Leon Vorster raced to a five-stroke victory in the Betway Big Easy Tour’s season opener at Benoni Country Club on Thursday.
The Parys Golf and Country Club member was in a three-way share of the lead heading into the final round in the East Rand. He produced an eye-catching round of seven-under-par 65 to win on a total of 13-under-par 203.
“It’s super tough to win here,” said Vorster. “You have to play three very good rounds of golf to be able to win on the Big Easy. The scoring here is insanely low. I played well from day one; from hole one. I played some exceptional golf. I did make mistakes but that’s golf and you can’t always play perfect golf. But, mentally and physically, the game was high up there this week.”
Vorster’s triumph in Benoni was technically his second Betway Big Easy Tour title back-to-back as he won the final tournament of the previous season.
“It feels good to be able to win again; it’s been a while for my golf to get better again,” Vorster added. “I’m very privileged to have won the last tournament of last season and start the new season with another win. This is a great opportunity to play and play against great players.
“I enjoy playing here because it motivates me to play better golf; the quality of the players here is on another level. It was tough this week and especially this morning. The conditions were really tough. We got delayed for over an hour because of the fog this morning and it was just a tough day. I’m very happy to shoot a 65 in such difficult conditions. It was great.”
Slade Pickering played himself into a share of second by producing a fine 67 to get to eight under and tie second with Brandon Gildenhuys.
Member of the Papwa Sewgolum Class, Yurav Premlal, shared fourth with Tyron Davidowitz of Hermanus Golf Club. They finished the tournament seven under par.
Rookie Jaden Deltel finished solo sixth with an impressive tournament total of four under par.
The next event will be held at Modderfontein Golf Club from 15 to 17 July.
Photo: Tyrone Winfield / Sunshine Tour
