Tournament: CIRCA Cape Town Open
Venue: Royal Cape Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa
Hashtag: #CIRCACapeTownOpen
Will Enefer birdied the first play-off hole to seal a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title on a dramatic final day of the CIRCA Cape Town Open at Royal Cape Golf Club.
The Englishman signed for a three under par round of 69 in windy conditions, ending the week on 16 under par to force a play-off with South African Hennie Otto, before he birdied the first extra hole to make sure of a breakthrough win.
Enefer climbs to second place in the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings with victory, and was delighted to come out on top as he bids to return to the DP World Tour.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” he said. “It’s great to get it over the line. It feels like it’s been a long four days, battling the conditions, but I stayed patient out there and luckily came away with the win.
“I took a lot from being on the DP World Tour. I learned a lot from that year. I came back and tried to be a bit more aggressive on the HotelPlanner Tour.
“You definitely need to win here to push on, and with 15 cards this year, it’s going to be tough, but it’s nice to win one early.”
Enefer started the day five shots off the lead, and after bogeying two of his opening four holes, looked to be out of contention.
The 28-year-old then fired back as the front-runners stumbled, firing five birdies in a six-hole stretch from the seventh to force his way back into contention.
Despite a dropped shot on the 14th, a birdie on 16 made sure of Enefer’s spot in the play-off alongside Otto, and after a brilliant approach into the first play-off hole, he made an eight-foot birdie putt to make sure of a first win.
“I got off to a bit of a rough start today,” he added. “The wind was in a different direction and it was stronger, but I found some momentum around the turn and made some putts.
“I knew it was going to be tough coming in. We played 13, 14 and 15 back into the breeze. Unfortunately, I dropped one on 14, but I felt like that wasn’t too bad, and if the wind picked back up down the stretch, I might have a chance.
“Luckily I got into a play-off and managed to birdie the last to win. It’s always nice to have a putt at it, and I thought if I put a good stroke on it, it might get it done.”
Spaniard Santiago Tarrio birdied the 72nd hole to end the week in third place on 13 under par, with five players one shot further back in fourth, including South African duo Trevor Fisher Jnr and Luke Brown, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, Spaniard Pablo Ereno and Scotland’s Ryan Lumsden.
SDC Open champion MJ Viljoen remains in first place on the Road to Mallorca, with Enefer climbing to second. South African Deon Germishuys is the Number Three, Frenchman Maxence Giboudot is fourth and Tarrio climbs to fifth thanks to his third-place finish in Cape Town.
The Road to Mallorca remains in South Africa for the third of four co-sanctioned events between the HotelPlanner Tour and the Sunshine Tour, with the NTT DATA Pro-Am taking place at Fancourt Golf Estate from February 12-15.
Scores after round four:
274 H OTTO (RSA) 66 70 70 68, W ENEFER (ENG) 65 70 70 69,
275 S TARRIO (ESP) 69 67 65 74,
276 L BROWN (RSA) 70 72 68 66, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 67 71 71 67, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 68 67 70 71, P ERENO (ESP) 66 68 70 72, T FISHER JNR (RSA) 66 67 67 76,
277 G HURLEY (IRL) 65 73 70 69,
278 O VAN BUYNDER (RSA) 72 70 70 66, D HORSEY (ENG) 67 72 69 70, C CLAYCOMB (USA) 66 69 72 71,
279 M VORSTER (RSA) 68 72 72 67, M WARREN (SCO) 65 70 74 70, S SIMPSON (RSA) 68 68 73 70, D ERICKSON (USA) 66 71 72 70, M GIBOUDOT (FRA) 69 70 69 71,
280 M KIEFFER (GER) 67 71 74 68, J SALE (FRA) 67 75 69 69, J ROETS (RSA) 68 67 74 71, P MOOLMAN (RSA) 70 72 65 73,
281 S JONES (NZL) 71 71 72 67, H BROWN (DEN) 69 73 71 68, W NIENABER (RSA) 66 70 73 72, M VILJOEN (RSA) 71 69 69 72, L ALBERTSE (RSA) 65 73 69 74,
282 G VAN DER MERWE (RSA) 72 70 72 68, C PURCELL (IRL) 68 71 74 69, C BURKE (RSA) 68 72 73 69, T LEWIS (ENG) 65 74 73 70, A BAUTISTA (AUS) 68 74 69 71, G HAEFNER (USA) 70 67 73 72, B HEBERT (FRA) 69 70 71 72, L NOLAN (IRL) 71 69 70 72, J DE BRUYN (GER) 70 72 68 72, K BARKER (RSA) 71 71 68 72, L SCALISE (ITA) 71 71 66 74, J QUESNE (FRA) 71 67 69 75,
283 P L?NGFORS (SWE) 69 72 76 66, R VAN VELZEN (RSA) 68 72 75 68, B ?KESSON (SWE) 67 73 75 68, B VIRTO (ESP) 71 70 72 70, D GERMISHUYS (RSA) 71 70 69 73, C BARROW (ENG) 69 70 70 74, B SKOGEN (NOR) 65 76 68 74, H MAGNUS (ISL) 68 68 72 75, K VINCENT (ZIM) 70 70 68 75, N RAMA (RSA) 67 74 67 75,
284 L ROWE (RSA) 66 74 73 71, V PASTOR (ESP) 72 70 71 71, J SENEKAL (RSA) 67 74 70 73, R KORB (RSA) 69 69 72 74, A WILSON (ENG) 70 69 69 76, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 69 73 66 76,
285 K MCCLATCHIE (RSA) 71 70 73 71, G PEPLER (RSA) 67 75 72 71, K DAVIDSE (RSA) 69 70 73 73, L NEMECZ (AUT) 70 72 70 73, C RAHM (SWE) 71 68 71 75,
286 M MITCHELL (RSA) 66 73 76 71, R CHINHOI (ZIM) 66 75 73 72,
287 L VACARISAS (ESP) 72 70 71 74,
288 B RUSCH (SUI) 70 71 73 74,
289 J MEYER DE BECO (BEL) 70 72 74 73, R FOLEY (SUI) 70 71 72 76, B EASTON (RSA) 70 72 70 77,
292 J AHLERS (RSA) 69 70 74 79,
**
143 P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 69 74, A BONETA (ESP) 71 72, S WEARS-TAYLOR (RSA) 68 75, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 71 72, R KLEU (SUI) 74 69, C FARR (ENG) 69 74, E CONRADIE (RSA) 72 71, M KENNEDY (IRL) 69 74, R WILLIAMS (RSA) 71 72, K DE BEER (RSA) 71 72, V SIDAL SVENDSEN (DEN) 71 72, N CARLSON (USA) 69 74, F MRUZEK (CZE) 68 75, K MOKOENA (RSA) 70 73,
144 A VAN DER MERWE (RSA) 72 72, C SORDET (FRA) 74 70, J MACK (RSA) 70 74, C TARREN (ENG) 74 70, A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 74 70, J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 71 73, S BROWN (ENG) 71 73, C ADAMS (USA) 70 74,
145 L JERLING (RSA) 73 72, V VAN VEEN (NED) 70 75, J SUGRUE (IRL) 74 71, A GOFF (USA) 71 74, J HUGO (RSA) 72 73, A ALBERS (GER) 73 72, J PRINSLOO (RSA) 72 73, W DINGLE (RSA) 71 74, D HUIZING (NED) 71 74, J REBULA (RSA) 72 73, A PLANT (ENG) 73 72, K VAN WYK (RSA) 71 74, S HUTSBY (ENG) 65 80, J HAWKSBY (ENG) 69 76, A JOHN (GER) 73 72,
146 J GOUGH (ENG) 75 71, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 69 77, J DE VILLIERS (RSA) 74 72, J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 69 77, A EJLERSEN (DEN) 71 75, G COETZEE (RSA) 67 79, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 69 77,
147 J BARCOS GARBAYO (ESP) 73 74, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 73 74, R PETERSSON (SWE) 73 74, B VAN WYK (RSA) 74 73, M DAFFUE (RSA) 73 74, C DU PLESSIS (RSA) 73 74, M ROHWER (RSA) 71 76, J ANDERSEN (DEN) 72 75, F MANCHEST (RSA) 73 74, P JACKSON (USA) 73 74, H BRUINERS (RSA) 73 74, H LOUBSER (RSA) 75 72, J HILLEARD (ENG) 72 75,
148 Y PREMLALL (RSA) 74 74, X BASSON (RSA) 72 76, P KARMIS (GRE) 74 74, M BESARD (BEL) 75 73, J MCDONALD (SCO) 72 76, D MOSTERT (RSA) 73 75, R GROENEWALD (RSA) 75 73,
149 T THIMBA JNR (RSA) 74 75, N SCHIETEKAT (RSA) 73 76, R KAMINSKI (RSA) 68 81, N BACHEM (GER) 70 79, S FERREIRA (POR) 72 77, J HESS (RSA) 73 76, T SNYDERS (RSA) 73 76, R WEST (RSA) 71 78, J BLAAUW (RSA) 71 78,
150 W PURCHASE (RSA) 73 77, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 72 78,
151 R HENDLER (RSA) 78 73, Y PAUL (GER) 72 79, J STRYDOM (RSA) 75 76, H LONG (GER) 75 76, C FYFE (SCO) 73 78,
153 S KROG (ZIM) 77 76, T GALANT (RSA) 74 79, M STEYN-SCHOLTZ (RSA) 76 77, K AFRICA (RSA) 73 80,
154 A KNIGHT (ENG) 75 79, H O’KENNEDY (RSA) 76 78, R ENOCH (WAL) 75 79,
155 J DUMINY (RSA) 76 79, L CARRERA (MEX) 79 76,
