Joy of sixth for Dundalk ace
CAOLAN Rafferty finished sixth in the African Amateur Strokeplay Championship in his first tournament outing of 2020 and also managed to record the second competitive hole-in-one of his career to date.
The ace came on the third day of the tournament at Leopard Creek Golf Club when he holed a pitching wedge from 145 yards at the par-three 12th hole.
“I got the yardage, picked a club, and tried to hit a shot,” said Rafferty.
“It was one of those funny ones. I didn’t really catch it and turned away in a bit of disgust. As I was turning back, I heard my playing partner telling it to go in, and I was like, ‘Sorry, that can’t be right!’ And as I turned around, it just disappeared!
“It was lovely to get the holein-one because it’s been a while since I had one. It wasn’t a pretty shot, but that’s golf for you, the bad ones end up being the best sometimes.”
The hole-in-one helped to propel him into the top 10 and into contention for the tournament going into the last round after he had opened with rounds of 74 and 72 to sit on two over par and tied 16th at the half-way stage.
In addition to the ace he also recorded two birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey on his way to a one-under par 71 which was one of just seven sub-par totals in the third round.
It moved Rafferty up to tied fifth and just four shots off the lead going into the final day, but he was unable to mount a challenge and needed a birdie on the last to join Ireland teammate and British Amateur champion