Pretorian wins Ebotse Challenge

Korb had seized control of the event with a scintillating 67 on Monday.

He pulled four shots clear of Roberto Lupini with a four-under-par 68 in round two on Tuesday and sealed an eight-stroke victory over Lupine and Kempton Park amateur Ruhan van Dijk with a 69 in the final round.

“I felt slightly disappointed when I let it slip in the final round of the Kyalami Challenge last month and I was really determined to not let that happen again,” said the 24-year-old Korb.

“I tried to give myself a big enough buffer and I got the job done.”

Korb made a strong start with four birdies on the front nine and despite dropping at the eighth, he was seven strokes clear starting the back nine.

“I hit a good four-iron down the first, a gap-wedge to seven feet and holed the putt and that got the momentum going,” he said.

“At the second, I took a four-iron off the tee again.

“I hit an easy wedge from 150m to 10ft behind the flag and made the putt and I two-putted for birdie at five.

“I hit a two-iron off the tee at seven and five-iron from 230m out to 20 foot and two-putted for birdie at seven.

“I went with the four-iron and the driving iron a lot this week because the fairways are still rock-hard from winter.

“You never know what kind of roll you would get with the driver.

“It was a strategic decision to go with less club, but it paid off.”

Korb gave another shot away at 11 but recovered quickly with successive birdies at 12 and 13.

“They were both soft bogeys and it didn’t bother me because I had such a big lead, but I think I felt too safe and let my focus slip a little,” he said.

“After I dropped 15, I played the last three holes safe.

“Then it was just fairways and greens to the finish line.”

His 12 under par winning total was a reflection of his superb ball-striking week.

“I hit the ball well all week,” he said.

“In the final round the wind showed up at the fourth hole, but I still hit 13 out of 14 fairways in regulation.

“It feels really good to get this win.

“It’s what you practice for and it was great to watch that last putt go in the hole and know the victory was mine.

“I’ve been working really hard this season and it’s so great to get the pay-off.

“I hit three sub-par rounds this week and that was the key to winning.”

Lupini closed with a 73 and Van Dijk carded 72 to share second at four under, with local golfer Dean O’Riley, Teboho Sefatsa and Maritz Wessels a further shot back in joint fourth.

Follow us on these platforms:

Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

For news straight to your phone invite us:
WhatsApp: 079 431 1217
Instagram: benonicitytimes.co.za