Golf

Sport24.co.za | Ahlers bags 2nd win of season with Selborne victory



Pennington – Jaco Ahlers turned a great par-save on Saturday into a second
victory of his Sunshine Tour season when he won the 54-hole R1-million Vodacom
Origins of Golf tournament at Selborne Golf Estate by two strokes.

He carded a
final round of five-under-par 67 to finish two clear of Ockie Strydom, and a
further two ahead of James Hart du Preez and Jacques Blaauw. But when Ahlers
made a double-bogey six on the seventh, he must have felt his chances were
slipping away.

However, he
birdied the eighth, and then came the great escape: “I made an unbelievable par
on nine,” he said. “I hit a very bad tee shot, I hit a bad second shot and I
made up and down from 100 yards to make par and turn with a two-shot lead.

“Then,
making birdie on 10, I started thinking I could do this. Then I hit a great
shot on 12 to make eagle, and at that point I saw Ockie making a bit of a
charge. I made a few putts coming in that were crucial for par – and they were
moments that gave me my self-belief.”

Self-belief
has been something that Ahlers has had to work hard on regaining since one of
the biggest wins of his career in the Dimension Data Pro Am in February 2018.

“This just
helps me believe a bit more,” he said. “It was a tough 18 months after winning
at Di Data – I lost a bit of game, and off the course wasn’t great – and then
winning in Swaziland at the beginning of September was nice, and justifying it
with a second one is great.”

That the win
came so soon after he had a good shot at winning the tournament at the Wild
Coast Sun just last week was also a big boost. “It was so nice to get it done,”
he said. “Last week I was in a position to make a run at it and I faltered over
the last few holes. Then you start not believing as much anymore, so getting it
done today is just great.”

Strydom, who
won his maiden Sunshine Tour title at Sishen in August. Made an impressive
charge. He pieced together a pair of nines in 32 shots each, with not a bogey
in sight, but Ahlers had too much of a cushion to be caught.

Du Preez had
his best finish of the season, closing in a 66 and improving from his share of
ninth in last month’s King’s Cup in Swaziland. Blaauw had a 69 for his final
round and a share of third.

For Ahlers,
however, there is a lot to savour.

“I’ve been
in this position a few times,” he said. “I’ve been on tour for 14 years, and
it’s nice to know that I can finish it off, and I can perform under the gun –
and that’s a feeling I want if I’m going to go and play on bigger tours.

“This gets
me up the Order of Merit quite substantially, and now I’ve got a shot at maybe
pulling off a win on it, which I haven’t had before – I’ve been close, but not
close enough. I’m playing at Simola in two weeks which means I’m staying at
home which is great – I’m just going to try and ride the wave as long as
possible.

“And I’m
going to the European Tour Qualifying School in a few weeks and I have been
given the belief that I can play.”

Scores:

201 – Jaco Ahlers 64 70 67

203 – Ockie Strydom 69 70 64

205 – James Hart du Preez 69 70 66, Jacques
Blaauw 70 66 69

206 – Allister de Kock 68 68 70, Thriston
Lawrence 68 66 72

207 – Rhys West 71 71 65, Dylan
Kok 72 68 67, Steve Surry 67 70 70, Trevor Fisher
Jnr 70 66 71, Heinrich Bruiners 68 67 72

209 – David McIntyre 71 73 65, Keith
Horne 73 69 67, JJ Senekal 69 70 70, Ruan Conradie 67
71 71

210 – Breyten Meyer 72 71 67, Fredrik
From 73 68 69, Neil Schietekat 71 68 71

211 – Luke Jerling 75 69 67, Hennie
Otto 72 69 70

212 – DK Kim 71 73 68, Oliver
Bekker 75 69 68, Jean Hugo 72 71 69, Anton Haig 74 68
70, Christiaan Basson 74 68 70, Madalitso Muthiya 70 71
71, Adilson Da Silva 71 70 71, Lyle Rowe 66 71 75

213 – Garth Mulroy 71 73 69, Franklin
Manchest 71 71 71, Jonathan Agren 71 70 72, JC
Ritchie 65 68 80

214 – Martin Rohwer 75 69 70, Hennie du
Plessis 70 73 71, Derick Petersen 69 72 73

215 – Ruan Huysamen 74 70 71, Arno
Pretorius 74 70 71, Teboho Sefatsa 72 72 71, Keenan
Davidse 74 70 71, Duane Keun 73 70 72, Andre Nel 72 69
74, Daniel van Tonder 71 70 74, Wallie Coetsee 66 74 75

216 – Jade Buitendag 73 71 72, Ruan de
Smidt 77 67 72, Philip Geerts 74 68 74, Theunis
Bezuidenhout 68 72 76

217 – Sean Bradley 77 67 73, Tristen
Strydom 70 74 73, Dylan Naidoo 73 68 76

219 – Merrick Bremner 71 71 77

220 – Mark Williams 73 71 76

– Sunshine Tour





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