Dean Burmester signed for a bogey-free 63 to earn himself a three-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Oubaai Golf Estate.
On another magnificent day on the Garden Route, Burmester teed off the third round chasing the lead of Jean Hugo and immediately made an impact with his four birdies in his first five holes.
Playing the kind of relaxed golf of a man who feels completely at home in this part of the world, Burmester also birdied the last to give himself a chance at a second Vodacom Origins of Golf title in his career after his other win on the series in 2015.
“It’s nice to be home. It’s nice to see the fans come out and support a local boy,” said Burmester.
Burmester’s level of comfort was nowhere more evident than in his short game on Saturday. His putting was outstanding, and his chipping on the back nine in particular helped him to maintain his scoring momentum.
“I’ve got a caddie who’s reading these green unbelievably well. I had 10 putts on the back nine. My iron play is still a little bit rusty, but the rest of my game is sharp. I haven’t driven the ball this well in a long time, so that’s putting me in a good position to score,” said Burmester.
“I had a good up-and-down for par on 15 with the putt just dropping in. I also had two good up-and-downs for par on 16 and 17 where I could’ve quite easily come back to the field. I work very hard on my chipping. I have to give Branden Grace credit because he’s helped me a lot with that and not opening the face of the club too much and keeping it a little bit square, especially on those uphill lies. It’s paying dividends this week for sure.”
Hugo, who is chasing a record 13th Vodacom Origins of Golf title, also made a strong start with three birdies in his opening four holes. But he dropped two shots on the back nine.
It was also a good day for Stephen Ferreira who scored a hole-on-one on the par-three third hole, hitting an eight iron and earning himself 50 000 Skybucks from Airlink.
“It’s nice to get my second hole-in-one. I need to get a move on because my uncle has had 18. Hopefully I can get a few more. But it’s great from Airlink to give us those Skybucks.”
The Sunshine Ladies Tour challenge is led by Gabrielle Venter and Danielle du Toit on nine under par and in joint 25th place. Venter posted a 70 on Saturday, while Du Toit signed for a 69. Cara Gorlei carded a 73 to finish the round on one under par.
SCORES:
194 - Dean Burmester 67 64 63
197 - Jean Hugo 64 64 69
200 - Bryce Easton 71 66 63, Barend Botha 65 69 66
202 - Samuel Simpson 68 66 68, Daniel van Tonder 71 63 68
203 - Fredrik From 68 70 65, Conner Mackenzie 67 65 71, Oliver Bekker 62 70 71, Sean Bradley 64 67 72
204 - Malcolm Mitchell 68 70 66, Yurav Premlall 68 68 68
205 - Doug McGuigan 70 69 66, Jaco Prinsloo 69 70 66, Martin Vorster 70 68 67, Ockie Strydom 67 70 68
206 - Wynand Dingle 70 72 64, Luke Brown 70 68 68, Jacques Blaauw 74 64 68, Louis de Jager 70 67 69, Hennie O'Kennedy 67 70 69, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 65 69, Jacques Kruyswijk 70 67 69, Heinrich Bruiners 68 68 70
207 - Dylan Naidoo 69 72 66, Rourke van der Spuy 74 67 66, Luke Jerling 72 69 66, Stephen Ferreira 70 70 67, Branden Grace 70 70 67, Danielle du Toit 71 67 69, Gabrielle Venter 72 65 70, Ruan Conradie 74 63 70, Herman Loubser 69 67 71, Ricky Hendler 66 69 72
208 - Craig Ross 70 70 68, Jack Hawksby 72 68 68, Kyle De Beer 71 68 69, Keegan Mclachlan 68 70 70, Jason Roets 70 68 70, Jovan Rebula 70 68 70, Graham van der Merwe 69 67 72
209 - Estiaan Conradie 73 67 69, Jacob Oakley 68 71 70, Stals Swart 66 71 72, Tyran Snyders 71 65 73
210 - Deon Germishuys 71 71 68
211 - Trevor Mahoney 72 70 69, JJ Senekal 72 69 70, Combrinck Smit 73 67 71, Jean-Paul Strydom 72 66 73, MJ Viljoen 69 68 74, Ethan Smith 69 68 74
212 - Franklin Manchest 68 73 71, Brandon Pieters 71 70 71, CJ du Plessis 71 69 72
213 - Karabo Mokoena 70 72 71, Dylan Mostert 74 67 72, Keelan van Wyk 71 70 72
214 - Callum Mowat 71 70 73, LB Boshoff 72 68 74, Matthew Spacey 66 72 76
215 - Cara Gorlei 69 73 73, Pierre Pellegrin 75 67 73, Alex Haindl 73 66 76, Haydn Porteous 66 73 76
216 - Christopher Long 71 71 74
Missed the cut:-
143 - Hayden Griffiths 75 68, Altin van der Merwe 73 70, Ivan Verster 73 70, Sentanio Minnie 74 69, Nick Cunningham 77 66, Peter Karmis 70 73, Christian Kriek 74 69, Rhys West 73 70, Jacques P de Villiers 72 71, Lyle Rowe 75 68
144 - Joe Long 73 71, Jake Roos 72 72
145 - Danie Van Niekerk 77 68, Keagan Thomas 71 74, Jordan Duminy 75 70, James Pennington 70 75, Pieter Moolman 77 68, Simon du Plooy 74 71, Adam Breen 72 73
146 - David Amm 76 70, Ruan Groenewald 73 73, Keenan Davidse 75 71, Nikhil Rama 71 75, Therion Nel 74 72, Kyle McClatchie 74 72, Kyle Barker 78 68, Martin Rohwer 77 69, Ruan Korb 68 78, Quintin Wilsnach 70 76, Stuart Krog 74 72, Hennie Otto 72 74, Sean Cronje 73 73, Christiaan Basson 74 72
147 - Toto Thimba Jnr 74 73, Jaco Van Zyl 75 72, Regan Steyn 80 67, Andre De Decker 73 74, Francois van Staden 72 75, Brandon Meads 71 76, Ruan de Smidt 73 74, Merrick Bremner 70 77, Thabiso Ngcobo 73 74
148 - Irvin Mazibuko 77 71, Carlo Heunis 75 73, Kirby Coe-Kirkham 74 74, James Mack 78 70
149 - Christiaan Burke 76 73, Jake Redman 74 75, Njoroge Kibugu 75 74, Kayle Wykes 72 77, Werner Deyzel 73 76, Robson Chinhoi 73 76, Gerhard Pepler 76 73, Bradford Vaughan 77 72
150 - Steven Le Roux 73 77, Dylan O'Leary 73 77, Tristin Galant 79 71, Gary Kemp 77 73, Pride Sembo 73 77, Dayne Moore 80 70
151 - Richard Kruger 75 76
152 - Vaughn van Deventer 72 80, Leon Vorster 80 72, Ace Andile Adam 74 78
153 - Jacquin Hess 76 77
154 - Umar Davids 81 73, Otto Van Buynder 80 74, Albert Venter 81 73
155 - Lyle Pedro 83 72, Brandon Gildenhuys 79 76, Travis Ladner 78 77
159 - Shaahid Mahmed 84 75
164 - Kim de Klerk 82 82
166 - Terence Boardman 87 79
RTD - Llewellyn Leibrandt 96 RTD RTD