King David Mowbray Golf Club, 23 August 2023: As the wind stiffened on the final-nine of the Western Province Mid-Amateur Championship, Shaun Le Roux maintained exceptional control of his golf ball en route to a final round two-under 70 which saw the Westlake Golf Club member run out a deserved four-stroke victor at King David Mowbray Golf Club on Friday.
Le Roux began the day in a share of the lead with Wayne Melle and David Thompson after the trio carded four-under 68s in round one. Le Roux started solidly with four opening pars before sandwiching a birdie at the sixth between two dropped shots.
Thompson meanwhile offset a second-hole bogey with a birdie three holes later. The Clovelly Country Club member parred his way to the turn and after Le Roux nabbed a second birdie of the day at the 9th, the back-nine promised to be a humdinger.
A Thompson bogey at the 10th and a Le Roux birdie, however, foreshadowed a back-nine which failed to conjure up any real drama. Despite a bounce-back birdie at 11, Thompson bogeyed five of his last six holes to sign for a five-over 77 to share fifth with Melle.
It was fitting that Le Roux birdied the 14th hole which was the only par-5 he didn’t card a red number on in the opening round. In the end, he played the par-5s seven-under par for the tournament which was integral to his victory.
Four pars down KDM’s brutal closing stretch and a terrific back-nine of 34 punctuated an imperious 36-hole display.
“I was actually happier with my round today even though I was two shots worse than yesterday,” said Le Roux.
“I saw that the wind was predicted to pick up and while it’s difficult not to look ahead, my goal was just to beat Dave. I thought that if I could shoot level-par on the back-nine I would be in a good position.”
Le Roux heaped praise on the King David Mowbray staff who presented a fantastic track for the assembled field despite the terrible rain in recent weeks.
“I’d like to give a special mention to General Manager Darrell Williams and his team. The greens in particular were unbelievable. They were so true over the 36 holes, nothing bobbled and the pace was good. This was especially impressive after the Winter we’ve had so compliments to them!”
It is interesting to note that as many Western Province-based players struggled in the wind, the runner-up was Randpark Golf Club’s Johan Grobbelaar who carded matching rounds of one-under 71 to finish two shots ahead of third-placed Geno Belfiore.ย
Photo Credit: Western Province Golf/Facebook