It took two extra holes on Wednesday, but JC Ritchie managed to get the job done when he defeated amateur Yurav Premlall in a play-off at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate to win the Bushveld Tour’s first three-day event.
After the opening round on the Signature Course and the second round on the par-three Whistling Thorn course, Ritchie and Premlall shared the lead at two-over-par. And after 18 holes of regulation play in the final round on the Signature Course, they were still locked together at the top of the leaderboard.
They each carded one-over 73 in windy conditions in the third round, with Ritchie surrendering the lead with a bogey on the 17th. Ritchie, a 10-time winner (including two Team Championship titles with Jaco Prinsloo) and the reigning Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open champion, had to dig deep to hold off Premlall, who won the Freddie Tait Cup as the leading amateur in the South African Open Championship.
In the end, Ritchie got the job done.
Behind the leading pair, first-round leader Arno Pretorius and Rickie Hendler shared third, one stroke out of the play-off on four-over-par. Delano Kotze was in fifth on five-over.
The next Bushveld Tour event is a two-day tournament at Glendower Golf Club on September 20 and 21.
