Thomas wins again at Big Easy IGT Golf Challenge

Modderfontein Golf Club hosted the Race to Q-School Series, where amateur golfer Keagan Thomas from Pearl Valley won his first Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour title.

Also read: Running clubs come together at Bobbies Road Race (Video)

According to Lali Stander of the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour, the 22-year-old fired an opening eight-under-par to take pole position on day one and kept the field in his rear-view mirror with a round of 69 in the second round.

He came into the final day with a four-stroke lead, and while he saw his advantage trimmed to three shots, a closing 71 landed Thomas in the winner’s circle on a 12-under-par total.

The victory completes a remarkable rise for the former KwaZulu-Natal golfer who has set his sights on securing a 2020/21 Sunshine Tour card at the upcoming qualifying school in March.

Also read: Canoeists look to Dusi

“I’m pretty stoked with this win. It’s a direct result of a career plan that started in 2017 and it feels really good to tick another box on my journey to the pro ranks,” said Thomas.

Thomas said while his game held up at Modderfontein, it was the mental game that got him to the finish line.

“I played the SA Open qualifier at Modderfontein in early January, so I did have some knowledge of the course. I substituted my 2-iron for my 3-wood this week because I hit it long and straight and you need that at this course. The mental game did the rest,” Thomas said.

“It was all going my way in the first round, but I had to grind it out over the last two rounds and my course management got me through. And my caddie Matthew Christwell deserves some praise, too.

“Matthew has been on the bag for all the big events over the last two years and he has helped me to a lot of good finishes. It is awesome to share my first big win with him.

“There is still a long road ahead, but each week out here on the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour is beneficial. I am out here fine-tuning my game, both on the course and mentally, and competing against some very experienced guys. I am looking forward to taking a strong game and a positive mind-set to the final stage of Q-School.”

Quintin Wilsnach fired a bogey-free 68 to finish alone in second on nine-under, with Keaton Slatter and Clayton Mansfield a further stroke adrift after closing rounds of 69 and 70.

The former KwaZulu-Natal standout enrolled at the Swingfit Academy at De Zalze in Stellenbosch in 2015 after matriculating from Hilton College.

Thomas said he considered turning pro first, but then decided against it and took a sabbatical from competitive golf to complete his PGA diploma first.

“I believe it was the best career decision I could have made at the time.”

About two years ago, Murray Smit joined the Swingfit Academy and became the golfer’s coach.

“He worked out a model for my career, a kind of a bucket list of goals to achieve. Together we started to hone my game for the pro circuit,” said the winner.

Thomas first competed on the Western Province amateur circuit, where he racked up 16 victories and 10 runner-up finishes.

After his PGA graduation, he began competing on the national amateur circuit last year and rocketed to ninth on the 2019 GolfRSA Open Amateur rankings with nine top 10 finishes in 11 starts.

“The depth in amateur golf is at an all-time high and competing on the national circuit was a great learning curve,” said Thomas.

“To get a sense of where my game was at, I entered two of the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour events. I came 16th in my first start at Centurion Country Club and finished fourth in the second one at Krugersdorp Golf Club.”

Thomas said he was happy to see that he was on the right track, but the experience also taught him how important the mental game becomes when the going gets tough.

“So Murray and I kept on working on my game and I put in a lot of work with my mental coach, Mark Fairbanks.”

Final results:

All competitors are from RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA.

204 – Keagan Thomas AMA 64 69 71.

207 – Quintin Wilsnach 67 72 68.

208 – Keaton Slatter 69 70 69, Clayton Mansfield 70 68 70.

211 – Adriel Poonan 67 70 74, Yubin Jung 67 70 74.

213 – Christian Basson 73 71 69, Richard Kruger 75 69 69, DK Kim (KOR) 71 74 68, Luan Boshoff 69 73 71, John McClean (NIR) 73 67 73, Zachary Chegwidden AMA (ENG) 69 70 74.

214 – Donovan Liddicoat AMA 73 69 72, Xander Basson AMA 70 70 74, Llewellyn Booysen 71 69 74.

215 – Marcel Scholtz 76 67 72, Jason Viljoen 70 73 72, Divan Marais 76 69 70, Albert Venter 74 71 70, Teagan Moore 70 72 73, Thabang Simon 74 72 69, Rupert Kaminski 73 68 74, Armand van Dyk AMA 68 72 75.

216 – Michael Kok 69 72 75, Luke Trocado 72 68 76.

217 – Leon Visser 73 69 75, Jason Froneman 76 66 75.

218 – Liam Labuschagne 74 74 70.

219 – Sipho Bujela 73 71 75, Michael Pfeifer 76 68 75, Fritz Orren 70 73 76, Cameron Esau 75 71 73, Francois Blaauw AMA 71 70 78, Cameron Moralee 77 72 70.

220 – Christopher van der Merwe 67 77 76, Ruan Korb 72 72 76, Stephan Erasmus 78 67 75, Simon du Plooy AMA 73 73 74, Rigardt Albertse AMA 71 75 74, Shalan Govender 72 75 73, Jancarel Rossouw AMA 72 76 72.

221 – Paulo Serrao (POR) 73 70 78, Mike Maile 76 72 73.

222 – Mitchell Lightfoot 73 73 76, Albert Visser 68 79 75, Jaco van der Merwe 74 75 73.

224 – Keanu Pestana 74 76 74.

225 – Tristan Topka 76 74 75.

228 – Leon van der Walt AMA 73 77 78.

229 – Maverick Faber (FRA) 74 75 80.

230 – Angus Ellis-Cole 75 75 80.

232 – Jay Dean Fourie 74 76 82.