Musiwalo Nethunzwi took full advantage of his knowledge of his home club, the historic Soweto Country Club, when he defeated Luke Mayo in a play-off to win the sixth tournament of the Betway Big Easy Tour, much to the delight of the attending crowd, on Thursday.
It was his second Sunshine Tour-sanctioned tournament win here after he beat James Kamte in the 2019 Vusi Ngubeni tournament, also in a play-off. He needed two extra holes, however, against Mayo unlike when he only needed one against the veteran Kamte.
Nethunzwi was six-under and a shot behind overnight leader, Tyrone Davidowitz, when he came into the final round and within arms-length of making history as the first Sunshine Tour professional to win twice on the Soweto Country Club layout. His final round 70 took his total to eight-under par to tie the first spot with Mayo who was already in the clubhouse after a second successive round of 68.
“It was a good day out there,” said a happy Nethunzwi. “I know I have been playing well but it was not showing in the numbers. It’s good to finally win again and it is certainly a confidence-booster going forward.”
While Tuesday’s leader, Drikus Joubert (seven-under), Ryan Van Der Klis (seven-under) and Andre De Decker (six-under) looked threatening in the later stages of the final round, they all fell short of making the playoff.
It was Mayo versus Nethunzwi to decide the victor.
Both players made brilliant par-saves on 18 to necessitate a second extra hole. Mayo made bogey and Nethunzwi solidify his status as king of Soweto golf with a par, throwing the local patrons into a frenzy of excitement.
“I knew I had a chance when I came into this final round,” said an elated Nethunzwi. “Even when I made that up-and-down on 18th to get into the play-off, I told my caddie that if we make par and go into the play-off, we will win this thing. It’s a great day for Soweto. I hope this can show others, even in other townships, that if I can win at this level, they can also win. All that is needed is to work hard and never lose the belief that you can do it. It means a lot to me to win again, especially at home.”
A hero in Soweto, Nethunzwi is a member of the Sunshine Tour’s transformation initiative, the Papwa Sewgolum Class, which provides players of colour with more support to ensure they compete at the highest level.
Sewgolum, who hails from Durban, became the first golfer of colour to win a title in South Africa after he won the Natal Open in 1963. In 1965, Sewgolum defeated the great Gary Player to win his second Natal Open title but his victory was overshadowed by the unfortunate incident in which he was forced to accept his trophy outside of Durban Country Club, since people of colour were not allowed in the clubhouse.
Scores
208 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi
208 - Luke Mayo
209 - Drikus Joubert, Ryan van der Klis
210 - Andre De Decker
211 - Paul Boshoff, Xander Basson, Ulrich van den Berg
212 - Kayle Wykes, Tyron Davidowitz
213 - Stals Swart
214 - Irvin Mazibuko, Travis Ladner
215 - Christopher Long, Toto Thimba Jnr, David Amm
216 - Jason Froneman, Ruan de Smidt, Thanda Mavundla
217 - Richard Joubert, Louis Liebenberg, Brandon-Jude Rennie, Slade Pickering
218 - Makhetha Mazibuko, Joe Knox, Keelan Africa
219 - Allister de Kock, Marcus Taylor
220 - Jonathan Waschefort, Keelan van Wyk
221 - Thabang Simon, Steven Le Roux
222 - Jaden Deltel
223 - Francois van Staden
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