De Beer edges Lamprecht for North & South title

Southern Cape duo Bradley de Beer and Christo Lamprecht traded the lead a few times during the final round of the North and South Championship, but a well-timed birdie at the penultimate hole helped De Beer to clinch his first national title at on Thursday.

The 16-year-old Fancourt player signed off with an even-par 72 to triumph on one-under-par 215, while Lamprecht from Oubaai returned a 74 to take second on even par.

Lamprecht fired rounds of 69 and 73 to take the 36-hole lead at two under 145 and De Beer lagged just one shot off the pace after carding 73 and 70.

He leapfrogged Lamprecht for the early lead with back-to-back birdies at two and three, but the pair drew level at even par after De Beer dropped a shot at five and made double bogey at six.

De Beer edged clear again with an eagle at the par five seventh, but lost the advantage with a double bogey at nine. Lamprecht kept control at one under through the turn, but handed De Beer the lead when he bogeyed 13 to go even-par again.

De Beer dropped a shot at 15 and the pair remained tied at even-par until the 17th hole decided the outcome of the Nomads Order of Merit event.

“I hit driver down the fairway, but Christo pulled his tee shot into the trees,” De Beer said.

“Christo punched out into the left greenside bunker, but left his trap shot well short and two-putted for bogey. I had 100 meters to the pin and hit a soft sand-wedge to a foot and holed the putt for birdie.

“I hit a good drive at 18 and seven-iron just short of the green, but I didn’t hit the greatest chip. I had about two meters to the pin, but the first putt raced just past the hole. I had a shot in hand, so I just took my time over the par putt to seal the victory.”

De Beer, a student at Glenwood House, was pleased with the victory so early in the season.

“My coach, Adam McKinley, and I worked on a number of things last year to get my game to a higher competitive level and I didn’t compete in a lot of events,” said De Beer.

“It’s really great to come out here and to test myself against some of the top juniors in the country. The final round was really tight and it could have gone either way. I wasn’t driving the ball all that well and a couple of wayward drives on the front nine cost me a lot of shots, but I’m really proud that I managed to scramble well to keep myself in the tussle. It’s a great feeling to walk away the champion.”

Meanwhile Lamprecht birdied 18, but it was too little, too late.

The 15-year-old member of the Louis Oosthuizen 57 Academy closed with a 74 to finish two shots ahead of Gauteng North’s Werner Deysel and Luke Mayo from KwaZulu-Natal.

Reigning Africa Junior Open champion Sentanio Minnie carded a low 68 to grab a share of fifth on three over 219 alongside Franklin Manchest from Southern Cape, who briefly held the lead on his way to a final round 75.

FINAL RESULT (Top 20)
215 Bradley de Beer 73 70 72
216 Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 69 73 74
218 Werner Deyzel 74 75 69; Luke Mayo 73 75 70
219 Sentanio Minnie 76 75 68; Franklin Manchest 71 73 75
220 Sebastian Terblanche 75 75 70
221 Dehan Joubert 76 76 69; Tyran Snyders 74 74 73
222 Tristan Brice 79 75 68; Keanu Pestana 77 73 72; Andre van Dyk 73 76 73
223 Dawid Opperman 74 76 73
224 Kyle De Beer 77 70 77; Ge-Rico Muller 72 79 73
225 Burt Gildenhuys 77 77 71; Wilco Nienaber 73 72 80
226 Otto van Buynder 79 70 77; Jayden Schaper 78 76 72
227 Daniel Cronje 80 73 74; Jacques Brits 79 74 74; Joshua Edwards 76 77 74; Garrick Higgo 75 76 76

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.

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