Amateur Altin van der Merwe eased himself to a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage when he carded a six-under 65 at Heron Banks Golf & River Estate.

The inaugural African Amateur Championship winner won’t be turning professional if he gets his card here until he has taken his place in the Open Championship which was one reward for his Leopard Creek. But he’s making sure he can find a home on the Sunshine Tour and it was an assured display in the third round ahead of the cut to 60 and ties which put 39 players out of their misery in a tournament which is a grinding test of more than just golfing skill.

For the 61 remaining, the target is the 13-under which Van der Merwe reached for his lead over halfway leader Nick Cunningham of England. The cut fell at three-over, and a realistic target to make the top 20, which is the cut-off point for those who will earn their cards would appear to be four-under or better.

The two at the top were well clear of three players on nine-under. Those three were Christian Kriek, Gergory McKay and Kyle McClatchie. Two more players were on eight-under, and they were amateurs Simon du Ploy and Gary Kemp.

In a tribute to how highly the Sunshine Tour is rated, there were players from five countries other than South Africa inside the top 20 heading into the final round as visitors seek their place in the sun. There were four from England, and one from each of Uganda, Scotland, the United States and Australia.