Final Round… The Winner Emerges
Following Wednesday night’s visit to the Botlierskop Private Game Reserve where the finalists encountered lions, rhinos and giraffes as well as a delicious barbecue under the stars, it was time for a good night’s sleep in preparation for Day Two of the World Final of the Volvo World Golf Challenge.
Unluckiest player in the field was Sweden’s Nathalie Lindahl who sadly had to pull out of the competition. Despite physio treatment on her injured shoulder, her warm-up attempt on the practice range showed that the pain was still too great. Happily, everyone else was able to compete and once again the players teed off in perfect golfing conditions. A slight mist shrouded the nearby mountains and early moisture in the air offered some soothing and cooling protection. However, as had happened the day before, Summer returned with a vengeance as the sun burnt its way through the cloud. With players starting on both sides of the course, the leading players from Day One were off last. By the time they had finished, it was again wonderfully hot which meant that some very tired golfers were relieved to get into the sanctuary of the beautiful clubhouse. An exhausted but nonetheless very happy Bill Ferguson from the UK summed up his feelings for the day and the whole event in one word, “stunning”.
Following 36 holes of hotly contested Stableford play and with the second round played in perfect golfing conditions, the new World Champion of the Volvo World Golf Challenge can be confirmed as 24-handicapper Johannes Zelger from Italy. Despite an approach to the daunting 18th green that ended up in the water, he added a superb 41 points to his opening 38 to make a grand total of 79. This resulted in a slender two point victory over Austria’s Henning Frech (39/38). In third place was Mikael Hedberg from Sweden (39/32). Overnight leader Jerry Brown from Finland struggled a little in the heat but still came fourth (40/29), whilst Ivar Sten, also from Sweden, was fifth (31/37). Warmest congratulations go to all these players as well as the thirteen others who have qualified to play in Friday’s Play With the Pros event over the Links Course here at Fancourt.
After his round, Johannes said that “It was good, especially the first nine holes where I got 24 points.” The heat had certainly made things difficult for some, but Johannes felt that being relatively young helped him to cope better. He also said that two birdies were the key to his win. These, supported by no fewer than eight pars, sealed the victory.
To succeed at the local level and at national level before heading to the World Final takes a player who is in form, determined, capable and level-headed. To then take on the winners from elsewhere in the world over a two-day competition and emerge victorious takes a true World Champion. Johannes Zelger now deservedly goes down in the records as the proud winner of the 2011 Volvo World Golf Challenge.
