Jean Hugo and Hennie Du Plessis shot a final round 11-under 61 (betterball) to claim the inaugural Steyn City Team Championship on a total of 23-under-par.
The first day saw the pros play foursomes in the morning and greensomes in the afternoon, and, the pairing came into the final round one shot off the pairings of Neil Schietekat and Colin Nel and Lyle Rowe and Matthew Carvell.
Three birdies in a row saw the duo turn in 30 on the front nine and that set the standard for the rest of the day’s play.
‘We needed a quick start and we got off to a nice one. We birdied the first three – but we always seemed to be a bit behind. I think the birdie on the ninth hole by Hennie actually changed things for us because I don’t think there were many birdies on that hole,’ explained Hugo.
It came down to the last hole as newly turned pro Kyle McClatchie and last year’s Rookie of the Year Christiaan Bezuidenhout needed a birdie to force a play-off.
‘Kyle and Christiaan played very well on the back nine and they didn’t let up and they didn’t give us any breathing space,’ said Hugo. ‘We’re very chuffed and we both played very well today, myself on the front nine and Hennie basically took over on the back, so it was brilliant.’
Du Plessis echoed the thoughts of his playing partner and was overjoyed with his form on the homeward nine.
‘We saw from the scoreboards out there that we were always one shot behind,’ said Du Plessis. ‘We just kept the gas going after our brilliant start and did our thing, so yeah, I’m really happy with the win.’
Looking back on the week, Hugo praised the layout at Steyn City and highlighted how impressed he was with the venue.
‘It’s an amazing place and it sets up well for this type of format. They moved up a few holes today that you could actually drive and it’s risk and reward. The vibe here this week between all the golfers was excellent. We just really happy we got the first one,’ Hugo explained.
With the pros in a jubilant mood, next week there will be more fun to be had as the top 50 on the Order of Merit head to Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate for the season-ending Tour Championship.
Final round leaderboard:
193 – H Du Plessis & J Hugo 66 66 61
194 – K McClatchie & C Bezuidenhout 65 67 62
195 – R McGowan & T Tree 69 63 63, N Schietekat & C Nel 67 64 64
196 – T Ryan & H Porteous 68 66 62
197 – T Moore & W Coetsee 70 67 60, JJ Senekal & R West 68 65 64, L Rowe & M Carvell 70 61 66
198 – S Ferreira & R Huysamen 69 66 63, O Bekker & J Harding 69 65 64, J Harvey & M Hollick 69 69 60
199 – L de Jager & W Dingle 69 66 64, M Williams & A Michael 71 65 63
200 – T Spangenberg & NJ Arnoldi 67 69 64, C Mowat & B Meyer 69 66 65, J Walters & R Tipping 69 68 63, A De Decker & M Rohwer 66 68 66, T Fisher Jnr & U van den Berg 73 65 62, C Swanepoel & M Bremner 75 63 62
201 – C Martin & T Gauche 67 68 66, K Barker & A Haindl 70 67 64, F Coetzee & A Rosado 70 67 64
203 – B Easton & G Mulroy 69 69 65
204 – C Cannon & N O’Briain 66 68 70
Photo: Shaun Roy/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
