The first weekend of September 2011 was Club-Championship-Weekend at Germany's golf clubs.
And at renown Golfclub Am Reichswald Nürnberg, favorite Franziska Blum took her crown in the ladies category, as expected, while Keanu, at 15 years of age, wrote himself into 51 years of Reichswald history as youngest ever singles champion.
Previously, captain of the Reichswald Men's Team, Julian Hacker, and European Challenge Tour PRO, Bernd Ritthammer, had won the championship at 18 and 17 years of age, respectively.
Keanu also took the Boys' Championship (71, 76) ahead of his AK18 team-mate Timothy Rauth (84, 73), while Franziska Voellinger (76, 78) was a lone winner ahead of Pia Ohlenbusch in the Girls' category (AK18).
Franziska Blum, who recently won the Swiss International Championship with a sensational 14-under par, left no doubts and nailed the ladies championship with 14 strokes between her and 2nd-placer Franziska Voellinger.
Blum negotiated the tightly designed Reichswald course in impressive style with a 2-over par 73, 73 and 72 for a total of 218 strokes. Voellinger, who's got a beautifully fluid swing and is working hard on her short-game, came in at 76, 78 and 78 for a total of 232 and 16-over par.
Keanu, likewise in good form with a DGV-Handicap now of +0.7 after several weeks of consistent under-par results, had looked forward to this championship for some time and said to his father, "Reichswald is really a demanding course and the perfect training ground. It's so unforgiving, especially off the tees, and I want to do well here!"
And so he did! But not without a breathtaking challenge from 7-time former Reichswald club champion Thomas Fili.
Keanu scored an outstanding 1-under par 71 off the yellow tees on day 1, but experienced difficulties in adjusting to distances on day 2, when blue tees were the order of the day. The result was a 4-over par 76. Thomas Fili had tallied his scores on day 1 and 2 at 75 and 78 for a total of 9-over par.
Going into the final day of the championship, Keanu's lead of 6 strokes over Fili, began to melt away rapidly. Responsible for the tight 3rd day encounter was Thomas Fili's flawless display of golf over 16 holes, while Keanu labored on some holes with the dense and unforgiving Reichswald forest.
A misguided driver off the white tee on the very first hole, left Keanu immediately without a swing on his 2nd shot. His ball bounced 5 meters into the dense Reichswald forest and came to rest stimy on the greenside off a tree.
But the youngster was unperturbed. Pulling out a gap-wedge and with his back to the fairway, the 15-year young hotshot hit a blind reverse chip-shot with only his right hand on the club and negotiated his ball through an opening of less than a meter between trees. A remarkable display of skills and a bit of luck were on Keanu's side and the ball landed safely on the fairway. His 3rd subsequently landed short of the fringe, but a chip to the flag and a 1-putt saw Keanu register a good bogey.
In contrast, Thomas Fili, with years of Reichswald experience, pushed birdie from the first hole onwards with accurate and well calculated tee-shots and one GIR shot after another.
The result was a impressive and well-deserved 3-under par for Fili after the front-nine, while Keanu kept his composure at 2-over.
But Keanu's lead had narrowed to only one stroke and by hole 16, with crowds drawing closer to both competitors, the Reichswald experience of Fili saw him leading Keanu by 1 stroke. Fili had added birdies for a tally of 4-under par, while Keanu had missed a putt from 2 feet for par.
But being behind, Keanu's fighting spirit once again came through in style on the par-5 hole 17.
While Fili showed nerves and hit the treeline off the tee, Keanu fired his tee-shot safely center-fairway. The Reichswald gunner then exploded, bazookaing his 2nd over 210 meters onto the green with his 3-iron. What followed was a 30-foot putt to the pin and a birdie tap-in for Keanu, a bogey for Thomas Fili, and both competitors stepped onto the tee box of 18 with Keanu again leading by 1 stroke.
The youngster then again decided to attack and ripped his tee-shot 270 meters into the right rough, from where he lifted his 2nd to the left of the green.
Fili though, was again unfortunate with his tee-shot scraping the left-side treeline, leaving himself little chance for GIR. The Nürnberger's 2nd subsequently landed right-side of the right green-side bunker, from where Fili placed a delicate pitch to within 5 feet of the pin.
On the other side of the green, Keanu, in the meantime, chipped his 3rd 9 feet short of the pin. But rising to the occasion, the 15-year old drilled the putt for par, while Fili missed his putt and had to settle for bogey. Keanu had won by 2 strokes.
Handshakes followed and spectators acknowledged, at 15 years of age, the youngest champion in the history of Reichswald Nürnberg Club Championships, as well as a great effort of Thomas Fili, with a standing ovation.
Keanu and his family now move on to the GERMAN OPEN Championship at GC Gleidingen near Hannover.
Picture show Thomas Fili, Franziska Blum, Franziska Voellinger and Keanu Jahns (from right to left).
