Christiaan Burke fought against a difficult front nine and gusting winds to retain his place at the top of the leaderboard in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at the Pezula Golf Estate on Saturday, but with Albert Venter joining him.
Burke held the sole lead going into the third round, but was two over par on the front nine. Then he rediscovered the form that has seen him lead since day one and played the back nine in five under for a 69.
It was an impressive comeback that took him into the clubhouse on 18 under par. And that’s where Venter joined him following his sublime 64 in which he didn’t drop a single shot.
“It was really tough out there. I expected wind but not this much. I struggled a bit with my ball striking on the front nine, especially into the wind. Then on the back nine I just told myself I can do it and I need to just keep going. I’m really happy for how I fought back and am excited for the final round,” said Burke.
They are both one stroke clear of Casey Jarvis, who signed for a 69 and is chasing his second victory in three weeks on the Sunshine Tour.
Venter is hunting his third victory on the Sunshine Tour, while Burke is still chasing his maiden title on the Tour.
“It was quite a windy day so I was expecting tough conditions, but I managed it well. I started off with a chip-in for birdie on the first hole which helps quite a bit. It’s a difficult hole and you can’t really go for the green with the wind into the hole. Then I just stuck to the process and was hitting good shots. I had birdies on the fourth and fifth holes which I felt like jumpstarted the round,” said Venter.
“On 13 I hit a decent drive and took on a big shot with a two iron into the wind, and made birdie which got the back nine going. I went for the green on the drivable 14th and finished short left in the bunker, and played an exceptional bunker shot for birdie there. Then over the last few holes I just tried to keep it in play and give myself an opportunity, and I managed to birdie 17 and 18 for a spot in the final group.
“I managed myself very well around the course and hit it into the right spots, and where I didn’t I managed to make up-and-downs to keep it going. I’m very pleased and looking forward to the challenge.”
Christiaan Basson scored a hole-in-one on the par-three fifth hole, earning himself 50 000 Skybucks courtesy of Airlink. He is the seventh player this season to score a hole-in-one.
SCORES
198 - Albert Venter 69 65 64, Christiaan Burke 63 66 69
199 - Casey Jarvis 68 62 69
200 - Barend Botha 70 64 66, Jacques P de Villiers 65 66 69
201 - Graham van der Merwe 70 66 65, Peter Karmis 67 65 69, Liam Grehan 67 65 69, Thomas Spreadborough 68 64 69
202 - Pieter Moolman 71 67 64, Wynand Dingle 66 68 68, Rhys West 68 65 69, Bryce Easton 70 62 70, CJ du Plessis 64 67 71
203 - Ruan Conradie 67 69 67, Ivan Verster 67 68 68, Jean Hugo 66 65 72
204 - Keenan Davidse 64 72 68, Lyle Rowe 67 69 68, Martin Vorster 67 67 70, Deon Germishuys 66 67 71, Tyran Snyders 65 65 74
205 - Jordan Burnand 70 68 67, Tomas Gana 72 66 67, Stephen Ferreira 69 68 68, Luke Brown 66 69 70, Nikhil Rama 71 64 70, Wilco Nienaber 69 64 72
206 - Neil Schietekat 69 69 68, Jaco Prinsloo 65 71 70
207 - MJ Viljoen 70 68 69, Christiaan Basson 71 67 69, Stals Swart 70 68 69, Danie Van Niekerk 71 65 71
208 - Heinrich Bruiners 67 71 70, James Mack 68 70 70, Estiaan Conradie 66 71 71, JJ Senekal 68 69 71, Vuyisani Makama 72 65 71, Stuart Krog 71 65 72, Luke Jerling 69 67 72, Otto Van Buynder 70 65 73, Jason Roets 67 67 74
209 - Keegan Mclachlan 69 69 71, Ruan Korb 68 69 72, Herman Loubser 67 68 74, Rowan Lester 67 66 76
210 - Dylan Mostert 66 72 72, Alexander Knappe 64 73 73, Altin van der Merwe 70 66 74
211 - Jean-Paul Strydom 69 69 73, Rupert Kaminski 71 67 73, Haydn Porteous 71 67 73, Joe Long 68 70 73, Benjamin Van Wyk 72 66 73, Robson Chinhoi 72 66 73, Kyle De Beer 68 68 75
213 - Gerhard Pepler 66 70 77
214 - Ronald Rugumayo 67 70 77
Missed the cut:-
139 - Pierre Pellegrin 69 70, Hennie O'Kennedy 68 71, Hunter Epson 71 68, Ricky Hendler 70 69, Kyle McClatchie 69 70, Jacques Van der Merwe 70 69
140 - Carter Rowe 73 67, Tyron Davidowitz 71 69, Joe Knox 74 66, Steve Surry 70 70, Samuel Simpson 68 72, Warwick Purchase 72 68, Simon du Plooy 68 72, Keanu Pestana 71 69, Hennie Otto 71 69, Kyle Barker 72 68, Pierre Viallaneix 71 69, Tyrone Ryan 74 66
141 - Zachary Chegwidden 71 70, Tristen Strydom 73 68, Luis Carrera 71 70, Gabrielle Venter 73 68, Brandon Meads 71 70, Nyasha Muyambo 73 68, Kayle Wykes 73 68, Rourke van der Spuy 71 70, Keagan Thomas 72 69, Conner Mackenzie 71 70
142 - Xander Basson 68 74, Matthew Spacey 68 74, Cara Gorlei 72 70, Hayden Griffiths 69 73, David Amm 73 69, Ryan van der Klis 69 73, Marcus Sandile Taylor 71 71
143 - Adam Breen 73 70, Toto Thimba Jnr 73 70, Quintin Wilsnach 74 69, Paul Boshoff 76 67, Jake Redman 73 70, Jacques Blaauw 73 70, Louis Albertse 70 73
144 - Gregory Mckay 73 71, Karabo Mokoena 73 71, Malcolm Mitchell 75 69
145 - Bronwyn Doeg 78 67, Lora Assad 75 70, Slade Pickering 72 73
146 - Zander Lombard 70 76, Mikkel Antonsen 71 75, Franklin Manchest 73 73, Travis Procter 77 69, James Pennington 77 69, Ruan Groenewald 73 73
147 - Merrick Bremner 71 76, Leon Vorster 77 70, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 70 77
148 - Luca Filippi 78 70
150 - Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 80 70, Ruan de Smidt 74 76
152 - Joe Nawanga 78 74
153 - Werner Deyzel 73 80, Christian Kriek 74 79
154 - Celestin Nsanzuwera 78 76, Nick Cunningham 77 77
160 - Kim de Klerk 80 80
RTD - Eric Wowor RTD