It was touch and go towards the finish line, but Sandton amateur Luke Brown completed a wire-to-wire victory in fourth Race to Q-School at Germiston Golf Club for his maiden win on the IGT Challenge Tour on Wednesday.
It was definitely a week to savour for the 19-year-old, who became the sixth amateur to triumph on the country’s premier golf development circuit this season.
Playing the course blind in the first round, Brown laid the groundwork for his breakthrough with the lowest round of his career – a nine-under-par 63. The Country Club Johannesburg golfer opened up a five-shot lead on the field and maintained his five stroke advantage with a 69 in round two.
Brown was two under for the round after back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 holes when a little lapse in concentration cost him four shots in a row, but an expensive 74 nevertheless got the job done.
‘It was definitely a lot more work than I bargained for, but I’m absolutely stoked with the result,’ said Brown after he edged out South Africa’s top-ranked amateur Kyle McClatchie by one stroke on a winning total of 10 under 206.
‘The first hole is a tough opening hole, but I was quite calm on the tee compared to the nerves I felt at the start of second round. Unfortunately my tee shot caught a bad bounce in the fairway and finished behind a tree in the rough.
‘After the bogey start, I made three solid pars and I birdied five to get back the round back to level par. I played solid from there right up until the birdies at 13 and 14.’
McClatchie was six off the pace at the start of the final round and trailed by seven at the turn. After birdies at 13 and 14 and bogeys from Brown at 15 and 16, McClatchie eagled the par five 16th to close the gap to three strokes.
The reigning English Mens Amateur champion made pars at the final two holes for a third successive 69 and set the clubhouse target at nine under 207.
‘I lost focus at 15 and three-putted the hole,’ said Brown. ‘At 16, I had 150 metres to the pin and I got a flyer and ended up with my ball stuck up a tree behind the green. I had to take an unplayable and walked off with another bogey.
‘My tee shot went into the bunker at 17 and I didn’t hit a good trap shot and left myself 60m short of the flag. When I stood on the 18th tee, I knew I had two shots in hand. That calmed the nerves a bit, especially after I missed the green and I couldn’t up and down for par.
‘I learned a lot playing the IGT Challenge Tour this season and I used all of that experience this week, but I am still going away with even more valuable lessons. It was a week of firsts for me. First time that I shot 63, first time that I led a tournament and the first time that I played to win.
‘It’s definitely true what they say; you have to learn how to handle the pressure in the front. There were some scary moments out there, but I’m proud of the way I played the first 50 holes and I believe I’ll do a lot better the next time I’m in this situation.’
Picture of Brown with his trophy courtesy of CJ du Plooy
Final Result
All competitors SA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
206 – Luke Brown AMA 63 69 74
207 – Kyle McClatchie AMA 69 69 69
208 – Luke Trocado 70 67 71
210 – Philip Geerts (ITA) 73 69 68, Kyle Lucas 68 70 72
213 – Zabastian de Jager 67 79 67, Cameron Moralee AMA 74 70 69
216 – Bennie van der Merwe 73 71 72, Shaun van Tonder 76 68 72
218 – Ruan Korb 71 75 72, Jade Buitendag 75 71 72, Dino di Carlo AMA 76 71 71, Teboho Sefatsa 76 68 74, Jadrick Fourie AMA 75 69 74, Brandon Pieters 70 73 75, Patrick Thompson 72 71 75
219 – Jason Roets 71 74 74, Michael Kok AMA 78 70 71, Bradley Diggeden AMA 71 72 76, Peetie van der Merwe AMA 69 72 78
220 – Conway Kunneke 72 73 75, Tertius van den Berg 72 73 75, Ruan Groenewald AMA 79 71 70
221 – Pieter Moolman 72 72 77, Louis Albertse AMA 73 75 73, Bryce Myburgh 76 66 79, Keaton Slatter AMA 74 75 72
222 – Mpho Mafishe 75 73 74
223 – Angus Ellis-Cole AMA 73 75 75
224 – Thabi Ngcobo 79 68 77, Eric Park (KOR) 69 78 77, Keanu Pestana AMA 79 70 75
226 – Liam Clinton AMA 75 74 77, Adam Botha AMA 73 77 76, Shalan Govender 81 71 74
227 – Chase Paton AMA 77 75 75
229 – Jack Duthie 76 75 78
230 – Paulo Serrao AMA (POR) 79 73 78, Gareth Anderson AMA 78 74 78
231 – Cameron Gunning 70 76 85
235 – Nico du Buisson AMA 74 77 84
WDN – Ivanna Samu 71 72 WDN