Ryan van Velzen claimed his third Sunshine Tour victory in 10 months when he won the Mediclinic Invitational by four shots in a dominant performance at Maccauvlei Golf Club on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Van Velzen carded a final round of 64 – his second 64 of the weekend – to finish on 25 under par overall, with Neil Schietekat taking second place on 21 under par following a closing 67. LB Boshoff, Jason Roets, Jovan Rebula, Dylan Mostert and Yurav Premlall shared third place on 18 under par.
Van Velzen’s victory comes on the back of a strong summer where he challenged for the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Investec South African Open before finishing second, and also adds to his wins in the Limpopo Championship and the Bain’s Whisky Ubunye Team Championship last year.
But this latest triumph has surprised even him considering the long holiday he took before returning to competition again this week.
“I can’t explain it actually. I took a month off from the game and it just came back to me. I got better without practising,” he said.
Van Velzen was only one shot clear of Schietekat going into the final round and it was still a tight contest between the two over the opening holes despite his eagle on the second. But five birdies, an eagle and only one bogey thereafter saw him pull away from the field.
“I hit the ball so well today and didn’t miss many fairways. Before the final round my caddie and I set a target of 25 under par. That’s what we thought would be the winning total. Then we got to 26 under par and set our sights on 28 under, but then just finished the round off.”
Van Velzen’s win is perfect timing as he now heads into a busy few weeks on the Sunshine Tour featuring tournaments co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour, and which has given him even bigger goals to aim for.
“I’m trying to win the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy. That’s huge for me. To win that on the Sunshine Tour would be incredible because this tour is just so competitive. That’s my next goal.”
SCORES
263 – Ryan Van Velzen 66 69 64 64
267 – Neil Schietekat 70 64 66 67
270 – LB Boshoff 72 65 70 63, Jason Roets 70 69 68 63, Jovan Rebula 66 69 70 65, Dylan Mostert 71 65 69 65, Yurav Premlall 70 66 66 68
271 – Jbe’ Kruger 68 70 66 67
272 – Jacques Blaauw 67 71 69 65, Ruan Conradie 69 68 69 66, Danie Van Niekerk 68 70 67 67, Jean Hugo 67 70 67 68, Oliver Bekker 65 70 66 71
274 – Michael Hollick 72 69 67 66, Peter Karmis 69 67 68 70, Martin Rohwer 68 72 64 70, DK Kim 69 70 65 70, Dylan Naidoo 70 67 66 71
275 – Jacques Kruyswijk 70 70 69 66, Vaughn van Deventer 71 69 68 67, Fredrik From 71 70 66 68, Louis Albertse 68 71 68 68, Jacques P de Villiers 67 69 69 70
276 – Robson Chinhoi 69 68 69 70, Herman Loubser 68 69 69 70, Willie Olivier 65 70 70 71, Estiaan Conradie 70 68 66 72
277 – Keith Horne 70 70 68 69, Robin Williams 69 71 70 67, Sean Bradley 67 68 72 70, Ethan Smith 71 71 68 67, Luca Filippi 68 69 68 72
278 – JC Ritchie 70 72 66 70, Quintin Wilsnach 66 73 70 69
279 – Callum Mowat 68 70 71 70, Dan Erickson 72 65 72 70, Daniel van Tonder 71 71 67 70, Keegan Mclachlan 70 69 69 71, Matthew Spacey 66 72 73 68, Sean Cronje 71 65 70 73
280 – Ricky Hendler 69 72 67 72, Haydn Porteous 71 69 70 70, Gerhard Pepler 71 69 73 67
281 – Wynand Dingle 68 71 70 72, Kyle Barker 69 69 74 69, Hennie O’Kennedy 71 71 71 68, Richard Joubert 75 66 74 66
282 – Luke Jerling 73 69 67 73, Jack Hawksby 72 68 73 69, Jonathan Broomhead 71 70 72 69
283 – Ulrich van den Berg 72 67 70 74, Madalitso Muthiya 71 69 71 72, Leon Visser 70 70 72 71, Nicholaus Frade 72 70 71 70, Pieter Moolman 70 72 73 68, Ruan Korb 71 71 74 67
285 – Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 71 70 73, Jason Smith 69 72 75 69
286 – Toto Thimba Jnr 68 72 73 73, Bryce Easton 68 72 74 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 71 74 71
289 – Luke Trocado 69 72 73 75
290 – Thabiso Ngcobo 77 65 71 77
291 – Tyron Davidowitz 73 69 70 79, Reinhardt Blaauw 69 73 73 76
293 – Wade Jacobs 71 71 74 77
294 – Sentanio Minnie 69 71 76 78
Missed the cut:-
143 – Travis Ladner 72 71, MJ Viljoen 71 72, Hayden Griffiths 71 72, Kyle McClatchie 73 70, Doug McGuigan 70 73, Martin Vorster 70 73, Tristen Strydom 72 71, Lyle Rowe 73 70, Makhetha Mazibuko 66 77, Jastice Mashego 72 71
144 – Joe Long 70 74, James Kamte 71 73, Pierre Pellegrin 70 74, Rourke van der Spuy 75 69, Siyanda Mwandla 73 71, Samuel Simpson 74 70, Allister de Kock 70 74, Combrinck Smit 71 73, Stuart Krog 74 70, Alex Haindl 73 71
145 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi 70 75, Nyasha Muyambo 71 74, Luke Brown 74 71, Anthony Michael 71 74, Heinrich Bruiners 73 72, Hunter Epson 76 69, Keelan van Wyk 74 71, Anton Karlsson 72 73, James Hart du Preez 72 73, Christiaan Basson 73 72, Kyle De Beer 74 71, James Mack 75 70, Drikus Joubert 71 74, Adriel Poonan 72 73
146 – Adam Breen 75 71, CJ du Plessis 77 69, Jared Harvey 77 69, Jonathan Waschefort 69 77, Steven Le Roux 74 72, Thabang Simon 73 73, Karabo Mokoena 76 70, Albert Venter 69 77, Benjamin Follett-Smith 78 68
147 – Keelan Africa 71 76, Franklin Manchest 75 72, Conner Mackenzie 70 77, Malcolm Mitchell 72 75, Keagan Thomas 74 73, Clancy Waugh 71 76, Richie O’Donovan 76 71, Jake Redman 71 76, Erhard Lambrechts 71 76, Slenda Sithebe 73 74
148 – Omar Sandys 76 72, Nikhil Rama 73 75, Ruan de Smidt 80 68, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 74 74, Aneurin Gounden 74 74, Dayne Moore 70 78, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 71 77
149 – Gerard du Plooy 72 77, Ryan Tipping 72 77, Tristin Galant 76 73, Gerhard Trytsman 74 75, Gregory Mckay 75 74, Irvin Mazibuko 76 73
150 – Brandon-Jude Rennie 75 75, Shalan Govender 79 71
151 – Michael Kok 74 77, James Pennington 75 76
152 – Christiaan Burke 75 77
153 – Merrick Bremner 76 77, Bradford Vaughan 76 77, Alphius Kelapile 71 82
154 – Lindani Ndwandwe 77 77
RTD – Keenan Davidse 77 RTD
