Mbhele clinches Southern KZN Open title in style
It was a comeback for the ages for Victor, whose last recorded score on the HNA was in 2016.
Golfers Victor Mbhele and Patrick Mavundla stunned the rest of the field at the Southern KwaZulu-Natal Open at Port Shepstone Country Club recently.
Victor shot an exhilarating 69 in the morning and backed it up with a flawless, bogey-free 70 in the afternoon. He didn’t get off to greatest of starts, with a double bogey six on his opening hole, but thereafter it was a masterclass.
Despite all this, it was only just good enough to see off Patrick, who produced 70 in the morning and 70 in the afternoon – he was a model of consistency, with, remarkably, four loops of 35.
The two former Margate CC members, now playing out of Port Shepstone, have both returned to tournament golf after a fairly long absence.
They were drawn together, first off, but their third player failed to arrive on the day, leaving them to play a two-ball at the front of the field.
It was a comeback for the ages for Victor, whose last recorded score on the HNA was in 2016.
When he was playing regularly, he won Margate’s club champs a few times, represented SKZN in league, and was chosen for the KZN Country Districts team in 2009.
“I came to enjoy the day and played well, thank you,” he said succinctly in his winner’s speech.
It was arguably Patrick’s career highlight – he’s been in good positions before in tournaments before but usually scuppered his chances with a big number or two.
Gavin Sole (Southbroom) finished third on 68 and 73, ruining his chances with three closing bogeys.
“Not going to sleep well tonight,” he muttered.
Fourth spot went to KZN’s number three at IPT this year, Bryce Bibby (Toti) on a pair of 71s, followed by the KZN Mid Amateur captain, Ashwin Krishen (Durban CC), who had 72 and 73.
Overall nett was won by Nick Richards (Camelot) on 75 and 72 off a three handicap.
Evergreen Gary Purtell, with rounds of 81 and 74 off his four handicap, was the runner-up.
The B division, played as an Individual Stableford, was won by Nkazimulo Nqoko (Port Shepstone).
He blitzed the morning round with 41 points and did enough in the afternoon with 33 points to win by seven from Jason Robinson (Camelot) on 67 points. Siya Mbili (Maritzburg GC) was third on 65 points.
LEADING SCORES
139 Victor Mbhele 69 70
140 Patrick Mavundla 70 70
141 Gavin Sole 68 73
142 Bryce Bibby 71 71
145 Ashwin Krishen 73 72
146 Jonathan George 74 72
149 Nick Richards 77 72
149 Luke Akerman 74 75
150 Dian Wilmot 80 70
150 Jean-Marc Bouic 75 75
150 Jan McDermott 73 77
152 Bruce Marx 78 74
152 Brad Grant 77 75
152 Keagan Horner 75 77
152 Leon Naidoo 75 77
154 Gitesh Maharaj 74 80
155 Gary Purtell 81 74
155 Kyle Archary 77 78
155 Graeme Forbes 76 79
155 Sebastian Terblanche 75 80
155 Saishrien Rasen 73 82
156 Jason Gilliver 80 76
156 Jarred Good 77 79
157 Devesh Ramsaru 76 81
159 Graham Sole 85 74
159 Elvis Khawula 84 75
159 Robert Mavundla 79 80
159 Yogan Chetty 78 81
160 Shembiso Brian Mweli 81 79
160 Kenneth Commins 80 80
160 Ross McBey 75 85
161 Mark Olivier 83 78
161 Victor Walker-Randall 78 83
162 James Truter 81 81
162 Cyprian Xolo 79 83
164 Oliver Sprenger 85 79
164 Mandlenkosi Mhlongo 80 84
165 Janco Vogel 79 86
167 Sidney Shingange 82 85
168 Grant Richards 88 80
169 Mbuyiseni Cele 87 82
170 Chris Tredoux 81 89
172 Oscar de Montille 85 87
174 Dale Linderboom 84 90
177 Vusi Maphumulo 87 90
179 Sifiso Manyana 91 88
182 Nic Crossman 89 93
NO RETURN
Lewis Dixon
Leon Maritz 97 NR
NO SHOW
Doug Sima
Rory Bernardis
Jordan Bernardis
Sandile Mbuyazi
B DIVISION
74 Nkazimulo Nqoko 41 33
67 Jason Robinson 37 30
65 Siya Mbili 34 31
63 Buhle Mqadi 30 33
60 Sifiso Memela 28 32
58 Mbekiseni Biyela 30 28
55 Ganas Naicker 24 31
55 Jarred Wilson 29 26
55 Zane Odendaal 29 26
55 Zamani Manqele 29 26
54 Mpendulo Hadebe 27 27
51 Thabani Mdluli 25 26
46 Nkosinathi Mabaso 27 19
40 Colin Gounder 19 21
40 Vusi Mchunu 20 20
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