Gerhard Pepler claimed a come-from-behind victory in the Altron Big Easy Tour Play-Off tournament, thanks to his final round of five-under 67 at Centurion Country Club on Thursday.
That final round got Pepler’s tournament total to 10-under, a stroke clear of second-placed Jonathan Waschefort.
“I started off well and made an eagle on the first hole,” said Pepler, recalling the events of his final round. “As the round went on, I kind of went defensive a bit. Then on the second nine, I went back to my game plan. After hole 14, I started looking at the leaderboard so that I knew exactly what to do on the next hole and what tee shots to hit.”
Pepler, who was a shot adrift coming into the final round of this Play-Off event, was two-under after the front nine. After his eagle on one, he had two bogeys – on three and six – before birdies on the seventh and ninth graced his scorecard.
Coming home, Pepler made birdies on 12, 13 and 15 to seal a round 67 and manage to pip Waschefort to the title. His triumph in Centurion this week makes Pepler the only player to win two tournaments this season, having already claimed a famous win in Soweto earlier in the campaign.
“This one means a lot,” said Pepler of a victory that may well have secured him his Sunshine Tour privileges for next season.
“After we played ERPM, my team and I worked hard on the golfing side of things as well as the mental side. Everything we worked on came together this week and that’s why this one is a bit more exciting.
“But the work is not done; we have The Final to go to and I am going to try and win that one as well. To finish top of the Order of Merit would be awesome because that’s what we play for; to win trophies and titles. So, I will still work hard on my game and my mental side so that I can be ready to compete in The Final. I’d like to win that one as well.”
With his win in the second-last event of the 2022/23 campaign, Pepler has assumed the top spot on the Order of Merit where the top 12 leading players after the season concludes will earn their way to the premier circuit, the Sunshine Tour.
Only the top 50 players in those standings were eligible to play in Centurion and now only the top 30 will be at the final event. The venue for The Final is yet to be announced but it is certain that it will be in Gauteng.
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:
206 - Gerhard Pepler 68 71 67
207 - Jonathan Waschefort 70 70 67
209 - Luke Trocado 71 68 70, Leon Visser 68 71 70
210 - Ricky Hendler 74 70 66
211 - Allister de Kock 66 74 71, Andrew Williamson 66 74 71
212 - Carlos Laranja 67 73 72, Nicholaus Frade 67 73 72, Marthin Scheepers 70 70 72
213 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz 69 73 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 68 70 75
214 - Reinhardt Blaauw 72 71 71, Keegan Mclachlan 68 74 72, Jason Roets 71 70 73, Chris Swanepoel 71 70 73, Carlo Heunis 67 72 75
215 - James Pennington 71 70 74
216 - Slade Pickering 74 70 72, Keelan van Wyk 74 70 72, DK Kim 72 71 73, Gregory Mckay 71 71 74, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 66 74 76
217 - Cameron Moralee 72 72 73, Thanda Mavundla 69 75 73
218 - Jason Froneman 69 73 76
219 - Sentanio Minnie 70 74 75, Ryan Tipping 74 68 77
220 - Zabastian de Jager 70 72 78
221 - Tristin Galant 69 72 80
225 - Jacquin Hess 72 71 82