Van der Merwe closes in on dream victory

Altin van der Merwe. Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour

Altin van der Merwe will take a four-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the SDC Open at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa and is chasing a dream that a few years ago he thought he might have to give up on.

Having led from day one of this Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour co-sanctioned tournament, and admitting that he was nervous heading into Saturday’s third round, Van Der Merwe instead looked in complete control of every part of his game as he posted a 65 to lead on 18-under par.

His nearest challenger is Sebastien Gros on 14-under after the Frenchman birdied the last two holes for a 68. American Nick Carlson is currently third on 13-under following a 67.

The work Van Der Merwe has done over the festive season to keep himself sharp is clearly paying off. But in the bigger picture, the work he’s done mentally since almost giving up on his dream a few years ago has been just as impressive.

Van Der Merwe was 19 years old when he made his first attempt at the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School and missed out by a single stroke.

He admitted that, “I was pretty broken after Q School. We had a 10-hour drive the next day back to George and I decided we were going to drive through the night because I wasn’t going to stay there any longer. I didn’t say one word to my caddie or best friend at the time for 10 hours. The golf wasn’t the same for about two years after that. You get so emotional with this game.”

But he began a transformation of his game and became one of GolfRSA’s top amateurs. Last year he won the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School and he hasn’t looked back.

There’s no doubt that Sunday will represent a major opportunity for both Van Der Merwe and his wife and caddie, Minette, to finally realise their shared dream.

“It will mean everything. I don’t even know how to explain it. We’ve been chasing this for a long time. Not just a win but professional golf as a whole. I was close to giving up on the dream because it didn’t look like it would come. But my last two years as an amateur really helped and I’m trying to carry that feeling through in my professional career. Let’s see if that works on Sunday,” he said.

Scores

198 - Altin van der Merwe 66 67 65

202 - Sebastien Gros 69 65 68

203 - Nick Carlson 68 68 67

205 - Malcolm Mitchell 69 68 68, Daniel van Tonder 72 65 68, George Bloor 71 65 69, Lucas Vacarisas 69 67 69, Nikhil Rama 67 67 71

206 - Liam Nolan 69 67 70, Jaco Van Zyl 68 68 70, Benjamin Follett-Smith 68 68 70, Jason Roets 71 63 72

207 - Samuel Jones 70 69 68, Jovan Rebula 69 68 70, Albert Boneta 70 67 70, Wilco Nienaber 69 68 70

208 - Rhys West 71 70 67, Maximilian Steinlechner 71 70 67, Jean Hugo 71 69 68, JC Ritchie 70 69 69, Gerhard Pepler 69 69 70, Baard Skogen 68 69 71

209 - Martin Vorster 75 67 67, Jordan Duminy 70 72 67, Matthis Besard 72 70 67, Aymeric Laussot 72 69 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 71 68, Jens Fahbring 71 69 69, Rupert Kaminski 67 72 70

210 - Marc Hammer 72 70 68, Adri Arnaus 69 73 68, Robin Petersson 68 73 69, Michael Hollick 72 69 69, Keagan Thomas 73 68 69, Jacques Blaauw 71 69 70, Jack Floydd 70 69 71, Quim Vidal 70 67 73

211 - Rhys Enoch 72 70 69, Robson Chinhoi 70 72 69, Lars van Meijel 74 67 70, Ricky Hendler 72 68 71, Herman Loubser 69 71 71, Graham van der Merwe 72 68 71, Clement Sordet 71 69 71, Thabiso Ngcobo 71 67 73

212 - Callum Mowat 71 71 70, Borja Virto 70 72 70, Vince van Veen 69 72 71, Daniel Young 69 72 71, Jacques P de Villiers 69 71 72, Lee Slattery 70 70 72

213 - Neil Schietekat 68 74 71, Yurav Premlall 73 69 71, Justin Walters 71 70 72, Per Langfors 74 67 72, David Law 69 71 73, Heinrich Bruiners 70 70 73, Keenan Davidse 68 70 75

214 - Kyle Barker 74 68 72, Sebastian Garcia 71 71 72, Joshua Berry 71 70 73, Filippo Celli 71 70 73, Kyle De Beer 71 70 73

215 - Calum Fyfe 67 74 74, Tyran Snyders 69 72 74, Benjamin Van Wyk 71 70 74, Gabriel Morgan 73 66 76, Felix Mory 70 69 76

216 - Stuart Krog 68 74 74, Tomas Gouveia 73 69 74, Danie Van Niekerk 69 70 77

219 - Gregor Graham 74 68 77, Maxence Giboudot 68 73 78