Frenchman Noa Auch-Roy almost lapped the field in the gruelling 36-hole finale to the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Mossel Bay Golf Club.
Play was delayed by an hour in the morning after torrential rain, and the first games in the morning field from both the first and 10th tees went off in light rain. That gradually cleared up, and Auch-Roy was quick to take advantage of cool temperatures and a gentle breeze to tame the course and obliterate his opponents.
The man who turns 19 in three days gave himself an early birthday present with a six-under-par 66 in the morning, and a seven-under-par 65 in the afternoon to reach a 23-under-par total for the 72 holes.
Augh-Roy became the fourth player from his country in the last 10 years to win the title, and he did so with a staggering nine-stroke winning margin over runners-up Sean Paxton and Logan Leisher.
A member of the Renaud Gris Golf Institute academy in Mionnay, Lyon, Augh-Roy played in just two events in South Africa this year ahead of this triumph: He came 34th in the GolfRSA International at Royal Johannesburg, and then he sealed his first victory of the season in the Cape Province Open at George Golf Club and Kingswood Golf by a single shot.
Fortunately for the rest of the competitors heading to the South African Amateur Championship next, it will be open season for the most prized piece of silverware on the GolfRSA national circuit as Augh-Roy is heading to Spain, and will not be trying emulate his countryman Couvra.
The SA Amateur tees off with a 36-hole qualifier at Humewood Golf Club on Sunday, with the top 64 advancing to the match play stage.
Supplied by GolfRSA
