Title defence for Thomas and Cronin at Southbroom Amateur Classic
The tournament had it all, right down to a photo-finish on the last hole.
THE 26th Southbroom Amateur Classic was a great success with 160 golfers from all around the country competing for the trophy over four days.
Many of the players commented on how wonderful it is to travel to the South Coast with their families, escaping the cold Jo’burg winters and play in such a fun, yet competitive event.
The first two days were fairly cool and breezy with a north easterly wind, but clear and bright.
The greens were running at 10.4 on the stimp meter, so pretty quick and that made good scoring a challenge.
A great exception was young Cyril Botha from Mossel Bay who plays off a one handicap and shot a gross 63 on a chilly Tuesday morning for a great score of 47 points with his partner Johan Schnetler.
Bob Thomas and Pat Cronin were the defending champions and were as solid as ever with scores of 43 and 46 to tie for the lead after two days.
Wednesday blew a howling gale so most players were quite relieved as it was their day off, though some headed for Wild Coast and San Lameer to enjoy more golf.
The final two days brought on beautiful weather, especially Friday where the sea looked like glass and the scoring responded with 50 points from Dries Barkhuizen and Johan Erasmus, together with a number of 49s and 48s.
With the final day to play the leaderboard was bunched with many teams in the hunt.
It all came down to the last hole where Pat Cronin made a spectacular up-and-down to beat the steady team of Ig Erasmus and Rudie Venter by one shot.
Thanks were extended to Barry Elliott of Hibiscus Brokers for his ongoing support and umbrella sponsorship of the tournament and to all the players, sponsors and the Southbroom team who helped create a wonderful tournament.
Top 10: 1 Bob Thomas and Pat Cronin; 2 Rudie Venter and Ig Erasmus; 2 Malcolm Greenland and Osie Osborne; 4 Clive and Alister Miller; 5 Raul Garbini and Rob Verseput; 6 Cyril Botha and Johan Schnetler; 7 Dries Barkhuizen and Johann Erasmus; 8 Aubrey Myburgh and Aubrey Myburgh jnr; 9 Kevin Daly and Andy Bladon; 10 Robbie Botha and Melchi Botha.
In regular Southbroom news, the women’s comp last Wednesday was won on 84 points by Tammy Murphy, Sharon Turnbull- Jackson, Trish Amm and Candida Amm.
The men’s alliance was won by Rob Williams, John Neaves, Jim Cook and Olliver Ransome on 93 points.
It was alliance time last Saturday with the spoils going to Irene Schanda, Anette Scholdgen, Augustine D’Ewes and Di Morris on 92 points.
In the men’s section, first prize was claimed by Vic Pretorius, Garth Strong, Chris Miller and Olliver Ransome on 91 points.
Sunday’s par 3 contest saw Nic van Deventer clean up on 21 points, two ahead of Julie Walker.
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