Local golfer cruises to IGT victory at Akasia
After setbacks due to injuries, one of Pretoria's most promising young golfers is back with a bang, as he showed at a tournament in Akasia last week.
Tristen Strydom put on one of the classiest performances of the IGT Challenge Tour season at Akasia Country Club to lift his fifth trophy in the Race to Q-School #8 last week.
The Pretoria golfer was five clear at the beginning of the final round and produced a clinical and comprehensive eight-under-par 64 to finish the week on 22 under 194.
He finished an emphatic 11 strokes clear of his closest challengers, Jonathan Waschefort and Ruan Korb, who closed with respective rounds of 68 and 70 to share second.
Strydom relished the return to the winner’s circle.
“I played so well today. I hit all the right shots and made a lot of good decisions, which was really satisfying,” said the Pretoria Golf Club member.
Strydom began the week with a six-under 66 and catapulted into the lead with a second round 64 that featured eight birdies and an eagle three.
Heading into the final round, he could have been forgiven for looking over his shoulder at a hungry chasing pack, but instead, Strydom did what all great winners do at the crucial moment. He raised his level of performance and racked up four birdies from the fourth and eagled the par five fifth with crunching drives, lethal irons and a spitting hot putter.
After a lengthy lay-off due to ankle and other injuries last year, Strydom showed glimpses of the form that took him to the number one spot in the GolfRSA Open Amateur rankings for more than a year and carried him to the winner’s circle four times on the IGT Challenge Tour at the First Stage of the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School late last year.
He already earned his spot for the Final Stage at Houghton Golf Club in two weeks. Now the sole focus is converting that start into playing privileges for next season.
“My game feels really good and the confidence is back. We have one last Race to Q-School at Reading next week before Final Stage and I’ll be going all out. I want to be as ready as I can possibly be for Houghton. You only get one shot at Final Stage and you have to make it count,” Strydom concluded.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
