According to Stephen van Zyl, owner of Gridpro Longest Drive, grid number two at the Grasslands Driving Range, it was a spectacular event once again.
The day started with the senior division players from KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng who began hitting out their four sets to qualify for the single-elimination finals.
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“Johan du Plessis won the finals by beating his brother, Hennie, by a mere two metres, claiming his first Gridpro title,” explained van Zyl.
“Same as the seniors, the amateurs had to go through the four-set qualifying rounds to decide the top four players in their elimination final.”
Andrew Mare took charge in the amateur’s final over the ever-consistent Mel van Vreeden, who has been in two finals, but it all ended with Mare hitting some great drives to clinch his first Gridpro amateur title.
The professional long-drivers took to the tee with their four gruelling qualifying sets, and the top eight was decided after a two-spot buy round.
The top eight were Marco das Neves, Jason Cook, Juan Nel, Thorne van Zyl, Jason Vickers, Corné Duvenage, Greagan Horn and Damien Trollip, who were the two buy-ins.
“The scene was set for the double-elimination rounds to begin, with Marco and Thorne going through their sets with wins until Thorne lost one set and had to fight back,” explained van Zyl.
“Marco, with his ever-consistent swing, was hitting the grid with some great drives, and as he stated at the prize-giving: ‘I got the lucky bounces today.’.”
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Thorne came up short, losing his second final of the season; das Neves claimed his second title in a row.
Das Neves, still chasing Thorne’s six titles in a row, leads the 2021 order of merit standings by 125 points.
“The pinnacle of the day was the tag team event where players had to draw their partners out of the bucket for a double elimination tag team final,” said van Zyl.
“Some favourites drew each other, like our pro event winner Marco drawing the fastest swinging long-driver in South Africa, Jason ‘The Hammer’ Vickers.”
Thorne drew Nel from Kempton Park, who is also ranked among the top six players in South Africa.
The finals were decided among those four players, with Thorne and Nel not losing a match, taking the first tag team title of 2021.
“Congratulations to all our winners,” said van Zyl.
The next event will take place on March 20 at Grasslands Driving Range.
