Neil Schietekat won the FBC Zimbabwe Open by four strokes at Royal Harare Golf Club on Sunday, his successful foray to South Africa’s northern neighbour bringing him his first Sunshine Tour title since 2018 and an ideal start to his season before he heads off even further north to play in Asia.
The experienced Schietekat had started the final round with a seven-stroke lead following his brilliant 66 on the third day, and although he did not pull any further away from the chasing pack, his final-round 75 was still good enough for him to win comfortably on 11-under-par.
Most importantly, he played the front nine-under-par, birdies on the second, third and fifth holes offsetting dropped shots on the first two par-fours – the first and the fourth holes. Schietekat reached the turn with an eight-shot lead, which he needed because the tough back nine caused him problems.
“I’m really happy that I managed to pull through because today was a much tougher day for me. I haven’t won before with such a big lead, so I didn’t really know how to go about things. I wasn’t trying to play safe, but there were some shots I did not commit to and some shots I did really go for.
“I had some unlucky breaks out of the rough, but that’s been the same for everybody this week. But I made a couple of really good saves and par-putts.
“I was bleeding on the back nine, starting on 10 where I hit a good shot off the tee but it just rolled into the water and I made a double-bogey. But I made some clutch par-saves as well, especially on 14 where I sank a big putt. That settled everything and I knew that only I could lose it then. It feels really good that I managed to hang in there,” Schietekat said.
Having conquered the testing, prestigious parkland layout at Royal Harare, Schietekat knows his game is in good shape before he heads off in a few weeks for his second season on the Asian Tour.
The 39-year-old Schietekat, who was educated and played his early golf in KwaZulu-Natal, praised the course that gave him his fifth Sunshine Tour title.
“There are a couple of holes you can go for it, the reward is big, but if you don’t pull it off then you are in big trouble. I missed a few fairways and greens today and if you miss the greens, then it becomes really tough to get up and down because the greens are so quick. They’re probably the best greens we play on all year,” Schietekat said.
Jacques P. de Villiers fired a four-under 68 on Sunday to lift himself to second place, his highest finish on the Sunshine Tour, alongside Peter Karmis and Jaco Ahlers, who both shot 70s, on seven-under for the tournament.
Ryan van Velzen also shot a 68 to claim fifth place on six-under-par, while Kieran Vincent was the leading Zimbabwean, on three-under-par with Danie van Niekerk.
FINAL ROUND SCORES
277 - Neil Schietekat 67 69 66 75
281 - Jacques P de Villiers 67 70 76 68, Peter Karmis 67 73 71 70, Jaco Ahlers 71 69 71 70
282 - Ryan Van Velzen 72 70 72 68
285 - Danie Van Niekerk 75 69 71 70, Kieran Vincent 72 71 70 72
286 - Stephen Ferreira 74 68 76 68, Ivan Verster 71 72 74 69, James Mack 72 74 71 69, Lyle Rowe 71 69 74 72, Adam Breen 67 68 76 75, Wynand Dingle 66 72 71 77, Jonathan Broomhead 71 69 69 77
287 - David Wicks 70 71 75 71, Rhys West 72 71 73 71, Gerhard Pepler 74 71 68 74
288 - MJ Viljoen 74 72 74 68, Jean Hugo 73 70 74 71, Biggie Chibvuri 71 72 74 71, Stefan Wears-Taylor 75 68 71 74, Matthew Spacey 71 74 69 74
289 - Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 69 73 77
290 - Robson Chinhoi 70 74 68 78
291 - Martin Rohwer 73 73 71 74, Christiaan Burke 75 68 72 76
292 - Jacques Blaauw 70 75 75 72, Paul Boshoff 71 74 74 73, Sean Cronje 77 68 73 74, Jovan Rebula 68 72 77 75, Callum Mowat 76 69 72 75, Quintin Wilsnach 70 73 70 79
293 - Stuart Krog 71 72 79 71, Yurav Premlall 74 68 77 74, Shaahid Mahmed 72 71 75 75, Jared Harvey 73 69 75 76, Conner Mackenzie 69 74 74 76, Luca Filippi 75 70 71 77, Mutahi Kibugu 72 74 70 77
294 - Gerhard Trytsman 75 69 74 76, Keegan Mclachlan 69 76 73 76
295 - Nikhil Rama 77 69 73 76, Estiaan Conradie 73 69 75 78, Ricky Hendler 69 71 76 79
296 - Kyle McClatchie 71 75 75 75, Drikus Joubert 75 70 72 79, Fredrik From 72 73 72 79
297 - Ryan Cairns 75 71 76 75, Kyle Barker 75 68 78 76, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 72 75 72 78, Sean Bradley 74 66 78 79
298 - Warwick Purchase 70 75 77 76, Doug McGuigan 74 71 76 77, Anthony Michael 76 71 73 78
299 - Hayden Griffiths 75 72 75 77
300 - Tonderayi Masunga 71 72 80 77, Jack Hawksby 71 73 78 78
301 - LB Boshoff 69 76 80 76, Promise Sombrero 70 77 78 76, Franklin Manchest 73 73 75 80, Njoroge Kibugu 76 70 73 82
303 - Pride Sembo 72 73 74 84
305 - David Amm 74 73 79 79
309 - Tristin Galant 73 74 80 82
RTD - Ignatius Mketekete 72 75 79 RTD