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Waterkloof Golf Club, 14 August 2022: David Watts fired a final round 75 to eclipse Kelvin van Baalen by six-shots in the Tshwane Disabled Open at Waterkloof Golf Club on Sunday.
Leading by one shot overnight, Van Baalen endured a difficult start to the final round with two double-bogeys at the 2nd and 4th sandwiched either side of a bogey-5. By contrast, Watts played the opening four holes in just one-over par.
The head-to-head battle took on a to-and-fro nature for the remainder of the front-nine. The par-4 5th was the site of a two-shot swing after Van Baalen made a birdie to Watts’ bogey. Watts returned the favour after a par-3 at the 8th while birdies at the 7th and 9th helped ensure that he made the turn in the ascendancy by five shots.
Having turned in 43, Van Baalen fought back gallantly on the back-nine and carded seven pars along with a bogey at the 10th and double-bogey at the 16th.
Watts meanwhile put the seal on another impressive victory with an inward nine of 38, following bogeys at the 10th and 11th with seven straight pars to cap off his fourth SADGA Open win of the year.
Clutch Crawford wins Physically-Disabled Stableford title
Sebastian Crawford enjoyed a barnstorming finish to his Tshwane Disabled Open, carding 10 points over his final three holes to pip Charlene Pienaar by a single point en route to the Physically-Disabled Stableford title.
Beginning on the 10th, Crawford started sluggishly and only had three points to his name through as many holes. A three-pointer at the 13th galvanised him, however, as he reeled off three three-pointers and a pair of two-pointers en route to turning with 18 points to his credit.
Crawford’s inward nine began slowly but he managed to keep his tally ticking over. A two-pointer at his 15th hole of the day foreshadowed the tremendous golf he would play down the closing three holes. Back-to-back three pointers at the par-5 7th and par-3 8th preceded an astonishing par and four final-hole points as Crawford claimed a nail-biting victory over Pienaar.
Botha completes comfortable Deaf Stableford victory
Jay-Jay Botha completed a resounding 29-stroke victory over Donovan Stephenson in the Deaf Medal division.
Beginning on the par-4 10th, Botha played solidly over the first nine holes, carding a 40 which was highlighted by a birdie-4 at the 18th and helped him offset some of the damage done by a double-bogey at the 12th and bogeys at the 10th, 14th and 15th.
Stephenson made the turn in 47 shots the highlights of which were pars at the 14th and 15th respectively.
The inward nine followed similar themes for both players to that of their opening nines. After pars at his 10th, 11th and 12th holes of the day, Botha bounced back from a double-bogey at the 4th with a birdie at the 5th. Stephenson made three triple-bogeys over the first five holes of his inward nine but birdies on his 16th and 18th holes showed fantastic fighting spirit.
Two closing pars by Botha saw the Deaflympian put the finishing touches on an emphatic victory.
Snyman snatches Deaf Stableford victory
Rhyno Snyman completed a two-point victory over Shannon Van der Berg in the Deaf Stableford division after a closing round of 25 points.
Starting at the 10th, Snyman bagged two-pointers at the 11th and 12th before a more-than-handy four-pointer at the par-4 13th. The rest of Snyman’s opening nine was more challenging but he managed to make the turn with 13 points to his credit.
His closing nine was also a mixed bag. A three-pointer at his final hole of the day highlighted a second-nine of 12 points which also featured two-pointers at the 3rd, 5th and 6th holes respectively.
In the end, Snyman did enough to hold off the challenge of Van der Berg who amassed a two-round tally of 52 points.
Final Thoughts
The Tshwane Disabled Open was a resounding success with four very deserving winners. Our thanks to Waterkloof Golf Club for being such terrific hosts and to the Gauteng North Golf Union and Central Gauteng Golf Union for their continued support of the SADGA.
Last but certainly not least, thank you to our partners Callaway Golf South Africa for sponsoring such terrific prizes. We appreciate your significant contribution to disabled golf.
Photo Caption: David Watts (left) wins the Tshwane Disabled Golf Open at Waterkloof Golf Club.
Photo Credit: South African Disabled Golf Association
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