Gutsy finish for Lim’s Du Plessis

EKURHULENI golfer, Paul Boshoff defeated Limpopo golfer, Hennie du Plessis at the last hole of an exciting 36-hole final to lift the Nomads South African Boys u/19 Match Play Championships trophy on Saturday.

Throughout a gusty day at the Umhlali Golf Club in KwaZulu-Natal, the lead changed hands no less than seven times in this battle for supremacy.

The 17-year-old finalists were still all square at their second visit to the par-three 18th and it looked as if the battle would head to a play-off decider.

However, Boshoff’s tee shot stood up to the wind gusting at 30km/h off the left and found the edge off the green, while Du Plessis’s effort landed in the greenside bunker.

The Limpopo golfer played a terrific trap shot that slipped just six feet past the pin, but Boshoff lagged a lengthy putt to the edge of the cup for a tap-in par.

Du Plessis then missed his attempt to extend the match and the victory went to Boshoff. The country’s number five ranked junior golfer was absolutely thrilled to get the job done.

“I reckon that the people who came must have thought neither of us wanted to win this,” Boshoff said.

Boshoff took the lead four times and Du Plessis had it three times in this very evenly matched contest. Neither of them ran away with it though, because both battled to keep control in the windy weather conditions.

Du Plessis’ road to the final:

Du Plessis beat Herman Loubser in the semi-final of the Nomads South African Boys u/19 Match Play Championships to reach the 36-hole final on Friday.

He beat the youngster six and four to play against Boshoff, who in return claimed the biggest scalp of the championships when he downed South African’s number one ranked junior, Jovan Rebula in the quarter-finals.

Before Du Plessis sent Loubser packing, the 14-year-old Boland golfer caused two major upsets of his own when he ousted two of the strongest candidates for the title.

Loubser defeated South African number two, Kyle McClatchie three and two in the second round and handed Stroke Play champion, Tristen Strydom a seven and six drubbing in the quarter-finals on Friday morning.

The young gun came unstuck though against an in-form Du Plessis, who knocked out Altin van der Merwe from Western Province two and one to reach the semis.

The reigning Kenya Amateur Open champion rallied with a birdie at the 10th after a triple bogey at the par-four ninth to stay four up when Loubser also bogeyed the ninth.

Both golfers parred the 11th and 12th, but Loubser bogeyed the 13th and 14th, while Du Plessis sealed his victory with pars at both holes.

“After five years on the junior circuit, and too many close calls to count, I really wanted to go all the way this year,” said Du Plessis.

“This is one of the last big championships of my junior career and I would really like to nail it this year,” he added.

Boshoff, who shared the number five spot in the South African Golf Association’s junior rankings with Van der Merwe defeated Southern Cape’s Rebula one-up before taking care of Juan-Pierre Cooper from Gauteng North with the same result to reach the final.