Josh Cunliffe of Dainfern Country Club in Johannesburg won the men’s Sanlam South African Amateur Stroke-Play Golf Championship at Wingate Park Country Club on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old closed with a 70 in the afternoon’s fourth round for a 10-under-par 278, three strokes better than George Coetzee of Pretoria Country Club and visiting England international Adam Gee, who were joint second on 281.
Cunliffe and Coetzee were neck and neck over the first nine holes of the final round, and 19-year-old Coetzee edged ahead with a birdie at the 10th to go to 10 under. But he bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes before dunking his third shot into the water hazard at the par-five 18th en route to a crippling double-bogey seven.
Cunliffe, by contrast, birdied the 18th by hitting a drive and a splendid four-iron on to the green and two-putting.
”I was pretty sick when I was 18 and 19 and spent a whole year in bed with chronic fatigue syndrome,” said the winner. ”So, to get well again and only two years down the line win this national title is really special.”
Rossouw Loubser was fourth on 283 and Thimba Toto fifth on 285 after a 65 that equalled the course set by Coetzee in the morning’s third round.
The top 32 players in the stroke play go through to the match play starting on Wednesday. Former Natal rugby wing Tony Watson just squeezed into the match play after a play-off with three others on 292. — Sapa