Lupini grinds out Woodhill Challenge win

Overnight leader Roberto Lupini prevailed in windy conditions to claim his second IGT Challenge Tour title with a three shot victory in the Woodhill Challenge on Wednesday.

The former Sunshine Tour campaigner fired two stunning eagles over the closing holes Woodhill Country Club for a second round 63 to soar to a one stroke lead over Dylan O’Leary. A 75 in the final round proved good enough to secure victory on 11 under 205.

“You shoot 63 to lead and 75 to win; that is one for the books,” said the delighted 34-year-old from Country Club Johannesburg.

“We had some wind over the first two rounds, but it was nothing like the three-club wind that greeted us this morning. Actually, it was still just breezy over the first couple of holes, but from the sixth, the wind really started to gather speed.

“It made it really tough to hit the right spots on the greens and you couldn’t fire at the flags as you could over the first two days. I had a topsy turvy front nine with birdies at three and five and bogeys at four, six and eight to turn one over. No-one was making a charge, though, so I knew if I stayed patient and tried to keep it in play I’d have a chance to win.”

Lupini birdied 10 but suffered a costly blow at 13 when he double bogeyed the par four from the middle of the fairway.

“I hit a great three-wood up the middle on 10 and a sand-wedge from 106 metres for a six-foot birdie putt,” he said. “Made two solid pars at 11 and 12 and hit another good three-wood down the 13th fairway. I had 120 metres to the pin and opted for a low punch nine-iron, but I hooked it in the bunker. I got the trap shot on the green, but three-putted from nowhere. Luckily the guys in the chasing pack were also having their share of bogeys, and I was still three shots clear heading home.”

Another bogey at 16 prompted Lupini to take a cautious approach over the last two holes.

“I misjudged the wind at the short hole,” he said. “It was much stronger than I imagined and I hit a soft gap-wedge that flew the green. I had a 10 metre chip left to the green, but I wasn’t able to up-and-down to save par.

“Going down the last two holes, I didn’t want to try anything fancy and I just played it safe. Five at the long hole and a long iron off the box at 18. I’m really pleased with this win. It’s almost more special than the first one at Pecanwood in May. This one really confirms for me that the form is back.”

Lupini will be taking a break to spend the week at Leopard Creek before he tees it up in the Ruimsig Challenge.

“I’ll go and support the South African team in the Fellowship Cup against India and I’m just going to enjoy a couple of social rounds at Leopard Creek,” he said. “There is always something that needs a bit of tinkering, though, so it won’t all be fun and games.”

Meanwhile amateur Armand van Dyk, seven off the pace at the start of the round, closed with a 71 to eclipse the chasing pack for second at eight under.

Final Result

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified; amateurs indicated as AMA

205 - Roberto Lupini 67 63 75

208 - Armand van Dyk AMA 71 66 71

209 - Cameron Moralee AMA 72 70 67, Ruan Conradie 74 68 67, Pieter Moolman 72 67 70, Dylan O'Leary 68 63 78

210 - Estiaan Conradie 69 71 70

211 - Paul Boshoff 71 69 71, Ruan Korb 66 66 79

212 - Maritz Wessels 73 68 71, Tertius van den Berg 70 70 72, Kyle Barker 68 70 74

213 - Juan Langeveld 73 68 72

214 - Peetie van der Merwe AMA 71 71 72, Divan Marais 76 66 72

215 - Nobuhle Dlamini (SWA) 75 69 71

216 - Xander Basson AMA 73 71 72, Luke Trocado 69 75 72, Dawid Opperman AMA 72 70 74, Luke Brown AMA 69 72 75, Keanu Pestana AMA 69 71 76

217 - Marco de Beer AMA 72 72 73, David Mofokeng (LSO) 69 75 73

218 - Hayden Griffiths AMA 70 75 73, Dylan Kok AMA 75 71 72

219 - Eric Park (KOR) 73 73 73, Michael Schutz 71 69 79

220 - Jonathan Waschefort 73 72 75, Etienne Janse van Rensburg AMA 72 68 80

221 - Jade Buitendag 69 79 73, Stephane van Neer AMA (COD) 73 75 73

222 - Quintin Crause 74 74 74

223 - Jason Roets 73 71 79, Wayne Stroebel 71 77 75

224 - Andrew Carlsson AMA 77 72 75

225 - Mae Cornforth 72 77 76, Duan Nagel AMA 79 71 75

226 - Haydn Driver AMA 77 72 77

227 - Michael Dreyer 75 72 80, Mark Brits 78 73 76, Matthew Vogel 77 75 75, Matthew Hands AMA 75 78 74

228 - Ruan Groenewald AMA 72 73 83, Leon Vorster AMA 73 75 80, Albert Visser 72 80 76

229 - Mpho Mafishe 75 75 79, Matthew Dennis AMA 76 74 79

230 - Jason Reynolds AMA 76 75 79, Gary Daoust (BEL) 75 76 79, Christiaan Pretorius 82 71 77, Owen Grobler 77 76 77

231 - Hendrikus Stoop AMA 80 73 78

233 - Divan de Villiers AMA 73 79 81, WM Coetzee AMA 75 78 80

234 - Dylan Morton AMA 79 74 81

236 - Marcel Scholtz AMA 75 78 83

WDN - Ivanna Samu 69 76 WDN

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