Local golfer crowned as Road to Sunshine Tour champion
A young and upcoming golf star from the Woodhill Country Club finished at the top of the rankings in the Big Easy IGT Challenge to secure his card for the 2019 Sunshine Tour.
Luke Brown defeated Pretoria’s Dylan Kok at the first extra hole of a sudden-death play-off to lift the Big Easy IGT Tour Championship trophy last week, but Kok still had plenty to celebrate after he finished atop the Road to Sunshine Tour rankings on Friday.
While Brown banked the lion share of the R200 000 purse, a pay-day of just over R20K in the season-finale of the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour at Centurion Country Club boosted the runner-up to the number one spot in the final rankings.
“Luke and I went toe-to-toe on the back nine, then had to gun it out in a play-off, so it’s almost poetic justice that we should both leave with a big prize,” said the Pretoria golfer.
Brown made four birdies on the bounce down the stretch for a four-under 68 to set the clubhouse target at 13-under 203. Kok had a chance to win the outright, but had to settle for 70 after he missed a short putt for birdie at the closing hole.
The pair returned to the drivable par-four closing hole, where Kok won the toss and parked his tee shot on the green.
“The pin was tucked back left and close to the water and Dylan had about 25 foot left to the flag. He putted well all day, so I went for it. I took a 2-iron out of the bag and aimed straight at the flag,” said 20-year-old Brown after his victory.
The gutsy shot briefly flirted with the water, but found the target and finished four feet left of the hole.
“Dylan made a huge putt, but it pulled up a couple of inches short of the hole. I poured in a bunch of short ones in regulation play, so I felt really calm. I just stepped up and boxed it,” Brown explained his last put.
The eagle putt came with a huge reward. The leading 10 players on the Road to Sunshine Tour earn cards for the 2019/2020 Sunshine Tour and Brown’s R32 680 winner’s cheque secured him second place on the Road to Sunshine Tour.
“I am absolutely stoked that I won the Race to the Sunshine Tour. It’s been a fantastic journey to this point. It’s great to see the Sunshine Tour and IGT Challenge Tour collaborate to offer us this kind of incentive. You really had to play well all season, because the talent out there is fantastic. The guys were seriously competitive and you could see it in the final, too,” said Kok after his second place in Centurion secured his place at the top of the rankings in the Big Easy IGT Challenge.
Matt Bright, Juran Dreyer, Dylan Mostert, Ruan Korb, DK Kim, Cameron Moralee, Paul Boshoff and Hendrikus Stoop – ranked third to 10th respectively – scooped up the remaining eight cards.
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