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Pros go low in Africa Open qualifier


EAST LONDON, February 11 – Ryan Tipping carded a near-flawless 67 at Fish River Sun Country Club on Tuesday to secure the first of 10 places at the Africa Open Golf Challenge, which start Thursday at East London Golf Club.
“I played really solidly today. In fact, I didn’t make a mistake until the 12th, and even there it was unfortunate, so I’m very happy with my score. Last week I also played well, but I had one bad hole that stopped me from qualifying, so I’m excited to start the season on a high,” he said.
Tuesday produced blustery conditions, but Tipping was prepared for a windy challenge and made just one bogey during the qualifying round as he carved out his share of the lead alongside Alan McLean on five-under-par.
“I used to struggle in the wind, but that was due to my technique,” Tipping said. “I’ve improved my technique and that helps me achieve the ball flight I want. Hopefully I can take what I did today at Fish River into this week’s tournament, because it could really spring me into the coming season.”
The 33-year-old won in 2009 at the SAA Pro-Am Invitational and knows what it will take to succeed this week.
“This is my fifth Africa Open and I’ve played about 24 European Tour events, so I’ve been around for long enough to understand what is required. It’s not about chasing scores, it’s about keeping your head down and getting the job done,” he said.
East London Golf Club is a shotmaker’s course and Tipping has been around the 6066-metre course enough times to have a game plan etched out for the week.
“I like the course, because the layout suits me. You’ve got to be good off the tee and keep the ball low, which I’ve become more and more successful at,” he said.
Behind Tipping and McLean came Darryn Lloyd, Drikus Bruyns, Erik van Rooyen and Le Roux Ferreira in a share of third on four-under-par. Four further spots were available, but six players were tied on three-under-par, which meant a sudden-death playoff was necessary to decide the final four qualifiers.
JC Richie, Anthony Michael, Grant Veenstra and Rhys West were all successful in their bid, while Daniel Gaunt and Louis Calitz missed out.

SCORES (RSA unless otherwise specified):
67 - Ryan Tipping, Alan McLean (SCO)
68 - Darryn Lloyd, Drikus Bruyns, Le Roux Ferreira, Erik van Rooyen
69 - JC Ritchie
69 - Anthony Michael
69 - Grant Veenstra
69 - Rhys West
69 - Daniel Gaunt (ENG)
69 - Louis Calitz
70 - Juan Langeveld, Eddie Taylor, Derick Petersen, Tertius van den Berg, Andre Cruse
71 - Daniel Greene, Justin Turner, Allister de Kock, Alan Michell, Bennie van der Merwe, Steven Ferreira, Morne Buys,Terence Salo, Kevin Stinson (CAN), Stuart Smith (BOT)
72 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Raymond Mathonsi (SWZ), Riekus Nortje, Roberto Lupini, Van Phillips (ENG), Desne van den Bergh, Haydn Porteous,CJ du Plessis, Jaco Prinsloo, Francois Coetzee, Shaun Smith
73 - Gideon Pienaar, Greg Bentley (ZIM), Pieter Moolman, Jacques Kruyswijk, T I Mazibuko, Wynand Dingle
74 - Bryce Bibby, Andrew Georgiou, Andre Bossert (SUI), Gert Myburgh, Micky Hough (ZIM)
75 - Lindani Ndwandwe, Louis Moolman
76 - Prinavin Nelson, Torben Baumann (GER), Ruan Huysamen (NAM), Jake Redman, Maritz Wessels
77 - Callum Mowat, Tyrone Ryan, Andrew Light, MJ Daffue
78 - Arthur Horne (SWZ), Paul de Beer
79 - Drikus van der Walt, Marius Schutte
82 - Nemanja Savic (SER)
87 - Louis Botha