Altin van der Merwe will take a four-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the SDC Open at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa, and is chasing a dream that a few years ago he thought he might have to give up on.
Having led from day one of this Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour co-sanctioned tournament, and admitting that he was nervous heading into Saturday’s third round, Van Der Merwe instead looked in complete control of every part of his game as he posted a 65 to lead on 18 under par.
His nearest challenger is Sebastien Gros on 14 under par after the Frenchman birdied the last two holes for a 68. American Nick Carlson is currently third on 13 under par following a 67.
The work Van Der Merwe has done over the festive season to keep himself sharp is clearly paying off. But in the bigger picture, the work he’s done mentally since almost giving up on his dream a few years ago has been just as impressive.
Van Der Merwe was 19 years old when he made his first attempt at the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School, and missed out by a single stroke.
He admitted that, “I was pretty broken after Q School. We had a 10-hour drive the next day back to George and I decided we were going to drive through the night because I wasn’t going to stay there any longer. I didn’t say one word to my caddie or best friend at the time for 10 hours. The golf wasn’t the same for about two years after that. You get so emotional with this game.”
But he began a transformation of his game and became one of GolfRSA’s top amateurs. Last year he won the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School, and he hasn’t looked back.
There’s no doubt that Sunday will represent a major opportunity for both Van Der Merwe and his wife and caddie, Minette, to finally realise their shared dream.
“It will mean everything. I don’t even know how to explain it. We’ve been chasing this for a long time. Not just a win, but professional golf as a whole. I was close to giving up on the dream because it didn’t look like it would come. But my last two years as an amateur really helped, and I’m trying to carry that feeling through in my professional career. Let’s see if that works on Sunday,” he said.
SCORES:
198 - Altin van der Merwe 66 67 65
202 - Sebastien Gros 69 65 68
203 - Nick Carlson 68 68 67
205 - Malcolm Mitchell 69 68 68, Daniel van Tonder 72 65 68, George Bloor 71 65 69, Lucas Vacarisas 69 67 69, Nikhil Rama 67 67 71
206 - Liam Nolan 69 67 70, Jaco Van Zyl 68 68 70, Benjamin Follett-Smith 68 68 70, Jason Roets 71 63 72
207 - Samuel Jones 70 69 68, Jovan Rebula 69 68 70, Albert Boneta 70 67 70, Wilco Nienaber 69 68 70
208 - Rhys West 71 70 67, Maximilian Steinlechner 71 70 67, Jean Hugo 71 69 68, JC Ritchie 70 69 69, Gerhard Pepler 69 69 70, Baard Skogen 68 69 71
209 - Martin Vorster 75 67 67, Jordan Duminy 70 72 67, Matthis Besard 72 70 67, Aymeric Laussot 72 69 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 71 68, Jens Fahbring 71 69 69, Rupert Kaminski 67 72 70
210 - Marc Hammer 72 70 68, Adri Arnaus 69 73 68, Robin Petersson 68 73 69, Michael Hollick 72 69 69, Keagan Thomas 73 68 69, Jacques Blaauw 71 69 70, Jack Floydd 70 69 71, Quim Vidal 70 67 73
211 - Rhys Enoch 72 70 69, Robson Chinhoi 70 72 69, Lars van Meijel 74 67 70, Ricky Hendler 72 68 71, Herman Loubser 69 71 71, Graham van der Merwe 72 68 71, Clement Sordet 71 69 71, Thabiso Ngcobo 71 67 73
212 - Callum Mowat 71 71 70, Borja Virto 70 72 70, Vince van Veen 69 72 71, Daniel Young 69 72 71, Jacques P de Villiers 69 71 72, Lee Slattery 70 70 72
213 - Neil Schietekat 68 74 71, Yurav Premlall 73 69 71, Justin Walters 71 70 72, Per Langfors 74 67 72, David Law 69 71 73, Heinrich Bruiners 70 70 73, Keenan Davidse 68 70 75
214 - Kyle Barker 74 68 72, Sebastian Garcia 71 71 72, Joshua Berry 71 70 73, Filippo Celli 71 70 73, Kyle De Beer 71 70 73
215 - Calum Fyfe 67 74 74, Tyran Snyders 69 72 74, Benjamin Van Wyk 71 70 74, Gabriel Morgan 73 66 76, Felix Mory 70 69 76
216 - Stuart Krog 68 74 74, Tomas Gouveia 73 69 74, Danie Van Niekerk 69 70 77
219 - Gregor Graham 74 68 77, Maxence Giboudot 68 73 78
Missed the cut:-
143 - Jonathan Broomhead 77 66, Ryan Lumsden 70 73, Hennie O'Kennedy 74 69, Joe Long 72 71, Matt Sharpstene 76 67, Nathan Legendre 72 71, Alexander Settemsdal 71 72, Fredrik From 73 70
144 - Oliver Bekker 76 68, Victor Pastor 72 72, Jeremy Freiburghaus 75 69, Peter Karmis 71 73, CJ du Plessis 74 70, Ethan Smith 75 69, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 72
145 - Combrinck Smit 75 70, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 72 73, Euan Walker 77 68, Davis Bryant 74 71, MJ Viljoen 74 71, Jean Bekirian 73 72, Ruan Korb 74 71, Sentanio Minnie 72 73, Ilirian Zalli 72 73, Chris Paisley 72 73, Martin Rohwer 71 74, Henric Sturehed 71 74, Lorenzo Scalise 70 75, Wynand Dingle 70 75, Rourke van der Spuy 70 75, Jack Hawksby 74 71
146 - Max Kennedy 73 73, Julian Perico 74 72, Dan Erickson 70 76, Palmer Jackson 74 72, Ben Sigel 73 73, Callan Barrow 72 74, Werner Deyzel 73 73, Keith Horne 71 75, Quintin Wilsnach 74 72, James Mack 74 72, Franklin Manchest 74 72, Keegan Mclachlan 71 75
147 - Robin Sciot-Siegrist 76 71, Pieter Moolman 70 77, Tiger Christensen 73 74, Dayne Moore 73 74, Christiaan Burke 75 72
148 - Aron Zemmer 71 77, Louis Albertse 75 73, Tom Lewis 68 80, Luke Brown 72 76, Jaco Prinsloo 70 78, Brandon Pieters 76 72
149 - Matt Oshrine 75 74, Soren Broholt Lind 75 74, Jamie Rutherford 75 74, Renato Paratore 77 72, Bastien Amat 73 76, Stefan Wears-Taylor 75 74, Lyle Rowe 74 75, Chase Hanna 72 77, Hennie Otto 74 75, Matthew Spacey 75 74, Stals Swart 72 77
150 - Luke Jerling 74 76, Tristin Galant 78 72
151 - Albert Venter 78 73, Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 73 78, Dylan Mostert 74 77
152 - Frank Kennedy 75 77, Daan Huizing 74 78, Ruan de Smidt 72 80, Bryce Easton 77 75
153 - Christofer Blomstrand 78 75, Pierre Pellegrin 74 79
154 - Lyle Pedro 76 78, John Gough 82 72
155 - Hayden Hopewell 82 73, Bradley Bawden 78 77, Jiri Zuska 79 76, Christofer Rahm 74 81
156 - Keelan van Wyk 79 77