Francois van Heerdan heads up qualifiers for De Zalze
It was all smiles for Francois van Heerden at the end of the day at De Zalze Golf Club. Francois managed to get a place into his seventh Sunshine Tour tournament. It was pretty tough initially, but in the end, it was smooth sailing for Heerden.
He shot 5-under-par 67 to lead the 10-man field that got into the third annual tournament of Vodacom Origin of Golf series.
Francois is very much a new comer to the tour. He turned professional just a year ago after a very successful career as an amateur.
The South African has so far missed five cuts this season but his 39th finish at the Zambia Bank Zambia Open meant that he got the first pay check of his professional career.
He secured the berth after a two-stroke victory over Wynand Dingle. The third position was shared by a South African and a Botswanian, Francois Haughton and Stuart Smith.
For the last three spots, there was a seven-way playoff, which was in the end won by Danie Van Tonder after a dramatic fashion. The playoff witnessed great thrill and excitement, with many twists and turns throughout.
Francois, along with many others who were featuring in this event just to gain some experience, normally plays on the Big Easy Tour. It is pretty easy to play on this tour because there is no cut and secondly their entire events are of just 36-holes.
Francois’ only reason to play on the Sunshine Tour is to gain some experience for the bigger tournaments. After his success in the qualifiers, Francois was very jubilant as it was a major achievement for him.
“It definitely helps to play those tournaments,” he said. “It gives you a chance to play a tournament without the pressure of qualifying or missing the cut, and knowing you can get those competitive rounds in makes quite a difference”.
Francois is spot on, playing in competitive rounds, where one knows that one has to make the cut. Such events entail a totally different experience. They are pretty challenging as well.
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