The wind arrived at Humewood Golf Club on Saturday, and it shook up the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship leaderboard like a three-legged washing machine on a full spin cycle.
Frenchman Tom Vaillant did well to hold on to his overnight lead with a fighting 73 for a total of 13 under par in third-round conditions which Humewood General Manager Brendon Timm described as “a day when the birds walk rather than fly”.
“It felt like the wind was 100km/h in my head. I just tried to fight as much as possible. It was some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in. I just fought as hard as I could. In this wind, you don’t have to try and make birdies. You’re just trying to keep the ball safe,” said the battle-weary Frenchman.
“The final round will just be me against the golf course and the conditions. It’s my first year on tour and I know I can win. I’ll try and do my best.”
Vaillant’s nearest challenger is South Africa’s JJ Senekal on 12 under par following his 71, and he’s looking for back-to-back wins on this Sunshine Tour and European Challenge Tour South African Swing.
“The front nine played ridiculously hard. The first six holes are brutal straight into the wind. You’re hitting driver and seven iron and driver and five iron into every hole there. It’s a brutal start to the golf course in this wind. But I’m in a good spot one shot back,” said Senekal.
And then South Africa’s Hennie O’Kennedy, Brandon Stone and Dylan Mostert as well as Englishman Josh Hilleard and American Dan Erickson are lined up on 11 under.
“I think that’s the best round of three under par I’ve ever shot in my life,” said Mostert following his 69. “On the 15th, I had a putt that I’d read as a cup outside on the left, and I aimed a ball right because of the wind, and I still missed it on the left.”
As tough as it was, the likes of O’Kennedy still made six consecutive birdies over the turn, Stone birdied three of his final four holes, Hilleard holed out for eagle on the par-four ninth and then added another eagle on the 11th, Senekal had an eagle and two birdies on a tough back nine, and Vaillant birdied two of his final four holes.
The Humewood locals were pleased. They’d come to see just how the Sunshine Tour’s finest handle the wind that batters their regular league matches on these historic links.
THIRD ROUND SCORES:
203 - Tom Vaillant 66 64 73
204 - JJ Senekal 66 67 71
205 - Hennie O'Kennedy 69 70 66, Josh Hilleard 68 71 66, Dan Erickson 68 70 67, Brandon Stone 67 70 68, Dylan Mostert 68 68 69
206 - James Hart du Preez 66 74 66, Bradley Bawden 70 69 67, Jared Harvey 70 68 68, Lorenzo Scalise 66 71 69, Alex Haindl 70 67 69
207 - Jeppe Kristian Andersen 72 68 67, Wynand Dingle 69 69 69, Henric Sturehed 65 70 72, Adam Blomme 63 70 74
208 - Doug McGuigan 67 73 68, Ugo Coussaud 65 74 69, Clement Berardo 73 66 69, OJ Farrell 69 69 70, Jamie Rutherford 68 69 71, Stuart Manley 70 66 72
209 - Ivan Cantero Gutierrez 69 71 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 66 74 69, Christopher Mivis 68 72 69, Casey Jarvis 66 73 70, Lyle Rowe 68 71 70, Liam Johnston 67 71 71, Jean Hugo 67 71 71, Ashley Chesters 68 70 71, Anton Karlsson 67 69 73, Steven Brown 69 66 74
210 - Ruaidhri McGee 66 74 70, David Boote 71 69 70, Hennie Otto 70 70 70, Yan Wei Liu 67 72 71, Joel Sjoholm 70 69 71, Gary Boyd 70 68 72
211 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 67 73 71, Daniel O'Loughlin 68 71 72, Ryan Van Velzen 67 70 74, Sam Bairstow 66 71 74, Ruan Conradie 68 69 74, Craig Howie 65 71 75, Jaco Prinsloo 66 70 75
212 - Michael Stewart 70 70 72, Jaco Van Zyl 72 68 72, Fredrik From 69 70 73, Keagan Thomas 72 67 73, Robin Petersson 71 68 73, Joel Girrbach 69 70 73, Borja Virto 68 70 74, Jbe Kruger 67 71 74, Marc Hammer 69 69 74
213 - Anthony Michael 65 75 73, Benjamin Rusch 66 73 74, Rhys Enoch 69 70 74, Luca Filippi 66 72 75, Robin Williams 67 70 76, Javier Sainz 66 71 76
214 - Chris Paisley 69 71 74, Pieter Moolman 64 72 78
215 - Lucas Vacarisas 68 72 75, Manuel Elvira 66 72 77, Jaco Ahlers 68 69 78
216 - Victor Riu 69 70 77, Adilson Da Silva 68 71 77, Alfie Plant 67 71 78, Andrea Pavan 71 67 78, Martin Vorster 69 68 79