It teaches you how to cope better and do well.”

Together with her mum and dad, and sister Emma, who also plays, Coetzer believes she is well set to continue her growth. She has long-term designs on attracting a US college scholarship, but there’s still time to shape and improve her game.

Besides, she’s having great fun. As her Instagram bio puts it: “I am a 14-year-old girl with a love for life! Golf is my passion!”

If her enthusiasm counts for anything, golf is lucky to have her.

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IMAGES: ERNEST BLIGNAULT/GOLFRSA/SUPPLIED