Ryan Tipping made it three Blue Label Development Tour wins in three months when his seven-under-par 65 at Dainfern Golf Estate gave him a one-shot victory on Thursday.
The 42-year-old Randpark Golf Club member went into this, the eighth tournament of the Blue Label Development Tour, boasting two wins already. He claimed wins in the inaugural tournament at Waterkloof Golf Club in August, and then another last month in Benoni where he edged Gerhard Pepler to the win.
“My lucky No 8 worked out in a lot of ways today,” joked Tipping after his success in Fourways. “The eighth is obviously my birth date and has always been my lucky number. And then our hole No 8 on the card showed it was a par-four but it was actually a par-five. So, I thought I was six-under for the round. But when I got in, I was told it was a par-five and that I was in fact seven-under because I made an eagle there. So, lucky No 8 paid out.”
Tipping has been in top form in this 10-tournament series and his three wins in seven starts is testimony.
“It feels really nice to be able to string a few wins together in just a single season; two out of five was nice but now three out of seven? I can really put it into words and I can imagine it to be better. It’s almost a 50 per cent record.”
Teeing from the 10th, Tipping made a solid start to Thursday's tournament; where he made five pars and a birdie in his first six holes. Having found his rhythm by now, the veteran campaigner let loose in the final three holes of his front nine and scored a hat-trick of birdies to turn in 32 and bogey-free.
He extended that run with two more birdies after the turn before an unwanted bogey visited his scorecard. Tipping was unfazed. He shrugged off that drop with perfection as he steadied himself while making four straight pars to consolidate his score. On that hole No 8 he mentioned, Tipping popped up with an eagle which pushed him a shot clear of Carlo Heunis, Keanu Pestana and Coert Groenewald who has had a good season as well.
“My play off the tee was not good,” admitted Tipping, “but my irons were solid. My chipping is always pretty good so I was not worried about that and I holed some nice 12-footers but my iron play was a lot better than it was in Sun City, or even on Monday at State Mines. So, I am happy with the way things are going at the moment.
“I am looking forward to the next couple of events. I mean, if I get another win; that will be four out of nine and that would be incredible. So, I am looking forward to giving it a go and trying to get a few low rounds and see if we can get another win.”
Tipping has etched his name in the history books as the first-ever player to claim three victories in the Blue Label Development Tour.
There are 10 tournaments in the series and all are being played in Gauteng. There are no entry fees required from the participating players, ensuring more playing opportunities. The Blue Label Development Tour events carry a R50 000 purse for each of the 10 one-day tournaments while expanding playing opportunities for players to sharpen their skills further.
SCORES:
65 - Ryan Tipping
66 - Carlo Heunis, Keanu Pestana, Coert Groenewald
67 - DK Kim, Ricky Hendler, Marthin Scheepers
68 - Reinhardt Blaauw, Keegan Mclachlan, Willie Olivier, Gerard du Plooy
69 - Luke Trocado, Philip Geerts, Evance Vukeya
70 - Steven Le Roux, Sentanio Minnie, Andrew Williamson, Slade Pickering, Tumelo Molloyi, Jason Roets, Musiwalo Nethunzwi
71 - Brandon Moodley, Cameron Moralee, Irvin Mazibuko
72 - Carlos Laranja, Stuart Krog, LB Boshoff
73 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz, Jastice Mashego
74 - Regan Steyn
75 - Leon Visser
76 - Thabiso Ngcobo
77 - Sipho Bujela, Francois van Staden, Keelan Africa
78 - Mike Maile
80 - Sandy Makume, Lincon Denzy Cele, Gerard Moodley
82 - Fezekile Kana
83 - Omar Sandys
DSQ - John Bele