Member of the Gary Player Class of 2017-18, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, claimed his first win on the Sunshine Big Easy Tour when he defeated Zimbabwe’s Greg Bentley on the first play-off hole in the final round of the BET Glendower event on Wednesday.
After sharing top spot on six-under-par, both players had a chance to claim a memorable maiden victory via the play-off hole, but there was always going to be only one winner. ‘I’m so happy,’ Nethunzwi said after his winning putt, ‘This is my first win on the Sunshine Tour and to win in front of my friends and those who support me is great because it shows how much they believe in me.’
He credits the boot camp for members of the Gary Player Class of 2017-18 a fortnight ago for his improved short game, which delivered his maiden victory as a professional golfer.
‘That boot camp was something special,’ he said, ‘and you could see from many of the guys that were there: Omar, Jacquin, Sipho, these guys are playing good golf, and for me it has helped me the last few weeks. So, the boot camp was really helpful because you can even see the results.’
The Gary Player Class of 2017 is the Sunshine Tour’s main development squad for previously disadvantaged professional golfers and benefits from the longstanding and continued support of the South African Golf Development Board (SAGDB), which was founded in 1999 as the official body for golf development in South Africa. The Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation (EEFF) is also partner in this collective effort to use golf to improve the lives of disadvantaged South Africans.
Nethunzwi is a graduate of the SAGDB, and as member of this developmental squad, has been showing vast improvement in his game. The win at Glendower shows a player who has come full circle.
Bentley will have to wait a while longer for his maiden win on the circuit. Nethunzwi’s squad member in the GPC programme, Jacquin Hess, came third; tied with amateur Christo Lamprecht, who was also impressive this week.
With a first win in the bag, Nethunzwi will look forward to the main tour’s events, brimming with confidence after such a solid display at the home of the BMW SA Open.
LEADING FINAL SCORES
138 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi 66 72
138 – Greg Bentley 65 73
139 – Jacquin Hess 69 70, Christo Lamprecht 67 72
141 – Dayne Moore 70 71, Combrinck Smit 69 72, Wynand Dingle 67 74
142 – Anton Haig 70 72, Bradford Vaughan 69 73
143 – Wilco Nienaber 76 67, Etienne Bond 71 72
144 – Antonio Rosado 73 71, Jacques P de Villiers 68 76
145 – Aubrey Beckley 74 71, Morne Buys 76 69, Andrew van der Knaap 73 72, Anu Gounden 72 73, Armandt Scholtz 72 73
146 – Divan Gerber 73 73, Matthew Rushton 73 73, Drikus van der Walt 73 73, Conway Kunneke 72 74
147 – Kenneth Dube 74 73, Desne Van Den Bergh 74 73, Bryce Bibby 72 75
148 – Dongkwan Kim 74 74, N.J. Arnoldi 75 73, Gerrit Foster 75 73, John Mc Clean 75 73, Marco de Beer 73 75, Brett Liddle 73 75, Duane
Keun 71 77, Coert Groenewald 70 78
149 – Herman Loubser 75 74, Paul Boshoff 74 75, Roux Jeffery 73 76, Bryandrew Roelofsz 77 72, Gert Myburgh 72 77, Neal Herman 71 78
150 – Pieter Kruger 74 76, Jeff Inglis 74 76, Dylan Docherty 76 74, Bennie van der Merwe 71 79
151 – Teboho Sefatsa 73 78, Bryn Flanagan 77 74, PH McIntyre 78 73
152 – Rudy Whitfield 74 78, Omar Sandys 74 78, Daniel Hammond 76 76, Wayne Stroebel 73 79, Jason Diab 77 75, Jared Burnard 78 74, Paul de Beer 72 80, Stuart Smith 69 83
153 – Jack Duthie 78 75, Paul Colditz 79 74, Tyrone Ryan 79 74
154 – Jason Smith 77 77, Irvin Mazibuko 82 72
155 – Sipho Bujela 74 81, Bryce McCabe 73 82, Neezy Thubisi 78 77, Gitesh Maharaj 78 77
156 – Maritz Wessels 76 80, Dean O’Riley 76 80, Allister de Kock 78 78
158 – Jonathan Waschefort 76 82, Kyle Barker 78 80, Dwayne Basson 81 77