Thriston Lawrence saved his best for last and set the seal on a three-shot victory when he posted the lowest round of the day at Centurion Country Club in the final event of the IGT Challenge Tour’s Race to Q-School Series on Wednesday.
A final round 65 that saw him stave off seven-time IGT Challenge Tour winner Coert Groenewald and a charging David Ashley from England, also landed the top-ranked former amateur prodigy a maiden title on the country’s premier golf development circuit.
Lawrence’s 16 under par total proved insurmountable for the chasing pack and the timing could not be more fortunate for the 24-year-old from Nelspruit.
‘I’ll be heading to the First Stage of the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School next week with a lot more confidence now,’ Lawrence said.
‘It’s been two years since I won on the Mena Tour and I really hoped that I would win at least one of the four Race to Q-School tournaments I played before Qualifying School. To win the last one is just awesome. I got the job done and I played really solid this week.’
Lawrence missed the first four Race to Q-School events of the season to undergo laser surgery and he was extremely pleased with the result.
‘I had surgery done on my eyes so I could stop wearing glasses, and the difference is incredible. I really felt the benefits when we played in pouring rain at Randpark last week. I feel a lot more confident over the putter and it has impacted positively on my overall game.’
Starting the final round three shots behind Jonathan Waschefort, Lawrence got off to the ideal start with three birdies in his first four holes.
He three-putted the par four 14th, but erased the bogey-up with a brace of birdies at 15 and 16 to reach the turn in 32 strokes. He was one stroke clear of Waschefort starting his back nine and he pushed his advantage to two shots with a birdie at the opening par five.
“I followed a run of three birdies at three, four and five with a bogey at eight, but I was well clear by then and just had to wait it out in the clubhouse,” Lawrence said.
Groenewald carded a 69 to finish in second at 13 under and Ashley mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey for a 66 and third place on 12 under.
Final Result
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA
200 – Thriston Lawrence 65 70 65
203 – Coert Groenewald 65 69 69
204 – David Ashley (ENG) 70 68 66
206 – Johan Van Der Wath 69 68 69, Gregg Blainey (ENG) 70 66 70, Juan Swart 66 69 71
207 – Chris Cannon (ENG) 71 66 70
208 – Andi Dill 69 73 66, NJ Arnoldi 68 70 70, Altaaf Bux 70 67 71, Sam Botham (ENG) 67 70 71, Armand Van Dyk AMA 66 70 72, Jonathan Waschefort 64 68 76
209 – Fanie Wolmarans AMA 70 71 68, Dean O’Riley 72 68 69, Matthew Spacey 68 67 74
210 – Estiaan Conradie 75 65 70, Christian Larsson (SWE) 69 70 71, Markus Sayra (SWE) 70 68 72
211 – Matt Bright 70 70 71, Francois Coetzee 68 71 72, Ruan Korb AMA 67 68 76
212 – John McClean (NIR) 70 71 71, Andrew Carlsson AMA 69 68 75, Etienne J V Rensburg AMA 69 67 76
