Limpopo Amateur Open Stroke play Championship
THE Limpopo Open Amateur Stroke play Championship hosted by Koro Creek Bushveld Golf Estate is the biggest amateur event on the Limpopo Golf Union fixture list.
LIMPOPO – THE Limpopo Open Amateur Stroke play Championship hosted by Koro Creek Bushveld Golf Estate is the biggest amateur event on the Limpopo Golf Union fixture list.
It offers South African Golf Association ranking points and has been won by great players like George Coetzee, Brandon Stone, CJ du Plessis, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Hayden Porteous and the list goes on.
This event is run professionally and entries are open to all top amateur players from all over the world.
This year there were few entries from Swaziland, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Students studying abroad coming home for the holidays also entered the Limpopo Open.
The field was very strong, getting five of the top 10 players in South Africa coming down for the winter challenge: Matthew Spacey, Andre Nel, Rupert Kaminski, Jade Buitendag and Luke Trocado, all of whom are SA Top 10 amateurs.
The golf played was of high quality with 12 players finishing on level par or better by the end of the third and final round.
Koro Creek Bushveld Golf Estate is an absolute championship golf course where power alone will not get you anywhere on the course.
It is a golf course where one has to think one’s way around and plan one’s shots to perfection and then execute them as perfectly. Patience is the name of the game at Koro Creek. And the top players answered to the course setup beautifully and the game was played in a gentleman manner by all the participants.
After day one, Dean Martin from Dairnfern Country Club lead the way on four under par 68 tied with Spacey also from Dairnfern Country Club.
Day two was especially cold in the morning and Spacey was first on the tee at 07:00 and turned in three under par after the first nine holes.
By the time Spacey finished on three under 69 after his morning 18 and a seven under par 36-hole total Martin went to tee-off and knew exactly what he needed to do and he answered strongly with another 68, four under par with a 36 hole total of eight under par.
The final day was going to be a thriller as James du Preez followed his first round 73 with a special 67 to putt him four off the pace of Martin.
They battled on and Martin managed to keep his nose in front and on the last hole of the day Spacey made a long range eagle putt to force Martin to make a delicate four footer to finish two under par for the day and 10 under par for the tournament.
This was Martin’s first South African Golf Associations ranked tournaments win and he did it in style winning wire to wire.
The Limpopo Golf Union congratulated Martin on his marvellous effort and wished him well in the future, saying they hoped he would be back to defend his title.
