Photo Caption: David Watts (middle) - Winner of the Irene Disabled Open. Photo Credit: South African Disabled Golf Association
By: Craig Stirton
Irene Country Club, 9 May 2022: A second-successive round of 74 propelled David Watts to an incredible 22-shot victory in the Irene Disabled Open at Irene Country Club on Monday.
Weeks removed from his barnstorming 20-stroke win at the Ebotse Links Disabled Open, Watts’ latest effort leaves no doubt about his immense talent.
Watts offset a bogey at his opening hole of the day with a birdie-4 at the next before carding seven consecutive pars to turn in 36.
By the time Watts dropped shots at the 14th, 15th and 17th, the result had long since been deemed a foregone conclusion. A closing birdie at the par-5 18th was a fine exclamation mark on another dominant display from the Durban Country Club member.
The battle for the runner-up spot was a decidedly tighter affair with Robin Singh’s rounds of 80 and 90 respectively helping him secure second spot, three shots ahead of Curtley Roberts.
Emmanuel victorious in Physically-Disabled Stableford
Mike Emmanuel announced himself to his fellow SADGA members with a six-point triumph in the Physically-Disabled Stableford division.
Leading after 18 holes, Emmanuel backed up his opening-round of 41 points with a further 33 points. In doing so, Emmanuel beat Sebastian Crawford. Crawford played a superb final round, carding 39 points which was 10 points better than his first-round score.
Blind golfer Charlene Pienaar meanwhile was in 3rd-place with a two-round tally of 66 points.
Dos Santos Completes Six-shot Deaf Medal Triumph
Albano Dos Santos won the Deaf Medal division by six despite a final round of 100 which was 11-shots worse than his round-one score.
By contrast, Mark Maconochie improved on his opening round by a whopping 15 shots, shooting a final-round 90 to secure runner-up honours.
Van der Berg Does It Again
Shanon Van der Berg – winner of the Open Series’ Deaf Stableford component and Ebotse Links Disabled Open respectively – emerged a nine-point victor over Mpho Thathla.
Van der Berg carded an impressive 42 points in the final round while Thathla posted 33 points.
