George Coetzee didn’t catch any fish this week in Knysna but he was happy to walk away with his 10th Sunshine Tour title after dominant week in which he finished 20-under-par to claim a three-stroke victory at Simola Golf and Country Club.
He took a three-shot lead into the final round following scores of 61 and 69 in rounds one and two and got straight into business on the last day. Two birdies in his first two holes settled him a bit as MJ Viljoen was making his own charge for the top spot. Coetzee made further gains on the fifth and ninth holes to turn in 32 and bogey-free.
He made two more birdies on the homeward stretch to sign for a blemish-free six-under 66 and ensure a three-shot victory for himself, despite Viljoen’s gallant effort.
‘I had a couple of goals I wanted to achieve this year and going wire-to-wire was one of them,’ Coetzee revealed.
‘I wasn’t going to say it. But I don’t think I’ve gone wire-to-wire in my career and it was one of my goals at the start of the year and I’m happy to have done it just before the end of the year.’
Despite his lack familiarity with the layout at Simola, Coetzee didn’t look out of place from the start of the tournament and his opening two rounds in which he never conceded his lead prove it. Solidly as he played and rather modest by Coetzee, the four-time European Tour winner says despite winning his 10th Sunshine Tour title, he is still in the learning process.
‘We are just learning,’ he said.
‘This is good to build one’s confidence and it’s nice to have this armour in the back of my brain and just remembering how I pulled off those shots. Today I made the right choices pretty much the rest of the day. It was a good week.’
His last Sunshine Tour win before this was the now defunct Tshwane Open in March last year.
