It’s not how you start but how you finish, right? That could apply to Clayton Mansfield (Mount Edgecombe CC) who won the San Lameer Open last Sunday.
“I started with four bogeys in a row, and thought, here we go, this is going to be a long day,” he said.
In the end he came back well, shooting 73 in the morning and then really turning it on for 67 in the afternoon to ease to a six shot victory over Gavin ‘Big Fish’ Sole (Southbroom GC).
Clayton enjoyed his day, especially making birdies on the 13th and 18th in both rounds. “The 18th was playing into the breeze, great hole.”
Other than that, he picked off the course well, keeping errors at bay.
Clayton played out of Durban CC as a top amateur, then turned pro for a few years and played on the Sunshine Tour, before returning to the unpaid ranks, and is now a member at Mount Edgecombe CC.
Meanwhile, the Big Fish had an uncharacteristically sedate time of it on the greens, having one of those days where the ball seemed to be afraid of the dark.
He had only two birdies the entire day, with one of those being a two-putt.
“It was tough in the rain at the start, humid and drizzly. You can’t exactly let it go at San Lameer,” said Gavin, referring to the tight layout and multitude of hazards that lurk seemingly everywhere, preventing golfers from merely gripping it and ripping it.
The Big Fish can’t complain too much, he has won it 12 times already.
Defending champion Cameron Olivant (Port Shepstone CC) also struggled, with a pair of 78s.
The B-division was won by Guy Chilro (San Lameer CC) on 43 points, with Victor Phungula (Kloof CC) next on 36 points.
C-division honours went to Shawn du Bois (Port Shepstone CC) on 37 points, by two from Loyiso Goqwana (Southbroom GC) on 35 points.
Debbie Dellieu (San Lameer CC) won the ladies’ section on 33 points, with Ann Flovik runner-up on 27 points.
LEADING SCORES:
140 Clayton Mansfield 73 67
146 Gavin Sole 74 72
147 Grant Olivier 77 70
154 Jason Pennefather 76 78
155 Greg Smith 80 75
156 Cameron Olivant 78 78
156 Jean-Marc Bouic 78 78
156 Greg Upneck 77 79
157 Terence Hope 76 81
158 Desmond Sutherland 77 81
HAVE YOUR SAY
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