Ryan Tipping

Ryan's dad first put a club in his hand at the age of 12. Since then, he hasn't looked back and followed a successful stint in junior golf with a glittering amateur career. His first major success came in the form of victory in both the Western Province Strokeplay and Matchplay in 2002, and further consistency in 2003 saw the year culminate in him reaching the number 1 position in the South African amateur rankings. Ryan consolidated this success in 2004 by finishing as the highest amateur in the SA Open, and then securing a 9th place finish in the British Amateur, which, incidentally, was the highest by a South African since Trevor Immelman. Ryan turned pro immediately after, and began the most important phase of his golfing career yet as he joined the Sunshine Tour. In 2007, Ryan achieved his best finish in the order of merit, finishing a highly impressive 33rd. Two years later, he recorded his maiden tour victory in the SAA Pro-Am Invitational at his home club ? Randpark GC. With career earnings approaching R1.5 million, one feels there's more to come from this talented individual, who harbours aspirations of following in the footsteps of his heroes Ernie Els and Tiger Woods by winning a major. Ryan has a passion for all sports, and thoroughly enjoys visiting game parks. Ryan keeps his work ethic up in the gym when off the course, and cites movies as his main source of relaxation in his downtime.