George Coetzee won his first ever Sunshine Tour victory on the Vodacom Origins of Golf series, and his love for it continued as he successfully defended his title at De Zalze Golf Club on Saturday.
Coetzee claimed a two-stroke victory in the winelands for his fifth victory overall on the Vodacom Origins of Golf series, which started 15 years ago when he announced himself with a win on the series in his rookie season on the Sunshine Tour.
It’s an achievement that now places him second on his own on the all-time list of winners on the series after Jean Hugo who has 11 titles.
Coetzee withstood a strong challenge from England’s Joe Long and closed with a 67 to win on 21 under par. Long had closed to within a shot of Coetzee with three holes to play but then bogeyed the 18th as he took second place on 19 under with a final round of 67.
Kyle Barker finished third on 15 under par in one of his best performances on the Sunshine Tour, signing for a 66.
Jaco Prinsloo continued his good form as he followed up his win in last week’s FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Challenge with a sixth-place finish at De Zalze. Prinsloo has now finished third, ninth, first and sixth in his last four Sunshine Tour event.
This was the opening tournament on the 2022 Vodacom Origins of Golf series, with the next event taking place in Mpumalanga at the Highland Gate Golf & Trout Estate at the end of this month.
FINAL ROUND SCORES:
195 - George Coetzee 61 67 67
197 - Joe Long 68 62 67
201 - Kyle Barker 67 68 66
203 - Albert Venter 66 68 69
205- Louis Albertse 70 69 66
206 - Jaco Prinsloo 66 73 67
207 - Ockie Strydom 70 70 67, Christiaan Basson 73 65 69
208 - Estiaan Conradie 68 71 69, Bradley Bawden 71 67 70
210 - CJ du Plessis 70 70 70, Peter Karmis 70 70 70, Dayne Moore 70 69 71, Michael Kok 70 72 68, Luca Filippi 71 67 72, Adam Breen 66 72 72, Wallie Coetsee 69 68 73
211 - Ryan Van Velzen 69 71 71, Fredrik From 69 71 71, Zander Lombard 70 71 70, James Hart du Preez 70 69 72, Wynand Dingle 67 72 72
212 - Jean Hugo 72 69 71, Rupert Kaminski 69 70 73, Luke Brown 70 72 70, Jacquin Hess 67 72 73, Michael Palmer 73 69 70
213 - Keenan Davidse 72 68 73, Madalitso Muthiya 73 69 71, Merrick Bremner 68 71 74, JJ Senekal 72 71 70, Jared Harvey 72 71 70, Riekus Nortje 70 73 70
214 - Martin Vorster 70 70 74, Matthew Spacey 71 71 72
215 - Jean-Paul Strydom 71 70 74, Brooklin Bailey 72 70 73, Chris Cannon 71 71 73
217 - Hennie Otto 73 69 75, Combrinck Smit 72 71 74
220- Ruan Korb 73 69 78, Maverick Faber 72 70 78
221 - Leon Vorster 69 74 78