In the mid-90’s the Northwest Rangers men’s golf team put out some of the best golf in the program’s history, and a big leader in that charge was Stefaan van den Heever.
The native of South Africa really came into form in the spring of 1995, finishing in second at the 6th Annual Derrall Foreman Invitational, where he would finish in second as an individual, and was the top finisher from any of the two-year schools at the tournament, helping the Rangers to a team win. That was just the start for van den Heever, finishing in the top ten at the MSU Community College Golf Invitational and the Region 23 Championship, helping to earn himself and the team a spot at the NJCAA Division II National Championship held at Bryan Park and Golf Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
There he led the Rangers with a four-round total of 298, earning him an eighth-place finish and Second Team All-American honors. The team would finish in fifth place and was the highest placing team from Mississippi at the championship.
Year two for van den Heever and the Rangers had them on the radar immediately in the fall, moving up to as high as second in the national rankings as a team by October 3rd, and eventually finishing the year in May at 15th in the nation.
Van den Heever again would qualify for the National Championship, this time as an individual along with two other Rangers, and had his best showing, firing off rounds of 70, 79, 69, and 72 on the way to a two-over score and a fourth-place finish, becoming a First-Team All-American in the process. He became the first golfer in program history to achieve the feat of becoming a two-time All-American and is one of only two to ever do it.
After his time at Northwest, van den Heever would move on to play for the University of Charlotte, where he would put himself in the record books for the 49ers, finishing 12th in career average score and shooting what is tied for the third best score in program history with a 65 in 1997 at Columbia. He was named the team MVP both of his years on the team and was an All-Conference USA selection both seasons as well, bringing home the Player of the Month award for March 1999.
After college, van den Heever moved on to play professionally for the next ten years at various levels before moving on to starting his own coaching and leadership business back in South Africa, which he still is running today.
