Albert Venter completed an inspired three days of golf as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Time Square Casino at Wingate Park Country Club by six strokes on Friday.
Going into the final round with a five-stroke lead, the 26-year-old said his approach was to think he was actually tied for the lead, and that saw him get the job done on an even more blustery, and colder, day in Pretoria.
Venter offset two bogeys on each nine with five birdies, and always looked in complete control of affairs, especially after birdies at the second and third holes.
“Even with a five-shot cushion I knew I could take nothing for granted because there have been a lot of cases where someone has a big lead and they don’t get over the line,” Venter said.
“So my mindset was that I was tied for the lead and just needed to play as solidly as I could. Starting off the tournament with a 63 put me in a really good position, so the last two rounds were just about maintaining that and trying to increase my lead.
“But you never know what could happen at the next hole if you make a mistake, so it’s really important to have that cushion,” Venter said.
Venter’s one-under 71 on Friday lifted him to 13-under for the tournament, with Ruan Korb also shooting a 71 and finishing second on seven-under-par.
Estiaan Conradie was alone in third on six-under after a 73 on Friday, with Michael Palmer (-5) and Jean Hugo (-4) completing the top-five.
Venter has now claimed two titles on the Sunshine Tour this year following his triumph in the Zimbabwe Open in May, and he said from now through October, he will be honing his game in preparation for the co-sanctioned events in the summer.
“I just try to play as good as I can in every tournament, but my main focus at the moment is on peaking at the end of the year in those big events, the four co-sanctioned tournaments. Those are like the Sunshine Tour Majors. Knowing that I’m playing well will give me a lot of confidence. All of this is prep work for the end of the year,” Venter said.
SCORES:
203 - Albert Venter 63 69 71
209 - Ruan Korb 68 70 71
210 - Estiaan Conradie 68 69 73
211 - Michael Palmer 73 69 69
212 - Jean Hugo 69 68 75
213 - Hennie Otto 74 69 70, Siyanda Mwandla 75 68 70, Keagan Thomas 68 73 72, Richard Joubert 67 72 74, Luke Brown 72 66 75
214 - Lyle Rowe 73 68 73, Heinrich Bruiners 69 71 74
215 - Jacques Blaauw 75 68 72, Luca Filippi 72 70 73, Rourke van der Spuy 73 68 74
216 - Ruan de Smidt 71 72 73, Dylan Mostert 75 68 73, Wallie Coetsee 72 71 73, JJ Senekal 69 73 74, Jared Harvey 73 69 74, Matthew Spacey 73 69 74, Martin Rohwer 67 73 76
217 - Madalitso Muthiya 70 74 73, Hennie O'Kennedy 67 77 73, Herman Loubser 73 71 73, Daniel van Tonder 72 71 74, Dylan Naidoo 70 70 77, Dayne Moore 69 70 78
218 - Pieter Moolman 75 69 74, Malcolm Mitchell 70 73 75, Clayton Mansfield 73 70 75
219 - Paul Boshoff 70 73 76, Yurav Premlall 73 70 76, Martin Vorster 71 72 76, Bradley Bawden 75 68 76, Kyle Barker 72 70 77
220 - Louis Albertse 72 71 77, Erhard Lambrechts 69 71 80
221 - Wynand Dingle 68 76 77
222 - Jayden Schaper 70 74 78
223 - Adam Breen 72 72 79
230 - Michael Kok 72 72 86