George Coetzee added yet another title to the many he has won at Pretoria Country Club over the years, claiming the Sunshine Tour’s Titleist Championship by four shots on Friday.

There was a sense of inevitability to Coetzee’s triumph on a golf course he has known and loved since he first played it and won a tournament here at the age of 10, and where he’s also won two European Tour titles in the 2015 and 2018 Tshwane Opens.

Now he can add the Titleist Championship to that list as he closed with a 66 to win this Rise-Up Series tournament on 13-under-par 203.

“It’s a very special victory because Pretoria Country Club and Titleist have supported me my whole career, so to win with both involved this week is truly special. I’m over the moon. It’s nice performing well when people expect it. It’s really nice to have pulled this off on my home course,” he said.

Teeing off tied for the lead with Tristen Strydom on seven under par, Coetzee struggled at the start as he opened with back-to-back bogeys. But it was his run of six birdies in seven holes from the fourth that distanced him from the rest of the field. Further birdies at holes 14 and 17 confirmed his victory.

This is Coetzee’s 11^th victory on the Sunshine Tour, but perhaps more significant is that since 2014 he’s only had one year – 2017 – in which he hasn’t won at least once on the Tour.

Strydom closed with a 70 for sole second place on nine under par and his best finish on the Sunshine Tour since winning the Tour’s Qualifying School in March.

The Rise-Up Series will take a break for the next two weeks before resuming with the fourth event on the series at ERPM Golf Club from 23-25 September.

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 website:

Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram