Judging by the leaderboards after the third rounds of both the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament presented by the Sunshine Tour and Petrus Kleinbooi, and the Final Stage of Qualifying School, the final rounds at both these tournaments promise to deliver an exciting finish at Soweto Country Club and Houghton Golf Club, respectively.
In Soweto where the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament presented by the Sunshine Tour and Petrus Kleinbooi is being played, overnight leader Jacquin Hess, who been at the top since day one, held on to his lead, after carding a one-under-par 71 round to get to five-under for the week. He leads Thanda Mavudla by three shots after the latter also shot a 71 to get to two-under-par. Local man Musiwalo Nethunzwi and James Kamte tie third on one-under-par and will have some work to do on Thursday if either of them is to be the first to win a Sunshine Tour event in Soweto. Alpheus Kelapile lies fifth and is level-par going into the final round.
In Houghton, a blemish-free five-under-par 67 helped PH McIntyre to a 15-under-par total, a score he ties with Rupert Kaminski and they co-lead by just two shots ahead of tomorrow’s round. Throwing his name in the mix in round three was Tristen Strydom who destroyed the golf course with a solid 10-under-par 62 to get to within two strokes of the lead.
He opened with a birdie but made a bogey immediately after that. He regained composure and made a birdie on the third. Then a par on the fourth hole. And then four more birdies, one after the other before making a par on the ninth. Enjoying the run of birdies, Strydom made two more straight birdies after the turn, and then birdied the 13th, 15th and 17th to sign for a 62. Luke Brown, Byron Coetzee and Brooklin Bailey share fourth on 12-under-par and they are three shots back.
