Ricky Hendler finally got his breakthrough win on the Altron Big Easy Tour after his final-round 70 earned him a one-shot victory over Reinhardt Blaauw at Houghton Golf Club on Thursday, and said it was down to changes he made in his strategy.
The left-handed Dainfern Golf Club member has built a reputation of being one of the most aggressive players on the Altron Big Easy Tour circuit, a trait he feels has been costly in the last four tournaments.
“I have been in contention four weeks in a row now,” Hendler noted after his round in Houghton, “but I haven’t gotten the job done. I don’t feel like I’ve been playing badly but I just think that maybe my strategy hasn’t been the best. Sometimes I get a bit too aggressive, which is fine in the first round – you come to shoot a low one and get yourself into it – but in the final round there are so many nerves and you’re worried about what everyone else is doing and you just want to win so badly.
“So, today, I just told myself to play not conservatively but rather conservatively aggressive; pick targets. I said to myself ‘you don’t have to hit driver everywhere, give yourself 116 in if you have to. 116 in is my bread and butter. It proved to be a good strategy.”
Hendler was in a three-way share of the lead going into the final round. He was three-under through the first six holes thanks to birdies on the first, the fifth and sixth holes, which gave him a perfect start in the final round. He dropped on seven and had to wait until the ninth hole for another birdie as he turned in 33.
He backed that birdie up with another on 10 but he gave those gains away on the next hole. After a par-save on hole 12, Hendler made another bogey on 13 and then a double-bogey on the par-five 15. He found a welcomed birdie on the 16th before driving the green on the par-four 17th for an opportunity to make an eagle. Hendler missed that eagle-putt but was happy to walk away with a birdie there.
“Today I just wanted to keep the ball in front of me and not make too many mistakes,” he said, “and as I said, from 116 I would rate myself against anyone. So, I just thought to myself ‘keep it in play and give yourself a lot of iron shots in. You’re not going to have to shoot 64 to win. Two, or three or four-under will get the job done.
“I’m just so happy to finally get it done. It’s been a lot of hard work. I’ve just missed my card at Qualifying School. I haven’t been playing professional golf that long, so I’m really lucky. I have a whole support team around me that believes in me, and I’m starting to believe in myself more and more every week. I can’t wait to be on the Sunshine Tour next year.
“This Big Easy Tour is just amazing for giving us this platform to play every week and compete against really good players. I feel like if I do get my Sunshine Tour card next year, I will be ready.”
Prior to his win here, Hendler came fourth at Blue Valley, second at Huddle Park, seventh and Reading and fifth at Randpark last week.
The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout among its former Order of Merit winners.
Scores:210 - Ricky Hendler 69 71 70211 - Reinhardt Blaauw 70 74 67212 - Ruan de Smidt 71 69 72213 - Keelan van Wyk 72 71 70214 - Matthew Rushton 71 73 70, Zabastian de Jager 72 71 71, Nikhil Rama 69 72 73, Jacquin Hess 67 73 74215 - Stuart Krog 73 72 70, DK Kim 75 68 72216 - Noel Anderson 72 74 70217 - Aneurin Gounden 71 75 71218 - Yubin Jung 71 73 74, LB Boshoff 73 70 75, Dayne Moore 70 73 75, Nicholaus Frade 69 73 76, Carlos Laranja 69 72 77219 - Gerhard Pepler 69 76 74, Samuel Simpson 69 73 77220 - Byron Coetzee 76 70 74221 - Coert Groenewald 70 76 75, James Pennington 72 74 75, Jason Froneman 73 71 77223 - Richard Kruger 69 74 80224 - Thabang Simon 75 70 79, Makhetha Mazibuko 74 71 79225 - Luke Trocado 73 73 79, Adam Breen 69 76 80, Karabo Mokoena 74 71 80227 - Marthin Scheepers 74 70 83