2006 SAA Open-The Links at Fancourt

After a gruelling four days around The Links at Fancourt arguably the best two golfers from South Africa were divided by a six foot putt.

Having started the final round trailing Rietief Goosen, Ernie Else blazed around the tough layout as he set his sights on a fantastic come from behind win. Were it not for a slightly pulled approach to the 12th hole which resulted in a double bogey six, Else may have had the luxury of “two to win rather then the one to tie”.

As it turned out, a better finish to the 2006 SAA Open could not have been scripted. With only 4 players from a field of 156 breaking par over 4 rounds, the Links turned out to be the beast!

Despite a fantastic effort by the amateurs to get through the qualifying rounds, none of the starting 9 (four through qualifying and five exempt) made the half way cut of 8 over par.