It took a sudden-death playoff to decide the Sunshine Ladies Tour Classic, but eventually Carrie Park beat Nobuhle Dlamini at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday.
It was a tough week from the start, with the first round delayed by intense storms that hit Johannesburg. The weather suspension forced the ladies to play 36 holes on Wednesday. Park signed for rounds of 72 and 69 to be three under par.
She began Thursday morning one shot off the pace of leader Ashleigh Buhai, who had flown in from Australia four days prior. Buhai struggled round in 74 to finish sole sixth at two under par.
Park rallied on the stretch, producing birdies at the 15th and the 18th to tie the five-under-par total held in the clubhouse by Dlamini.
Repeat trips down the 18th followed, with both players watching putts for birdies slide by the hole. Park got the job done on the fourth extra trip down Glendower’s last hole, where she hit an approach to three feet and boxed the putt.
It was Park’s second victory this year and came one month after she beat Buhai and Lee-Anne Pace at the SA Women’s Masters in Cape Town.
Park moved into the top 10 of the Investec Cup standings as a result of her recent success, which includes seven top-10s since the year began.
Wooohhhoo congrats #carriepark winner of the Sunshine Ladies Classic Canon @GlendowerGC @golfatsun @SLadiesTour pic.twitter.com/MhVOtR0ZVO
— Unimedia (@unimediapro) February 23, 2017
Nicole Garcia and Kiran Matharu shared third place on four under par, while France’s Valentine Derrey was sole fifth on three under par.
