The 2018 South African Mid-Amateur Championship is set for an enthralling finale after Derek Scullard from KwaZulu-Natal made the most of moving day to grab a share of the lead with Louis Moolman from Gauteng North.
Pretoria amateur Moolman had headed into Thursday’s third round at Plettenberg Bay Country Club leading the field on nine-under, courtesy of a course record nine-under-par 63 in the opening round and even-par 72 in round two.
Scullard lagged eight shots off the pace at the start of the day.
He began chipping away at Moolman’s lead with a birdie at the 3rd hole and a birdie at 18th for back-to-back rounds of 69 which earned the Mount Edgecombe golfer a share of pole position on four-under 212 after Moolman returned an expensive 77.
‘I battled in the first round and Louis battled today, but that’s golf,’ said 39-year-old Scullard. ‘We’ll both be chasing hard in the final round but there are still some guys back there who can overhaul us. It’s still anyone’s championship.’
Local hopes were pinned on Ivan Williams, who was seven shots off the pace at the start of the round. The George golfer was four over for the round, but an eagle finish for a 74 kept Williams in the mix at level par alongside Naldo Claassen from Eastern Province, who made four birdies on the back nine for a 72.
Two-time former champion Gerlou Roux carded a two-under 70 and fellow Western Province golfer Elton James shot 71 to tie for fifth on three over.
Scullard knew he would have to put some early pressure on Moolman. When the overnight leader bogeyed the 3rd hole, he made his move.
‘I holed a 25-footer for birdie and gained two shots,’ Scullard said. ‘Then I birdied the par-five (4th) and when Louis had a double bogey at 5th the gap was down to three shots. I made a bogey from the greenside trap at 6th, but Louis also dropped a shot. I birdied 7th and 9th and we were tied at five-under going down the back nine.’
Both players bogeyed 10th, but Moolman regained the lead with a birdie at 11th. Scullard dropped a shot at 13th when he failed to up-and-down from the greenside bunker again.
‘I made a good birdie at 14th, and Louis bogeyed, so I was back to within a shot of the lead,’ Scullard said. ‘I had a 12-footer for birdie at 15th to get level again, but I missed my chance. At 18th, I drove it down the middle. I had a bad lie and I thinned a 4-iron in. It finished right and short of the green, but I hit a great chip to just over a foot and holed the putt for birdie to tie Louis for the lead.
‘I didn’t sweat the bogeys and I kept some pressure on Louis and that was key to the round. With four par fives and two drivable par fours, I never got anxious or antsy, I just played to my strengths and that’s what I’ll do in the final round, too.’
Photo: Scullard has moved up to share the lead in Plettenberg Bay, by Pieter Els.
Third Round Scores
212 Derek Scullard 74 69 69; Louis Moolman 63 72 77
216 Naldo Claassen 73 71 72; Ivan Williams 67 75 74
219 Gerlou Roux 73 76 70; Elton James 71 77 71
220 Ruan Botha 74 72 74
222 Weyers Janse van Rensburg 73 73 76
223 Danie Viljoen 75 76 72; Michael Holden 74 78 71; Corne van Deventer 73 77 73; Ernest Botha 72 79 72; Norman Raad 70 76 77
224 Cameron Johnston 70 76 78
226 Rory Garton 73 79 74
227 Gustav Verster 77 77 73; Ryan Dreyer 75 75 77
228 Jauqo Jacobs 81 74 73; Kevin Sharp 80 74 74
230 Shaun le Roux 77 78 75
231 Hugo Delport 84 76 71
232 Alistair Mullen 82 74 76; Stefan Blommaert 80 74 78; Alex van Heerden 79 75 78
234 James Faber 79 81 74; Garreth Johnston 77 80 77; Deon Kruis 72 79 83
236 Mark Coram 82 76 78; C J Head 77 79 80
237 Lawrence Joubert 82 78 77; Dino De Abreu 81 73 83; Michael de Jongh 80 82 75
238 Evan Mackenzie 77 81 80
239 Jason de Gama 78 80 81
241 Edrich Coetzer 81 83 77
242 Maartin Boshoff 80 85 77; Shaun Mulligan 79 84 79; Michael Carris 76 82 84
243 Pierre Spies 82 84 77; Craig Bell 79 83 81; Johan Jansen van Vuuren 78 83 82
244 Andrew Ncongwane 80 84 80
246 Martin Pieterse 86 80 80; Grant November 81 84 81
249 Botha Pretorius 86 85 78; Chase Manna 86 84 79; Johan van der Merwe 82 82 85
250 Riaan Swanepoel 87 84 79
251 Jason Plumbly 88 84 79; Donovan Dicks 82 84 85
255 Matthew Hamer 88 83 84; Andre Spies 86 88 81
256 Tyron Luck 84 87 85; Phil van der Westhuizen 83 90 83
257 Loyiso Barnes 90 84 83
258 Marthinus Kruger 92 86 80
260 Cedric Touzard 86 89 85
263 Steve Avis 86 94 83
268 Matthew Emanuel 87 87 94
WD Francois le Roux 75 74 WD; Nicholas Mitchell 76 WD WD
DQN Sean Baker 85 77 DQN