Coert Groenewald came from behind in the Race to Q-School #16 to bag his seventh IGT Challenge Tour title at State Mines Golf Club last week.
The 28-year-old from Roodepoort fired a flawless six under par 66 to seal a three-shot victory with a 13 under 203 against Alrich Labuschagne, Paul Boshoff and leader Gregg Blainey from England.
Coert’s win was timely as the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School is just around the corner.
“D-Day is less than a month away, so this is the perfect time to start winning. I had a couple of close calls, so to pull it through this close is great. It’s nice to take some confidence into the last two Race to Q-School events,” he said.
Coert posted rounds of 70 and 67 and lagged two off the pace behind joint overnight leaders Gregg Blainey and Thriston Lawrence as they started the last day.
Both Thriston and Gregg slid backwards over the first nine holes, and he was able to close the gap with birdies at the seventh, ninth and tenth holes. Further gains at 13, 15 and 18 lifted him to the top of the pile.
Coert said he battled with the driver and three-wood, but he found some good rhythm with his irons.
“I hit the driver and the three-wood like a dog over all three rounds, but my iron play was really solid and I gave myself a lot of chances. I didn’t make any spectacular saves or long birdie putts – all six birdies were pretty standard, but I did leave at least seven birdies out there. It certainly could have been better, but I’ll take the win any day.”
Coert campaigned on the country’s premier development circuit from 2012 and graduated to the Sunshine Tour three years later.
“Unfortunately I didn’t keep my card – I missed the cut-off by a few rand,” he said. “So I went back to Q-School for 2016, but I was deadly ill in Bloemfontein over the first two days and it cost me dearly. It’s been a long and frustrating season since then, especially after they moved the Q-School from December to March. It’s tough when you’ve been there and then have to wait out a whole season to have another stab at Q-School. Playing on the IGT Challenge Tour has kept me competitive and the Race to Q-School gives me a chance to go straight to the final stage. I’m lying third on the Order of Merit and the top five are automatically included in the final stage, so I’m going to fight hard to protect that third spot in the last two tournaments,” he said.
Gregg closed with a 71 to tie for second on 206, while Paul shot 69, and Alrich shot up the leaderboard with a superb 66.
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