Youngsters play great golf as IGT Challenge Tour Q-School prep series start in Centurion
The IGT Challenge Tour Q-School prep series started this week in Centurion and several young golfers teed off, hoping to get admission to the Sunshine Tour later this year.
KwaZulu-Natal rookie Byron Coetzee employed a carefree attitude on his way to a final round five-under 64 to win the Race to Q-School #1 at Centurion Country Club by a shot on Wednesday.
Despite a poor warm-up session just before his round, the 20-year-old was able to refocus, which paid dividends as he finished the IGT Challenge Tour Q-School prep series on 12-under for the three rounds – a stroke ahead of Southern Cape’s Jack Duthie, who closed with a 68 for second place on his own.
Neal Woernhard from Switzerland and Kempton Park’s Jason Froneman both finished on 10-under in a share of third.
Froneman held the 36-hole lead on 12-under with Duthie two shots back and Coetzee in a tie for seventh on seven-under at the start of the last day.
“I was hitting it pretty terribly in the practice session, but when I got to the first tee, a cloud of calm came over me. I decided to forget about where I was lying. So, I just went out there and tried to enjoy myself,” said Coetzee.
The Kloof Country Club golfer was out of the blocks quickly with five birdies and a bogey on his outward loop.
“I started with a birdie on the first, and then I made another at the third – so I just decided to go for it. On the sixth I hit driver down the middle and hit it close from 63 metres, so I was really happy to be three-under through six. The seventh hole was changed from a par five to a par three due to the recent flooding in the area. I came up short with the tee shot and made my only bogey of the tournament. But then I thought it was good to get it out the way. So as soon as I made that drop, I came back with two birdies,” Coetzee explained.
Though he only made one more gain on the back nine, he was bogey-free, which was enough to claim the victory.
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
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
