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Local golfer claims emphatic victory at Dainfern

Five years after his previous victory on the local Sunshine Tour and related tournaments, Toto Thimba Jnr from Pretoria showed he is still hungry to lift a winner’s trophy on the golf course.

January 16, 2024
Pretoria Rekord 2 minutes read
The Silver Lakes golfer, Toto Thimba Jnr, shows off his trophy after he was the winner of a tournament in the Altron Big Easy Tour last week on the course of the Dainfern Golf Estate near Centurion. Photo: Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour)

Local golf star Toto Thimba Jnr returned to the Sunshine Tour winner’s circle in emphatic fashion when he claimed a wire-to-wire victory in the Altron Big Easy Tour’s eighth tournament held at Dainfern Golf Estate just outside Centurion last week.

The Silver Lakes Country Club player last tasted victory on any Sunshine Tour-sanctioned event five years ago in the KCB Karen Masters in Kenya. Since then, Thimba has shown glimpses of the brilliant golfer many touted him to be. Last week Thimba’s star shone once more in testing weather conditions.

Bringing a three-stroke lead into the final round after rounds of 61 and 66, Thimba knew that he had a chance for success and his final-round six-under-par 66 was enough to hand him a two-shot win over Ruan de Smidt.

“We are going to have a big lunch today. I have missed the feeling of winning a golf tournament. I played well this week and it was a phenomenal week for me. It was not easy, though, because of the rain. I mean, the first nine holes were difficult but I kept calm and I was very cool under pressure,” he said in a cheerful tone after his victory.

According to Thimba he only made one mistake during the third round and that was on the eighth where he made a six.

“I think I hit my 6-iron into the water but I kept my cool and still played solidly after that. I had missed winning because the last time I won a tournament was about five years ago. So, to win again is special because it tells me that I still have what it takes. And, as I said, I did not go anywhere during the Christmas break and I kept working on my game. Now it is paying off,” he explained.

It was not an easy ride for Thimba. De Smidt was on top of his game and his 64 in the final round proved it. It was not enough, however, to hand the Krugersdorp Golf Club player an early victory in 2024.

As for Thimba, he will now look ahead with renewed confidence knowing that he is still very much capable of winning against a tough field and in difficult conditions.

 

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At Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks - never to generate the news. Happy reading!
January 16, 2024
Pretoria Rekord 2 minutes read

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Koos Venter

Koos Venter is an experienced journalist who started his career 35 years ago, before the days of cellphones, modern computer systems, the internet and digital cameras, as a correspondent for Nexus, the former national magazine of the Department of Correctional Services. He has since worked for various other publications in all aspects of news coverage, as a columnist and in the production side of newspapers and online publications. Since 2007 he has specialized as a sports writer, while he is also regularly used as an analyst and commentator by several radio stations.
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