Louis Albertse fired a superb bogey-free six-under-par 65 on Saturday to lead three other South Africans through to the final stage of the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School.
The Final Qualifying Stage will take place from January 18 to 22 at the Lakeview Resort & Golf Club in Hua Hin and will be played over five rounds. The top 140 (and ties) after 36 holes will progress to rounds three and four. The top 70 players (and ties) after 72 holes will play in the pivotal final round, which will be held on January 22. At the conclusion of 90 holes, the top 35 will be ranked accordingly for the 2023 season.
Playing in the Section E event at Springfield Royal Country Club, Albertse carded the joint low-round of the day to race up the leaderboard into third place on eight-under for the 72 holes. That was four behind the winner, Thomas Power Horan of Australia, and two behind the runner-up, Teayang Young of Korea.
And while Albertse takes the good form with him into the Final Stage, so will Kyle Barker and Luca Filippi, who closed with scores of three-under and level-par respectively. Barker’s closing 68 took him to seven-under and a share of fourth, and Filippi finished on the number to qualify on one-under, in a share of 19th.
In the Section D event played at the same time at Thana City Country Club, MJ Viljoen just held on to qualify for the final stage with a closing three-over-par 73 which included one birdie, two bogeys and a double-bogey.
Keegan Mclachlan just missed out with his closing two-over leaving him in 30th place, and Pieter Moolman had a disappointing closing four-over 74 to finish in 45th.
Back at the Section D event, Albert Venter was also disappointed with a closing four-over 75, which left him in 28th on level-par – just one shot out of progressing. Wynand Dingle had a level-par 71 to finish 32nd, and was also so near yet so far. Lyle Rowe had a frustrating four-over and was in 46th. Rigardt Albertse and Drikus Joubert also didn’t make it through.
