It was a good outing on the greens for local golfer Coert Groenewald as he finished fourth in the recent IGT Tour’s Wingate Challenge. The competition took place last month at Wingate Park Country Club in Pretoria. Groenewald shared his position with Ruan Conradie and David Ashley, carding a final round 71.
He won the final event in the 2014 Race to Q-School series at Wingate before securing his card for the Sunshine Tour. On the first day, Groenewald was the early clubhouse leader with Danie van Niekerk, firing a final 70 to sit comfortably at the top. He birdied the par-three 5th and turned in a one under, but his run ended with a bogey at the 10th. He traded a birdie on the 13th for a bogey on the 14th, but further gains at the 16th and 18th resulted in him finishing in the lead at two under.In the second round, Groenewald seemed ready to solidify his good start to the tournament but things did not go smoothly. He slipped to sixth after posting a 73 with four birdies on the par-four 6th, 11th, 15th and 16th holes, although he scored bogeys on the 1st, 4th, 7th, 9th and 14th holes. Fellow leader Van Niekerk also fell off the pace, posting several bogies.
This gave the chasing players plenty of motivation, and Ekhuruleni golfer Tristen Strydom reeled in seven birdies to march to a six-shot victory, with a 14-under-par 202. North West amateur, Aubrey Beckley fired a final round 67 to take sole second, five shots ahead of Van Niekerk, who signed for a 72.
In the third and final round, Groenewald slotted in an eagle on a par-five and a birdie at the 11th hole, which offset his bogeys at the 7th and 10th holes to finish off a good tournament and solidify fourth position.
Next month, golfers will be welcoming Spring with more golf tournaments such as the Benoni Lake Challenge at the Benoni Lake Club and the Ebotse Challenge at the Ebotse Links in Benoni.
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