By Matthews Mfubu
Ricky Hendler carded a near-perfect nine-under-63 to claim a two-stroke win in the Bushveld Tour’s one-day event that was held at Dainfern Country Club on Thursday while making it two wins on this circuit.
Hendler opened with a par and that was followed by a birdie on two before dropping a shot on a seemingly easy-enough third hole.
“It was a funny start because I missed a three-footer on hole three for par,” said Hendler, referring to the bogey he made on three after opening with a par and a birdie on the first two holes. “I missed another short putt for birdie on nine but I played solidly the rest of the front nine.”
It was on the back nine where Hendler got going after missing that birdie-putt on the ninth. He birdied 10 and 11, eagled 12 and birdied the 13th. A par on 14 was followed by another birdie and two pars later, Hendler closed off with another birdie for a round of 63.
“On hole 10, I had 72 meters and nearly holed a wedge shot,” Hendler said of that impressive run he had coming home, “and on 11, I hit an 8-iron pretty close and holed a nice putt. On 12, I hit a nice driver in there and holed the 12-feet eagle and again on13 with a wedge in my hand, it was just flawless golf on that stretch of the golf course. I’m just glad I was able to stay in the moment and prove to myself that I can really go low; beating my persona best round ever by two shots.
“So, this win does a lot goof for me and my mindset. I have been playing well as a result of hard work; I have been eating healthy, practising hard and focusing on taking my game to the next level. I’m just looking to keep the momentum going for the rest of the year and see if I can go perform at Sunshine Tour Q-School in April.”
Veteran Andre Bossert came in second after a bogey-free round of seven-under 65 while Jason Froneman, Marco Anderson and Michael Kok tied third on five-under. Recent winner on the Bushveld Tour, Bradley Diggeden finished solo sixth after shooting a 68.
