GEORGE, 26 February 2016 – Big-hitting Aubrey Beckley from North West is itching to start the 2016 Sanlam SA Amateur Championship after closing out an emphatic five stroke victory in the Sanlam Cape Province Open on Thursday.

The Potchefstroom golfer denied defending champion James du Preez repeat success in the 72-hole curtain-raiser when he fired a blistering third round 64 and a flawless final round 65 at Kingswood Golf Estate to triumph on 20-under-par 268.

Gauteng North’s Du Preez returned a third round 66 and carded 64 in the final round to take second, while 36-hole leader Herman Loubser from Boland settled in third on 274 with rounds of 67 and 71.

Beckley opened with a 69 at Kingswood and carded a second round 70 at George Golf Club to start the third round three strokes off the pace.

The 22-year-old followed an eagle start at Kingswood with a lone bogey and seven birdies to grab a share of joint second with Loubser at 13 under.

The pair headed into the final round two strokes behind recent African Amateur Stroke Play champion Albert Venter, who rocketed into pole position with a flawless 64.

Beckley immediately reduced the gap on the 54-hole leader with a birdie at the par five opening hole and tied Venter for the lead after the Gauteng North player bogeyed the par three second.

The HPC TuksGolf Academy player replaced Venter at the top of the leaderboard with his second birdie at the par five third.

He notched a quartet of birdies from the sixth hole to turn 19 under and interrupted a run of straight pars down the back nine at Kingswood just once when he holed a birdie putt the par five 15^th.

Now the North West golfer hopes to convert the rich vein of form to more success in the South African Golf Association’s flagship event, which tees off with a 36-hole qualifier at George Golf Club on Sunday.

“My putter was pretty cold in the first few events this season, so my coach Emile Steinmann and I worked on a couple of things to improve my rhythm and stroke,” said Beckley.

“The putts started dropping this week and I was striking the ball really well, too. I made a good start and I felt that I could challenge. My game plan for the last two rounds at Kingswood was to target the par fives and the shorter par fours on the front nine.

“The back nine is tough and you have to treat it with respect, so I took a more conservative approach and it paid off. I managed to give myself a decent cushion going into the last nine holes and I kept it going.

“George Golf Club is going to require a different approach. It’s a very traditional course with tight fairways and small greens, but I take a lot of confidence out of the way that I’m striking the ball and how I am putting. If I can keep going like this, I look forward to another solid week.”

 

FINAL RESULT

268 Aubrey Beckley 69 70 64 65

273 James du Preez 76 67 66 64

274 Herman Loubser 65 71 67 71

275 Marco Steyn 70 68 68 69; Albert Venter 70 67 64 74; Dylan Naidoo 69 69 70 67

276 Matt Saulez 69 70 69 68

277 Jovan Rebula 73 69 69 66; Andre Nel 71 69 71 66

279 Jason Smith 72 69 69 69; Alfie Plant ENG 72 68 71 68; Kyle McClatchie 71 73 66 69; Luke Trocado 70 69 70 70

281 Cameron Moralee 74 68 70 69; Jason Rossiter 73 65 71 72; Tristen Strydom 67 74 71 69

282 Jamie Bower ENG 71 67 72 72; Luke Jerling 70 69 74 69

283 Kyle Barker 75 69 70 69; Luke Mayo 71 72 69 71; Michael Pfeifer 71 70 69 73; Michael Sherriff 70 67 73 73

284 Altin van der Merwe 75 68 69 72; Claudio Consul GER 74 69 73 68; Nicholas Mitchell 73 70 70 71; Dylan Kok 72 68 71 73; Keegan Steyn 68 69 74 73

285 Angus Ellis-Cole 71 73 72 69; Louis Albertse 70 74 73 68

286 David Mcintyre 68 70 73 75

287 Combrinck Smit 73 73 72 69; Deon Germishuys 73 71 72 71; Hans-Jurie Human 72 65 79 71; Mohit Mediratta 71 71 75 70

288 Franklin Manchest 72 74 73 69; Yashab Chandra IND 72 72 72 72; Darin de Smidt 72 69 70 77; Robert Foley SUI 71 70 75 72; Karabo Mokoena 71 70 73 74; Jade Buitendag 70 73 74 71; Keelan Africa 68 74 72 74

289 Brandon Cloete 73 74 71 71; Nic Elliot ENG 73 72 76 68; Julien Sale 71 72 71 75

290 Paul Kinnear ENG 77 70 72 71; Kieran Vincent ZIM 74 71 73 72; Luca Filippi 69 71 72 78; Michael Harradine SUI 68 73 75 74

291 Carlo Heunis 78 68 78 67; Stafie Barnard 77 69 75 70; Quintin Wilsnach 74 69 74 74; Ruhan van Dijk 73 74 73 71; Etienne J van Rensburg 70 73 72 76; Noel Anderson 70 71 76 74

293 Alex van Wyk 77 70 74 72; Siyanda Mwandla 70 74 72 77

294 Andrew Plint 76 71 73 74; Jaco Coetzee 74 67 71 82; Matthew Kiewitz 71 76 74 73; Christopher Daniel van der Merwe 66 78 74 76

295 James Pennington 77 70 77 71; Sentanio Minnie 73 74 76 72; Bryce Leach 73 74 75 73

296 Henk Geldenhuys 75 71 75 75; Carlo O’Reilly 75 70 76 75; Dylon Jacobs 74 73 78 71; Andre van Heerden (Jnr) 74 73 77 72; Samarth Dwivedi IND 74 66 74 82; Willem Boshoff 73 73 77 73; Elmo Barnard 72 75 75 74; Martin Vorster 72 75 74 75

299 Meyer Potgieter 75 67 77 80; Nicholaus Frade 74 73 78 74

300 Loris Schuepbach SUI 74 70 85 71; Luan Boshoff 72 73 77 78

301 David-Louis Nortje 74 73 77 77

302 Henri van der Walt 76 71 78 77; Steven le Roux 75 71 75 81; Gregory Mckay 69 77 82 74

 

Ends

 

PHOTO 1 – Sanlam Cape Province Open champion Aubrey Beckley; credit Pieter Els.

PHOTO 2 – Sanlam Cape Province Open champion Aubrey Beckley and Southern Cape Golf Union president Tannah Harris; credit Pieter Els.

 

For further information, please contact:

Geoff Taylor (SAGA Acting President) – [email protected]

Bruce Younge (SAGA Executive Director) – [email protected]

 

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.

Lali Stander

The Write Word Sports Media Consultants

TEL: +27 82 990 7150 / EMAIL: [email protected] or [email protected]