JC Ritchie and Jaco Prinsloo successfully defended their title after a final round 62 saw them win the 2020 Gauteng Team Championship hosted by Dainfern by two shots.
They signed for a tournament total of 25-under-par 191 to claim a two-stroke victory over the team Jaco Ahlers and Vaughn Groenewald after rounds of 61, 68 and 62. Ritchie and Prinsloo came into the final round leading by a single stroke at 15-under-par. A bogey on the first hole marked a shaky start for the defending champions but what followed next was nothing short of spectacular.
“We are very chuffed to have defended this title,” said Ritchie, ‘I think we were expecting a little bit of a charge from the guys who were coming behind us. But we played brilliantly together as a team after a tough struggle at the start. But we are happy we managed to turn on the fireworks and bring it home.’
The bogey they made on the first hole was quickly forgotten as they made birdie on the next hole. Two pars later something clicked. Five consecutive birdies followed as they turned in 31 but that was not the end of it. A birdie on the 10th was quickly followed by an eagle on the 12th hole. Then birdies on the 17th and the 18th holes sealed the victory for Prinsloo and Ritchie.
‘After a good stretch of holes bringing back a bad start, that eagle really settled us down, giving us a nice cushion to play the last six holes with,’ continued Ritchie.
Prinsloo was equally ecstatic to become only the first team to successfully defend this title.
‘The conditions today were similar to yesterday’s because we started with the umbrellas out because it was raining,” remarked Prinsloo.
‘It was tough but I just took a back seat and watched JC play the golf course the way it should be played. We are really happy with this win.’
The first round of this exciting tournament was a betterball format, the second round was foursomes while the final round was also a betterball.
Scores:
191 – JC Ritchie & J Prinsloo 61 68 62
193 – J Ahlers & V Groenewald 62 68 63
194 – D Germishuys & U van den Berg 64 70 60, K Barker & D McIntyre 63 69 62, H Bruiners & A Nel 59 71 64
195 – CJ du Plessis & S Wears-Taylor 62 71 62, O Strydom & D McGuigan 64 70 61
196 – S Ferreira & B Follett-Smith 65 68 63, T Fisher Jnr & N Schietekat 62 71 63, J Van Zyl & D Fichardt 62 69 65, J Roos & C Basson 61 69 66
197 – L Rowe & S Surry 63 69 65
198 – G Mulroy & A De Decker 65 68 65, M Muthiya & A Haig 65 68 65, H Du Plessis & J Hugo 62 71 65, D Naidoo & J du Preez 65 69 64
199 – J Redman & K Horne 63 71 65, F From & P Eriksson 66 69 64, W Dingle & L de Jager 67 68 64
201 – K Davidse & D Petersen 63 71 67, R van der Spuy & T Ryan 64 69 68, A Michael & R Tipping 62 72 67
202 – M Palmer & JJ Senekal 65 70 67
205 – J Dreyer & L Albertse 65 68 72
