Claassen and Jung lead
Enjoying the beautifully benign but hot weather, two 17 year old amateur golfers in Yubin Jung and JG Claassen moved into a two shot lead after the third round of the 72 hole South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship being played at Pearl Valley Golf Estates outside Paarl.
Jung fired a 70, giving him a 54 hole total of 216 level par. “It was really hot today, I walked the entire round under my umbrella,” quipped the Wanderers Golf Club member after his round. He recorded four birdies and two bogeys on his way to a two under par round today.
Sharing the lead is the young North West golfer, who plays out of Orkney Golf Club, JG Claassen. He recorded a 69, three under par, made up of an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys. The eagle came on hole 3 where he managed to hole his greenside bunker shot on the beautifully laid out par 5. “My game plan is to keep the ball in play and get to the greens in regulation,” commented a remarkably cool amateur seemingly oblivious of the fact that he is ideally placed to win the biggest championship of his career to date.
Overnight leader Aaron Russell carded a 75, three over par, to finish alone two shots off the pace. “The wind blew my swing away yesterday,” lamented the likeable Westlake Golf Club member after his round. He finished with a 54 hole total of 218, two over par.
Le Riche Ehlers, carded a 70 to finish on 219, three over par. He was disappointed after his round pointing out that he was four under with two holes to play. A double bogey the treacherous 17th hole put paid to what was a good days work up to then.
The best round of the day was a 67, five under par, by Coenie Bester. The twenty one year old Middelburg Golf Club member recorded six birdies and a solitary bogey. “I putted really well, only missing one makeable putt all day,” an elated Bester commented after his round.
The final round will be played tomorrow, the first players teeing off from 07h00. The last group will commence their round at 10h40.
3rd Round Scores
Pearl Valley Golf Estates (Par 72; 54 holes 216)
(South African unless stated otherwise)
216 – JG Claassen 72 75 69 Yubin Jung 71 75 70
218 – Aaron Russell 70 73 75
219 – Le Riche Ehlers 71 78 70
220 – Michael Palmer 73 74 73
221 – Robbie Oosthuizen 73 74 74
223 – Derik Ferreira 72 73 78
224 – Adrian Ford 77 75 72 Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 76 75 73 Steven Ferreira 75 78 71
225 – Coenie Bester 78 80 67 Johan Bekker 78 74 73 Mark Fensham 76 79 70 Norman Raad 76 72 77
226 – Nicol van Wyk 77 79 70 Daniel Greene 77 76 73
227 – Dean O’ Riley 84 74 69 Bryn Flanagan 75 78 74 Leon Knoll 74 77 76 Christiaan van der Merwe 75 79 73 Ryan Dreyer 78 78 71
228 – Jake Redman 74 79 75
229 – Herman Minnie 85 75 69
230 – Gregg Upton 79 81 70 Karl Ochse 78 76 76 Riekus Nortje 75 79 76 Coenie Stoop 76 80 74
231 – Ryan Strauss 78 81 72 Drikus van der Walt 79 78 74 David Antonelli (FRA) 76 84 71
232 – Ruan de Smidt 79 84 69 Trevor Mahoney 85 76 71 Erik van Rooyen 78 82 72 Jacques van Tonder 79 73 80 Justin Turner 79 79 74
233 – Ruan Bornman 80 84 69 Andre de Decker 83 77 73 Reghard Neethling 85 78 70 Desne van der Bergh 76 81 76
234 – Ej Viljoen 81 82 71 Jayce Aldrich 84 76 74 Chris Erasmus 82 82 70 Steve Swanepoel 80 79 75
235 – Darren van Zyl 85 79 71 Mark Lipman 79 81 75 Taymen Erasmus 86 70 79 Pieter Moolman 83 81 71
236 – Stephen Holder 83 80 73
237 – Trevor Muggeridge 82 80 75 Ryan Clarke 80 84 73 Divan du Piesanie 81 80 76 Nicholas Mitchell 88 76 73 Wehmeyer Ferreira 75 88 74
238 – Andre van Zyl 81 82 75 Jared Harvey 81 81 76 David Gerhardi 83 79 76 Steven Williams 82 80 76 Christo Roos 78 81 79 Ruan Oberholster 83 78 77
239 – Rowan du Preez 83 79 77
240 – Heinrich Erasmus 82 79 79
241 – Dean Burmester 76 88 77 JJ Senekal 78 85 78 Hugo Delport 79 83 79
242 – Ryan Ciapparelli 80 80 82
243 – Ivan Williams 77 85 81
244 – Dawie van Wyk 81 79 84
247 – David Mcminn 79 83 85
For latest scores and stats click here