Porteous takes over SA charge at SA Amateur Strokeplay

A third round slip-up by SA's top amateur allowed second-ranked Haydn Porteous the opportunity to fly the flag in pursuit of the SA Amateur Strokeplay championship at Glendower. And he did just that.

Porteous fired a solid 3-under-par 69 to finish with a 54-hole tally of 8 under par. This allowed him to take second spot alone after a mid-round wobble by overnight leader Brandon Stone resulted in a four shot swing that not only nearly derailed hiss title charge, but opened the door for Italy’s Andrea Bolognesi to hit the front and Porteous to follow suit.

After a 90-minute delay in the morning Stone managed to get to to 12 under, but an unlucky lie after a decent tee shot at the eighth was the start of his woes. “I had to hit my second from an awkward stance with both feet in the fairway bunker but the ball level with my knees,” said Stone, who had to execute a baseball style shot to get a measure down the fairway. “My approach caught the greenside trap and I had a plugged lie. I scooped it out to 10 feet and two-putted for bogey.”

Perhaps trying to put the drop behind him or still fuming about a bogey at a obvious birdie hole, Stone’s tee shot at nine went left into the trees.

“My second clipped a tree and ricochet into the hazard short right of the green. I took a drop, but the shot took one bounce on the green, hit the pin and spun back into the hazard.”

Stone dropped from the same spot but this time hit it to three feet and sank the putt for a triple.

However, the country’s leading amateur underlined growing stature when he hung on for a three-over-par 75. His share of third on seven-under-par 209 will see him line up alongside Soweto Country Club’s Musi Nethunzi, England’s Toby Tree and countryman Desne van den Bergh, who shot 68, 69 and 70 respectively.

Final round play is already underway at Glendower today, so expect an exciting finish.