George Coetzee

Who is George Coetzee?

George William Coetzee is a South African professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour.

Coetzee was born in Pretoria. He started playing golf when he was 10 and won the first junior tournament he ever played in, shooting 49 in 9 holes. He finished 4th and 8th in the Callaway Junior World Championship in San Diego, where he attended the University of San Diego for one semester. He turned professional in 2007.

Coetzee joined the Sunshine Tour in 2007, and claimed his first win during his rookie season, in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Selborne. His second and third wins came a year later at the SAA Pro-Am Invitational, and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Humewood.

He earned a European Tour card for the 2010 season through the qualifying school, but had to return to qualifying school at the end of the season after finishing 126th on the Order of Merit and recording only two top ten finishes. Coetzee regained his playing rights in 2011 and enjoyed a successful season, with a runner-up placing at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where he lost out to Thomas Bjorn on the fifth extra hole of a five man playoff.