Strydom strikes again at State Mines

Pretoria golfer Tristen Strydom was smiling broadly after he made good on a promise with a one stroke victory in the Race to Q-School Series at State Mines Country Club on Wednesday.

“My dad turns 50 this weekend and I promised him a trophy,” said Strydom after he stepped into the winner’s circle for a fourth time on the IGT Challenge Tour.

“I’m so, so pleased with this win. I’ve been playing in the States for the last four months and after missing out at the second stage of the Web.Com Q-School, I really wanted to make a good start back home. I had problems on the front nine every day and today was no exception. I really had to fight to get the job done. It’s nice to come out on top again.”

Strydom closed with a final round 68 to triumph on 14-under-par 202 in the eighth event of the Qualifying School preparation series. The 20-year-old was not exaggerating about his performance over the opening nine holes. After 54 holes, he was one-over on the front nine and 15 under on the back loop.

“In the first round, I bogeyed the first and doubled the ninth and I dropped shots at three and six in the second round, but on both days I was able to limit the damage,” he said. “I just struggled to get going, but once I turned, I made a bunch of birdies.”

Strydom carded rounds of 68 and 66 to start the final round one shot behind 36-hole leader Thriston Lawrence.

“I thought I had broken the curse when I birdied the second and the third holes, but the bad luck struck at the fourth,” he grinned. “I didn’t hit a great tee shot and we couldn’t find my ball, so I had to reload. They found the ball plugged in a basin of a tree while I hit the perfect drive. I got it on the green but missed the putt for another double bogey.”

A bogey at the short fifth added to his front nine misery.

“I missed the green left at the short hole and didn’t up-and-down for par and the fight was on again to get back to level,” said Strydom. “I have to say, the course set-up was a fantastic. We played off all the back tips and there wasn’t one centre pin. It was a proper challenge.

“I over-shot the green at seven, but chipped it stiff and made the birdie putt and parred eight and nine to turn level. I was a couple back from Thriston and Ruan Korb, but I got within a shot with an eagle at 10. I hit a great drive, pitched a seven-iron eight feet from the hole and boxed the putt.”

Strydom edged clear of the joint leaders with birdies at 12, 14 and 15, although he gave back another shot at the par-three 13th.

“I chipped in for birdies at 12 and 14, and almost holed another chip at 16,” he said. “Once I got the lead, I didn’t take any chances over the last three holes. When I look back at the last round, I can see how much I’ve learned this past year. I have to credit Anchor Up Sport. I signed with them early this year and they have really taught me a lot about managing myself on and off the course and what it takes to make it in the pro ranks. And of course, I really owe my swing coach, Alan Thompson.

“My dad is without a doubt my biggest supporter, but I think if he was following the live scoring over the first nine holes, he definitely would have switched off the computer. I can’t wait to walk into the house and to give him this trophy.”

Lawrence closed with a 70 and former Big Easy Tour winner Rhys West shot 66 to share second at 13 under. First round leader Louis Albertse and Korb tied for fourth on 12 under after posting respective rounds of 67 and 68.

Final Result

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:

202 - Tristen Strydom 68 66 68

203 - Rhys West 70 67 66, Thriston Lawrence 70 63 70

204 - Ruan Korb 69 68 67, Louis Albertse AMA 66 70 68

205 - Bennie van der Merwe 71 68 66, John McClean (NIR) 66 68 71

206 - Jason Roets 72 68 66, Duane Keun 71 67 68

208 - Roberto Lupini 71 66 71

209 - Teboho Sefatsa 71 70 68

210 - Eric Nel AMA 69 74 67, Neil O'Briain (IRE) 71 68 71, Dean O'Riley 67 71 72

211 - Philip Geerts (ITA) 70 72 69, Matthew Vogel 71 69 71, Leon Visser AMA 70 70 71, Chris Cannon (ENG) 71 69 71

212 - Vaughn van Deventer AMA 73 71 68, Luke Brown AMA 70 69 73, JP Rousseau AMA 69 67 76

213 - Nobuhle Dlamini (SWA) 74 70 69, Michael Kok AMA 72 72 69

214 - Andrew van der Knaap 71 74 69, Hayden Griffiths AMA 74 71 69

215 - Thabi Ngcobo 71 71 73, Pieter Moolman 75 71 69, Casey Jarvis AMA 74 74 67, Justin Turner 72 77 66

216 - Keanu Pestana AMA 73 71 72, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 74 71, Jack Duthie 76 69 71, Adam Botha AMA 73 69 74, Allister de Kock 69 72 75, Conway Kunneke 74 72 70, Bradley Diggeden AMA 72 75 69

217 - Bryce McCabe 70 73 74, Armand van Dyk AMA 74 72 71, Basil Wright 69 71 77

218 - Ivanna Samu 73 75 70

219 - Bryce Myburgh 75 69 75, Juan Langeveld 69 76 74, Patrick Thompson 70 71 78, Matthew Hands AMA 73 74 72, Chase Paton AMA 74 75 70

220 - Sipho Bujela 73 70 77, Wayne Stroebel 74 72 74, David Rebelo AMA 72 74 74, David Mofokeng (LSO) 79 69 72

221 - Marco de Beer 74 71 76, Gerard du Plooy 73 75 73, Andi Dill 75 74 72

222 - Tertius van den Berg 72 72 78, Matthew Rossouw AMA 71 72 79, WM Coetzee AMA 72 74 76, Dylan Docherty 73 74 75, Dayne Moore (ZAM) 73 74 75, Mohit Mediratta (KEN) 71 78 73

223 - Ruhan van Dijk AMA 75 71 77, Michael Schutz 71 78 74

224 - Kyle Lucas 70 74 80, Brandon Lydon AMA 76 72 76

225 - Mpho Mafishe 71 72 82

226 - Tudor Bismark (ZIM) 74 72 80, Malachi Schulz AMA 75 74 77

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