Ruan Groenewald raced home in 29 strokes on Thursday to pull off a two-stroke victory in the Bushveld Tour’s Race to Q-School #13 at Heron Banks Golf Club.
Groenewald closed his 54-hole campaign with his eighth birdie of the final round at the venue where the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage takes place later this month. He also made one bogey early on in the final round to card his second successive seven-under-par 64 to go with his opening three-under-par 68.
That took him to 17-under for the tournament, and he held off the challenge posed by Sunshine Tour regular Harry Konig, who finished on 15-under. Konig had opened with a superb eight-under 63 to claim the first-round lead, and he followed that with a 69 and a 66.
In third place was amateur Jordan Burnand on 14-under, after rounds of 67, 66 and 66.
The Race to Q-School Order of Merit leader, Werner Deyzel, cemented his place at the top of that list with fifth place on 10-under, one stroke behind fourth-placed Alex Brandkamp.
Groenewald’s performance lifted him to fourth place on the Order of Merit. Players from first to 10th on that list get exemption into Final Stage at Heron Banks from April 23, as well as having their entry fees paid.
However, a player must play a minimum of seven tournaments in the series to qualify for the incentives, and Groenewald has played just six.
