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By: Craig Stirton
King David Mowbray Golf Club – 27 September 2021: Trevor Reich finally got the monkey off his back after storming to a nine-shot victory in the Cape Town Disabled Open hosted by the City of Cape Town at King David Mowbray Golf Club on Monday.
Reich has teed it up in disabled golf events for the better part of 20 years but until now a victory had eluded him. An opening round of 83 gave the leg-amputee a one-shot lead and in the second and final round, he drove home the advantage at his home track.
A birdie at the par-4 1st was just the start Reich was after and it went a long way to settling whatever nerves there may have been. Though bogeys at the 2nd and 4th holes followed, Reich held it together well in the early going. A third dropped shot at the tricky par-4 7th meant he turned in 39 shots.
His nearest challenger overnight, Virgil Foster, struggled to an outward nine of 46 which scuppered his victory bid and he eventually signed for a round of 89.
During the course of the front nine a clear two-horse race developed featuring Reich and Canon Kwazulu-Natal Disabled Open winner Robin Singh who carded 40 on the front-nine.
Beginning the back-nine with a four-shot lead, Reich made four pars in a row. A bogey at the 14th was unfortunate but Reich managed to keep a handle on things.
By contrast – Singh battled. Dropped shots at the 10th and 11th was less than ideal and a double-bogey 7 at the 14th compounded things even further. Further dropped shots at the 15th, 17th and 18th consigned Singh to a runner-up spot some nine shots adrift.
Reich’s final dropped shot of the day meanwhile came at the long par-4 15th but after that it was smooth-sailing as three closing pars earned him a memorable win.
“I’m absolutely delighted and I played really solid today. It’s been a lot of hard work over the last year since lockdown and I think this result is the culmination of that,” said Reich.
Magatye Makes Her Mark
Yolande Magatye – playing in her first-ever disabled golf event – capped a terrific week off with a slender one-point victory over leg-amputee Craig Moorgas.
Playing alongside Moorgas – Magatye made a good start with five points over her opening three holes – the highlight of which was a bogey at the par-4 12th. A nett-birdie at the 16th was followed by a fantastic par for four points at the par-4 17th as Magatye signed for 17 points on her opening nine.
Moorgas though was in hot pursuit. Beginning with back-to-back three-pointers, the King David Mowbray Golf Club member found himself on eight points after three holes. He rebounded from a zero-pointer at the 13th and a one-pointer at the next with a timely three-pointer at the 15th.
Back-to-back two-pointers followed before what was arguably Moorgas’ shot of the day: a chip- in at the par-4 18th which yielded four points and put him within striking distance of Magatye.
Moorgas kept the pressure on Magatye on the second-nine and overcame a zero-pointer at the par-4 first by notching back-to-back two-pointers at the 2nd and 3rd holes respectively. The leg-amputee – a petrolhead of note – found another gear so to speak as he recorded three three-pointers in a row which was a sign that a special day may be in the offing.
As it turned out, his bogey-par finish earned him a further five points on the inward nine and a total of 41 on the day. Credit to Craig for signing for the lowest round of life – an 86 that will certainly give him a lot of confidence going forward.
The day and the event, however, belonged to Magatye. The Fancourt member made a solid start to the second-nine – sandwiching a three-pointer at the 2nd in between a pair of one-pointers. Consecutive pars at the fifth and sixth helped her title bid tremendously heading down the stretch.
A pair of two-pointers over her final three holes saw her sign for a second-round tally of 35 points. Despite only managing a single point at the final hole, Magatye managed to pip Moorgas to the title and earn a spot in November’s Champion of Champions event.
Touzard Triumphant In Deaf Strokeplay
Consistency from Cedric Touzard over both rounds at King David Mowbray – during which he shot 79 and 78 earned the Deaf golfer victory in the Deaf Strokeplay division.
Touzard benefitted from a slow start by overnight leader Charles Williams who carded a 44 over the first nine holes. Beginning on the par-5 10th, Touzard offset an opening bogey with a birdie-3 at the 12th. Though he dropped shots at the 14th and 15th, three pars to close out the nine saw him vault into the lead over Williams.
Touzard remained steady on his inward nine. Just one dropped shot over the first six holes of the nine was ideal and although a double-bogey at the par-4 7th followed, Touzard responded superbly with a birdie-2 at the next.
A bogey-six at the par-5 ninth rounded off two solid days of golf for the pastry chef, earning him a six-shot victory over Williams and a Champion of Champions berth.
Nkomo Victorious in Deaf Stableford
First Swing Program golfer Sisa Nkomo completed a nail-biting one-point victory in the Deaf Stableford category.
For Nkomo – the hard work was done on the opening day after he carded 33 stableford points. The Dominican School pupil endured a difficult start to his day but a fantastic three-pointer at the long par-4 7th helped him steady things a bit.
Having turned with five points to his name, Nkomo made a strong start to the nine after notching a two-pointer at the 10th hole. His best was yet to come though as he made a wonderful par at the 14th hole to add a further four points to his growing tally.
Nkomo kept his score ticking over the remaining holes – a pair of two-pointers over the final two holes earned him a hard-fought victory over fellow First Swing Program golfer Elvirno Visagie.
Well done to everyone who participated and a sincere thank you to City of Cape Town and Series title-sponsor Canon South Africa without whom the series wouldn’t be possible. Thank you too to King David Mowbray Golf Club and their staff for being such wonderful hosts.
The Canon Open Series now moves to Uitenhage Golf Club for the Canon Port Elizabeth Disabled Open which begins on the 16th of October.
Photo Credits: Nic Bothma & Carl Fourie
