Deon Germishuys had the luxury of returning to the Sunshine Tour at a venue where he has previously won – the Sishen Golf Club – and on Saturday he fired a brilliant five-under-par 67 to climb to nine-under-par overall and in the lead heading into the final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Northern Cape event.
Germishuys is a regular campaigner on the DP World Tour these days, and his last appearance on the Sunshine Tour was back in May at the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions. But Sishen Golf Club has happy memories for the 24-year-old as he claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour title there in the Sishen Classic back in May 2022.
The Serengeti Estates golfer started his round on the 10th hole and reached the turn in one-under thanks to a birdie on the par-four 18th, having earlier cancelled out birdies on the 10th and 14th holes with bogeys on the 12th and 15th.
But Germishuys really caught fire in the closing stages of the front nine. Following a birdie on the par-five second, he finished with four birdies in the last five holes. A bogey on the par-three eighth limited his lead to just one stroke.
“It’s nice to be back playing here at Sishen again. I really enjoy the golf course and it just fell into my schedule perfectly,” Germishuys said. “I felt everything clicked towards the end of the front nine. I was hitting decent irons and rolling in putts. But it’s not as if I was playing awful golf on the back nine."
“I feel like my game is at a good stage at the moment. I’ve made a lot of improvements and I’ve done decently in Europe. I have nothing to really complain about and I’ll just stick to what I’ve been doing in the final round,” Germishuys said.
Martin Vorster, continuing his comeback from injury, also played wonderful golf on Saturday. Three birdies in the first six holes of the back nine left him on four under for his round and one stroke off the lead. But he just could not gain that pivotal extra shot in the closing three holes and will go into the final round in second place, one behind Germishuys on eight-under-par.
Malcolm Mitchell posted a one-under 71 on Saturday to sit third on seven-under-par, while nine golfers are in the tie for fourth on five-under-par.
First-round leader Jacob Oakley went the other way in the second round, shooting a 75 to finish on four-under-par.
Gabrielle Venter fired a fantastic 69 on Saturday to make the cut and she is the leading women’s golfer on one-over-par.