Strong-finishing Claassen captures Silver Salver
NALDO Claassen produced a strong finish with a solid evenpar round of 72 to capture the Silver Salver trophy at the Humewood Golf Club on Sunday (July 30).
Played in good conditions, with a slight breeze, Claassen added his second round to an opening 18 holes of 75 to finish on an overall total of 147.
He was two shots ahead of Attie Burger (72, 79), with Sean Lottering filling third place on 150 following rounds of 74 and 76.
Claassen, a member at Wedgewood, was delighted to win the Silver Salver for the first time, having been a runner-up to Luke Jerling last year.
“I was a member at Humewood for about six years, but was never able to win this tournament,” he said yesterday. “So it was really good to be able to take the title.”
“I played okay in the morning although my putting was not that great, but I only missed two fairways.
“In the afternoon things went a bit better even though I ended up making a double bogey on the 18th.”
Despite that, the new champion had enough of a cushion to keep the chasing pack at bay. He was three behind after the first round, with Burger, Michael Holden and Wian van Aswegen setting the early pace by shooting opening 72s.
However, only Claassen was able to significantly improve his score in the afternoon session as all the other players faded away.
Besides Burger recording a five-over second round, Holden came home in 79 and Van Aswegen finished with an 80.
The only other top contender to better his first round total was Dillon Germshuys, who added a 75 to his opening 76.
The leading scores were: 147 – N Claassen 75 72 149 – A Burger 72 77 150 - S Lottering 74 76