Denise West takes Lowvelder Golf Challenge crown
West triumphed by five points after the final round.
The inaugural Lowvelder Golf Challenge series has drawn to a close, and one golfer has stood out above the rest to take home top prize – Denise West.
With Octopi Smart Solutions and Du Toit-Smuts & Partners Attorneys on board as sponsors, the series officially teed off on February 14. It was held once a month on a Wednesday in the individual Stableford format, and golfers showed their support for the competition in good numbers.
The first half of the series was dominated by JJ van Rensburg, who led the leaderboard for the first six rounds before Franchoa Giliomee rose to the top with Denise West equal on points after the seventh. West took the lead by three points in the eighth round, but Giliomee bounced back in the penultimate round and matters were drawn level at the top of the leaderboard at 184 points.
This set up an exciting final round at Mbombela Golf Club on November 20. It would be a battle between Giliomee and West to see who could improve on their already established fifth-best score the most (only the player’s five best scores counted to the overall prize).
It was, however, West who triumphed in this regard and managed to score 38 points in the final round. This improved on her score by five points, while Giliomee could only equal his fifth-best score. West, therefore, took the first-ever Lowvelder Golf Challenge by five points, scoring 189 points with her five best scores. Giliomee was second on 184, with Danie Bezuidenhout in third on 182.
Van Rensburg ultimately finished fifth, but he was the only golfer to have taken part in all 10 of the Lowvelder Golf Challenge competitions.
Lowvelder can confirm that the series will make a return in 2025, and that both Octopi Smart Solutions and Du Toit-Smuts & Partners Attorneys have come back on board as sponsors.
The final top 10 was:
1. Denise West: 189
2. Franchoa Giliomee: 184
3. Danie Bezuidenhout: 182
4. Bets Jacobs: 181
5. JJ van Rensburg: 180
6. Peet Rabie: 180
7. Corrie van Niekerk: 180
8. Denise Diesel: 178
9. Sakkie de Lange: 176
10. Denis Paiva: 175
> Photos: Blake Linder
