Derek Scullard regained the top spot in the Mid-Amateur Rankings after putting on a masterful display at the stunning Plettenberg Bay Country Club to win the South African Mid-Amateur Championship in swashbuckling style on Friday.
The 39-year-old former professional from KwaZulu-Natal was composure and confidence personified as he carded four birdies and signed off with a flawless four-under-par 68 to finish six shots clear of Louis Moolman who finished with an eight-under 280 total.
‘I’m seriously stoked about this win,’ said the delighted champion. ‘This is the premier event of the mid-amateur circuit and the one tournament we all play to win. This is as good as it gets.’
Moolman set the clubhouse target at nine-under in the first round and carried a four-shot lead into the second over Southern Cape favourite Ivan Williams. Scullard, who opened with a 74, lagged 11 shots off the pace.
‘I’ve never played Plettenberg Bay Country Club before and I didn’t have time to fit in a practice round, so I had to play the course blind,’ Scullard said. ‘It’s a really testing and challenging course, especially when the west-south-westerly wind blows, as it did in the first round.
‘I didn’t make a great start, but Louis shot a course record 63 that left the rest of us feeling that we were going to have to play for second. I felt more comfortable in the second round, though and was able to attack a bit more.’
Scullard posted the lowest round on day two – a three-under 69 that reduced the gap between himself and Moolman to eight shots. Then he wiped out the deficit with another 69 and grabbed a share of the lead at four-under when the Pretoria golfer registered 77 in the third round.
‘You have to hit it in the right spots on this course and it really helps if you have a lot of different shots in the bag,’ said the Mount Edgecombe golfer. ‘I used the driver a bit more and more putts dropped.
‘Coming into the last round tied with Louis and a four-shot lead, it was still touch and go, but I made a good start and built from there. To finish it off in bogey-free style in the last round was really special.’
Moolman and Scullard both started with back-to-back pars, but the Pretoria golfer had a double bogey at the par-five 4th.
Scullard made two birdies on the bounce at the 3rd and 4th and once he took control, he never looked back. After birdie number three at the short 6th, he made seven straight pars and holed a bunker shot at 14th for birdie to move to eight-under.
‘That was definitely the highlight of my round,’ Scullard said. ‘I chunked it into the bunker and Louis was on the green with a good chance for birdie. He made birdies at 7th and 8th, but dropped shots at 12th and 13th, so he really needed it.
‘I holed the trap shot and he missed the birdie putt and that was huge. I didn’t know what the guys up ahead were doing, but I was seven shots ahead of Louis. I could relax a little and enjoy a couple of holes.’
A three-time winner in 2017, the former number one ranked mid-amateur has had a frustrating start to the season and was delighted to turn a corner.
‘I played really nicely,’ he said. ‘It started slow but my game improved every round and I feel that I’m building to some really good form. My biggest goal is to earn national colours and represent South Africa abroad and hopefully this is the start of achieving that dream.’
Moolman, who couldn’t sustain his red-hot start, birdied the closing hole for 74 and sole second on two-under, while Williams took third on even-par after a final round 72.
Photo: Scullard celebrated winning the SA Mid-Amateur Championship, by Pieter Els.
Final Result
280 Derek Scullard 74 69 69 68
286 Louis Moolman 63 72 77 74
288 Ivan Williams 67 75 74 72
292 Ruan Botha 74 72 74 72; Naldo Claassen 73 71 72 76
294 Norman Raad 70 76 77 71
295 Corne van Deventer 73 77 73 72; Gerlou Roux 73 76 70 76; Elton James 71 77 71 76
296 Cameron Johnston 70 76 78 72
297 Danie Viljoen 75 76 72 74; Michael Holden 74 78 71 74; Ernest Botha 72 79 72 74
298 Rory Garton 73 79 74 72; Weyers Janse van Rensburg 73 73 76 76
299 Ryan Dreyer 75 75 77 72
303 Shaun le Roux 77 78 75 73
304 Kevin Sharp 80 74 74 76
305 Hugo Delport 84 76 71 74; Gustav Verster 77 77 73 78
307 James Faber 79 81 74 73; Deon Kruis 72 79 83 73
308 Jauqo Jacobs 81 74 73 80; Alex van Heerden 79 75 78 76
310 Stefan Blommaert 80 74 78 78; Garreth Johnston 77 80 77 76
311 Dino De Abreu 81 73 83 74
312 Alistair Mullen 82 74 76 80; Evan Mackenzie 77 81 80 74
314 Pierre Spies 82 84 77 71; Lawrence Joubert 82 78 77 77
316 Mark Coram 82 76 78 80; C J Head 77 79 80 80
317 Jason de Gama 78 80 81 78
319 Michael de Jongh 80 82 75 82
321 Edrich Coetzer 81 83 77 80
322 Grant November 81 84 81 76; Craig Bell 79 83 81 79
324 Michael Carris 76 82 84 82
325 Donovan Dicks 82 84 85 74; Shaun Mulligan 79 84 79 83
326 Chase Manna 86 84 79 77; Martin Pieterse 86 80 80 80; Maartin Boshoff 80 85 77 84
329 Johan Jansen van Vuuren 78 83 82 86
333 Riaan Swanepoel 87 84 79 83; Johan van der Merwe 82 82 85 84
334 Jason Plumbly 88 84 79 83
338 Andre Spies 86 88 81 83
339 Loyiso Barnes 90 84 83 82
340 Tyron Luck 84 87 85 84; Phil van der Westhuizen 83 90 83 84
342 Matthew Hamer 88 83 84 87
344 Botha Pretorius 86 85 78 95
347 Marthinus Kruger 92 86 80 89
348 Cedric Touzard 86 89 85 88
350 Matthew Emanuel 87 87 94 82; Steve Avis 86 94 83 87