Peter Karmis finally got his name on a Vodacom Origins of Golf trophy and he did so in fine style at Selborne Park Golf Club on Saturday.
The second-round leader opened with three birdies and never looked back as he bagged the title by four shots over Neil Schietekat, Jacques Blaauw and Garth Mulroy.
And @KarmisPeter wins the @Vodacom Origins of Golf @SelborneGSHotel by 4 shots#vodacomoriginsofgolf #Selborne pic.twitter.com/gm1Xj2UdyX
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) September 1, 2018
‘I’m thrilled,’ said Karmis.
‘I am glad to have finally won my first Vodacom event.’
Coming into the final round leading by two shots, Karmis opened his last round with three back-to-back birdies to set the tone. A bogey on the 5th hole threatened to set him back but two pars later, he made further gains on the 8th. Three more birdies on the back nine got on to his card but he dropped two more shots to sign for a 68.
‘That has been the plan all along,’ he said of his opening three holes, ‘but I only achieved it today. The first three holes here, you can make birdies. I hit the right choice and gave myself chances for those birdies.’
His final round score followed opening rounds of 69 and 65, respectively, and while his four-shot victory may have seemed easy, Karmis admitted to challenges, especially on the homeward stretch.
Having come close to winning a few times already this season – he came third at the Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open, seventh at the Investec Royal Swazi Open and 11th at the inaugural KCB Karen Masters – he was pleased to finally win something this season. He won three times last season.
Final leaderboard:
202 – Peter Karmis 69 65 68
206 – Jacques Blaauw 67 73 66, Garth Mulroy 69 71 66, Neil Schietekat 66 71 69
207 – Ruan Conradie 71 69 67, Alex Haindl 70 70 67
208 – Ockie Strydom 70 74 64, Daniel Greene 70 68 70
209 – Wynand Dingle 67 69 73
210 – Michael Palmer 72 71 67, Titch Moore 72 69 69, Andrew Curlewis 68 71 71
211 – Steve Surry 70 70 71, Colin Nel 70 68 73
212 – Victor Lange 71 73 68, Keenan Davidse 75 67 70, Herman Loubser 69 71 72
213 – Daniel van Tonder 72 73 68, Adilson Da Silva 76 66 71
214 – Scott Campbell 71 74 69, CJ du Plessis 76 69 69, Philip Eriksson 73 71 70, Ruan de Smidt 72 70 72, Kyle McClatchie 70 72 72, Ulrich van den Berg 69 72 73, Rourke van der Spuy 74 65 75
215 – Erhard Lambrechts 72 72 71, Louis Albertse 74 69 72, Louis de Jager 71 72 72, Andre Nel 70 72 73, Toto Thimba 72 69 74
216 – MJ Viljoen 69 76 71, Philip Geerts 75 70 71, Lyle Rowe 73 69 74, Jason Smith 70 71 75
218 – Justin Harding 72 73 73, Stephen Ferreira 73 71 74, Tyler Hogarty 69 73 76
219 – Vaughn Groenewald 74 69 76
220 – Tyrone Ferreira 72 73 75, Chris Cannon 73 72 75
221 – Martin Rohwer 72 73 76, Anton Haig 69 75 77
222 – Jason Viljoen 71 74 77, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 73 79
224 – David McIntyre 78 67 79
