Teboho Sefatsa claimed a one-stroke victory over Makhetha Mazibuko when he shot a final round four-under 68 at Vusi Ngubeni Stroke Play to total nine-under-par 279 and reclaim his Sunshine Tour playing card on Friday.
Entering the final round in a share of the lead with promising amateur Franklin Manchest, Sefatsa got right into it as he birdied the par-five first hole, made par on the next hole, and that was followed by another birdie. It did not end there for the Glendower Golf Club professional as he went on to make two more birdies on holes five and eight before dropping his first shot of the day on the ninth.
“It was all confidence,” he said of the solid week he had at Modderfontein Golf Club, “The self-belief I have, I believe in my game again, there’s no doubt. I knew I was going to hit some bad shots but I didn’t overreact about those because I always knew I was good enough to recover.”
That confidence was obvious for all to see throughout the week because despite dropping that shot at the turn in the final round, Sefatsa picked himself up with a birdie on the 10th and following two straight pars, he made a further gain on the 13th. As was the case on his front nine, he dropped a shot on the last hole but that would do no harm to his scores at that point.
He also credited good preparation for his victory and said having a good game plan also helped him in his quest to reclaim his card.
“My preparation was spot on for this week,” he said, “and I had a game plan which I stuck to and it all paid off because I am standing today as the champion of the Vusi Ngubeni Stroke Play for 2018. So, now I just look forward to the season ahead, but there’s another big week next week at Final Stage Q-school, and I am playing there.”
Behind Sefatsa on a total of eight-under for the week, Makhetha Mazibuko shot the best score of the day when he blazed to an unblemished six-under 66. Three birdies on both nines of the Modderfontein layout saw the last season’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship runner-up piling some pressure on Sefatsa but he eventually fell short by a single stroke.
But the talk of the week was the little-known Manchest. A former GolfRSA player, Manchest showed maturity beyond his years this week as he went toe-to-toe with established players such as Sefatsa, Mazibuko and Heinrich Bruiners among others, and his third-place finish was well-deserved. He finished the week two-under par.
The top-15 players and ties at Vusi Ngubeni have now earned their Sunshine Tour playing cards while players who finished 16th to the 30th player and ties get an opportunity to redeem themselves at next week’s Final Stage Qualifying School at Randpark Golf Club.
Players who secured their cards:
Teboho Sefatsa, Makhetha Mazibuko, Franklin Manchest, Allister de Kock, Heinrich Bruiners, Irvin Mazibuko, Altaaf Bux, Thabo Moraba, Adriel Poonan, Yubin Jung, Phumlani Maluka, Derick Petersen, Gerrit Foster, Sipho Bujela, Jabulane Mabilane, Thabang Simon, Keelan African and Fezekile Kana.
Final leaderboard:
279 – Teboho Sefatsa 72 71 68 68
280 – Makhetha Mazibuko 72 70 72 66
286 – Franklin Manchest 72 67 72 75
288 – Allister de Kock 71 69 74 74
289 – Heinrich Bruiners 71 73 72 73
291 – Irvin Mazibuko 71 73 70 77
292 – Altaaf Bux 71 75 74 72, Thabo Moraba 74 72 73 73, Adriel Poonan 73 72 73 74
293 – Yubin Jung 79 74 72 68
295 – Phumlani Maluka 74 74 75 72, Derick Petersen 74 69 75 77
296 – Gerrit Foster 74 71 76 75
297 – Sipho Bujela 73 73 79 72, Jabulane Mabilane 71 77 75 74, Thabang Simon 74 72 75 76, Keelan Africa 79 69 73 76, Fezekile Kana 71 73 69 84
298 – Warric Dyers 75 75 76 72, Thabiso Ngcobo 79 74 72 73, Dwayne Basson 73 71 79 75, Jason Diab 73 74 74 77, Neezy Thubisi 74 77 70 77
299 – Lwazi Gqira 77 72 75 75, Mohodi Motloung 79 74 71 75, Gitesh Maharaj 72 74 74 79, Gerard du Plooy 74 70 75 80
301 – Letsoso Letsai 73 74 81 73, Shalan Govender 74 71 80 76
303 – Jastice Mashego 78 74 75 76, Teddy Mathebula 70 76 84 73
304 – SP Mthethwa 77 76 75 76, Ace Andile Adam 76 75 75 78
306 – Terence Mogapi 71 76 80 79, Aneel Kallan 75 81 76 74
308 – Alpheus Kelapile 77 78 78 75, Mpho Mafishe 79 73 81 75
310 – Evance Vukeya 78 75 76 81, Jack Kutumane 73 78 74 85
311 – Eugene Geyser 75 76 83 77, Ethan Joseph 76 77 82 76
312 – Zwelakhe Dube 71 77 79 85, Lindani Mthiyane 75 82 77 78
313 – Brian Ntuli 78 76 72 87, Khaya Jika 76 80 79 78, Tumie Motale 77 76 82 78
314 – Tebello Maphike 78 79 77 80, Thabang Kutumane 74 78 82 80, Ricco Motsa 77 78 80 79, Joe Dlamini 76 79 83 76
315 – Lucas Mohanoe 74 79 76 86
316 – Steward Mabena 76 80 79 81
317 – John Bele 77 78 80 82, Thabo Shingange 79 73 86 79
319 – Mzwandile Sikobi 80 76 78 85, Craig Dreyer 80 77 83 79
322 – Robert Tsheko 77 78 96 71
324 – Pequestro Dyssel 80 77 82 85, Joseph Mojapela 77 80 86 81
329 – Karabo Makhetha 84 73 86 86
WDN – Mikhail Tewary 81 75 79 WDN, Mike Maile 76 77 82 WDN
