Fine margins at pro level.
After finding out late December that the stage 1 of the sunshine tour q school had been moved to early January, what was supposed to be in April, I made the decision to still go, was a bit of a hectic 2 weeks leading up arranging accommodation transport, but thankful it all came together, thanks to Norman Benn and Nissan eastern cape for allowing us to use one of the cars to go up in.
We left on Thursday 13 Jan destination was Maccauvlei in Vereeniging, stopped over at Colesbug Thursday evening then hit the road early on Friday morning, we arrived in Vereeniging at about 11 o’clock, we could only book in to our accommodation at 3 so we went straight to the club to check the course out. Course was a little wet but in great condition, played 3 practice rounds. Tournament started on Monday 17th Jan I got off to a solid start was level after 5 holes made bogey on 6 and 9 to turn 2 over, bogey on 10 and 12 really put me on the back foot, birdie on 13 got me back to 3 over for the day, soft 3 putt bogey on 14 was a real momentum breaker pared my way to the 18th short par 5 , hit a decent drive down the right side just off the fairway had a 5 iron into the green hit a solid shot came up just short and plugged in the face of the bunker had to take a unplayable lie as I could not even see my ball made a 6 and ended the first on 77, not the start I wanted. Myself and Norman (my caddie for the week who did a great job) we set our self a goal to get back to level par for the next 3 rounds
Round 2 we had a late start 12:45 tee time. Played well was 1 under after 9 holes starting on the 10th. Key moment in the 2nd round was the 2nd hole had 100m in the green par 5 3rd shot a real opportunity to get to 2 under for the round, hit my 60 degree long over the green with a tough downhill chip out of thick rough made a drop, very disappointing. Managed to make birdie on the 4th to get back to 1under had 3 very good looks at birdie on my way in but could not make any putts finishing on a 71. After round 2 I was 3 shots off the cut, was really happy with my second round put we back in the mix and was looking forward to round 3 and 4
Round 3 was an early morning start just after our practice range session we were on the putting green , as we were getting ready for our 3rd round a massive storm hit the course , round was suspended , we had a 4 hour delay and after the storm had passed the official made a decision that the 3rd round was cancelled and the tournament would now be played over 3 round, not an ideal situation for me as I need an extra round to get closer to the cut line, final we stared on the the 10th had a terrible start made bogey on 10,11 and 12 , those 3 holes cost me 6 shots for the week, came back strong after that played the rest of the final round 2 under with a score of 73. At the end of the week I ended 2 shot off the pace
Few thing I did realise from the week how competitive the game is up in Joburg, and the condition are totally different inland compared to the coast, something I defiantly nee to do this year is to come play more golf at that level and in those conditions
Really enjoyed the experience and the pressure of playing at pro level golf. Thanks to everyone the help me get up to Joburg, a big thanks Walmer Golf Club for all the help they have given me the last few years.
