SA Mid-Amateur double for Scully

BENONI, 2 May 2019 – KwaZulu-Natal golfer Derek Scullard beat Shaun Stapleton with an eagle in extra time to defend his South African Mid-Amateur Championship title at the Ebotse Golf Estate and Country Club on Thursday.

The 40-year-old fired a final round one-under-par 71 to set the clubhouse target on two-over 218, but Stapleton birdied the closing hole for a 72 to tie, forcing Scullard into a sudden-death play-off.

Derek Scullard successfully defended his South African Mid-Amateur Championship title with a play-off victory at Ebotse Golf and Country Estate; credit Ernest Blignault.

The pair returned to the par four final hole, and this time, Scullard got the result he looked for in regulation play.

“I overcooked a 5-iron and couldn’t up-and-down for birdie in the final round, but this time my drive finished 15 yards shorter,” said the Mount Edgecombe golfer. “I hit a great drive down the middle and flushed a 5-iron at the flag. It ended about 12 foot from the hole.

“Stapes was a good position to make birdie, so I knew I needed to sink that eagle putt. It felt like pay-back when that putt dropped. I’m so pleased with this win, because this week was challenging and to come out on top again feels really, really good.”

Scullard started the final day two off the pace behind former champion Neil Homann, and slipped even further back after a bogey-bogey start.

“I was surprised to drop two shots like, because those holes were not playing that difficult,” he said. “I kind of thought to myself ‘that’s me done for the tournament’ and then I loosened up and played the hole nicely.

“That’s when I decided to go after it. I birdied the fourth and the fifth holes to get back in the mix. I hit 2-iron off the tee at four and left myself a 20-footer for birdie and holed it. I hit a good tee shot at the par five and 4-iron in. The ball rolled just off the green, and I made a good up-and-down for birdie.”

Four pars to finish the outward loop saw Scullard start the back nine in a four-way tie for the lead on one-over with Homann, Stapleton and Mark Beattie.

Homann birdied the par-four 10th to edge in front, but Scullard reeled him in with a birdie at the par five 12th.

“I made some good par saves to keep the round going, but I was apprehensive when I got to 12,” he said. “That’s been my nemesis hole this week. I hit it in the water on both days; managed to make par on day one, but paid with a double bogey in round two.

“I felt that hole owed me something. I hit 4-iron off the tee and laid up with a 5-iron, but I went into the hazard. I had a decent lie halfway down the hill and hit a gap-wedge to 15 foot and drained the putt and that’s when things clicked into another gear. I was back to 2-over and I just kept it going with pars.”

Scullard, the owner of Rockwood Cladding, was proud to survive one of the toughest tests of his mid-amateur career.

“It’s such a tough layout and mentally, it was probably toughest challenge of my career,” said the Hillcrest resident. “The greens are so different to what I usually play on. The ball spins and runs out, and that took some getting used to. With no placing and all the mounds and bunkers that come into play on the links layout, you really had to be striking the ball well.

“The rough was brutal, up to eight feet in places, and there was no room for mistakes. If you hit an errant tee shot, you paid heavily. And with no placing, the flat spots short of the greens were tough to negotiate when you had to chip.

“I was happy with my ball striking, but annoyed that I made too many silly drops. I need to tighten up on my game, because that could have cost me the win. Now that I’ve done it twice, I’m definitely going to gun for the hat-trick next year.”

Homann closed with a 75 to finish in third on four-over, and Beattie took fourth on five-over with a closing 73.

Final Result

218 Derek Scullard 73 74 71 (won first play-off hole)

218 Shaun Stapleton 74 72 72

220 Neil Homann 73 72 75

221 Mark Beattie 78 70 73

222 Elton James 75 76 71

223 Rowan du Preez 74 75 74; Alex van Heerden 73 79 71; Gerlou Roux 73 77 73

225 Weyers Janse van Rensburg 78 73 74

226 Jaco Rall 79 72 75; Lean Boezaart 75 77 74; Kevin Sharp 75 73 78; Jauqo Jacobs 74 79 73

227 Menno Malherbe 75 77 75; Chris Zietsman 74 76 77; Danie Viljoen 74 74 79

228 Lawrence Joubert 75 74 79; Louis Jonck 74 74 80

229 Francois van Eyssen 78 77 74; Robert Westray 76 75 78; Hardus Schoeman 74 72 83; Shaun le Roux 72 80 77

230 Robert Delaney 76 78 76; Shaun Mulligan 75 79 76

231 Gustav Verster 79 78 74; Josef Fourie 76 78 77; Ernest Botha 76 77 78; Brett Langston 76 76 79; Pieter Swartz 75 78 78; Corne van Deventer 74 78 79

232 Norman Raad 81 77 74; David Muller 78 75 79; Ryan Dreyer 78 75 79; Travis Fraser 74 79 79; Jayson O’Reilly 74 78 80

233 Mark Coram 82 76 75; Andre du Bruyn 78 77 78; Koos Du Toit 75 81 77

234 Tian van der Berg 82 77 75; Martin Pieterse 78 77 79; Henk Geldenhuys 77 78 79

235 C J Head 79 78 78; Greg Heuer 78 82 75; Morne Nel 74 82 79

236 Jean-Pierre Meyer 81 80 75

237 Etienne Karsten 84 78 75; Joe Mnyandu 81 78 78; Jacques van Schalkwyk 81 76 80; Clinton Sangster Duncan 79 83 75; Pierre Spies 77 85 75

238 Armand van Graan 80 77 81; Dino Di Carlo 78 80 80

239 Jeremy Wright 75 79 85

240 Blaine Mancer 79 80 81; Jacques Schutte 78 81 81; Richard Daws 76 83 81

241 Matthew Emanuel 85 73 83; Jason de Gama 82 78 81; Kyle Stylianou 81 78 82; Thinus Labuschagne 80 81 80

243 Kelso Hannay 77 85 81

247 Riaan Swanepoel 80 82 85

249 Craig Bell 80 82 87

251 Rian Coetsee 79 82 90

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of GolfRSA.