Grid number seven sees newcomers showing flames

Grid number seven took place recently at its normal spot, the Grasslands Driving Range, and was a lot quieter due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place.

This warmup tournament was in preparation for the PLDA and XLD finals taking place on July 31.

“Despite the terrible times we face, we still had some heated action on Saturday,” said Stephen van Zyl, Grid Pro Longest Drive owner.

Starting with the senior division, Chris Harmse was back in full swing taking the win over a newcomer to the sport, Gerrie Steenkamp, in his first final and second event.

Harmse hit the longest drive of the day with a whopping 379.8m, second place went to Steenkamp and third place went to another newcomer Slade Dixon.

With the field of professionals not attending, it made space for some new blood coming from the amateur’s side.

So up next was the amateur division combined with the pro division.

“They played four sets and the results were astounding with newly joined amateurs hitting incredible distances once again,” said van Zyl.

The finals came down to Delarey van Tonder who hit a massive 415m drive with Andrew Mare finishing in a close second with a 409m drive, and newcomer Damian Swanepoel took third while SA hammer throw champion Alan Cumming, on only his first attempt and third time hitting a golf club, took fourth.

“The top eight was decided by five professionals and the wing amateurs of whom two were newcomers to this incredibly unpredictable sport,” he said.

Thorne van Zyl led the honours as he had not lost a match all day and claimed the longest drive too with a 418m drive, closely followed by Juan Nel with 417m and Marco das Neves with 413m.

The top eight double-elimination round was closely fought with some favourites being knocked out early and some newcomers putting pressure on the professionals.

“It all came down to the wire when Damian found himself in the finals against the SA Long Drive Champion Thorne van Zyl,” said van Zyl.

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It was that time of the day where the players received eight balls to hit in three minutes and Swanepoel had to beat Thorne twice to win the day.

“After Thorne hit his OB set, the pressure shifted onto his side as Damian hit a great 383m drive. This now meant they had to change tee boxes and fight through the second final, but as Ian from ITW media said ‘the cream always rises to the top’.”

Thorne’s first three drives in the second final found the middle of the grid and that shifted the pressure back to Swanepoel, who is in his first-ever final and even said in his interview, ‘Thorne is a monster when it gets to a final’.

Thorne pulled off his second win of the season and claimed it with a 406m drive and Swanepoel ended the day on a 328m drive.

“Congratulations to all our winners for the day. To all the people out there, stay safe during these difficult times,” he concluded.

The next Grid Pro event will take place on July 17.

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