Liddle goes large at ERPM Challenge
The IGT Tour’s young guns love to call Brett Liddle “old man”, but the seasoned Boksburg pro muzzled the teasing with a wire-to-wire victory in the ERPM Challenge, on Wednesday, September 10.
The 45-year-old used his wealth of experience on a tough second scoring day at the ERPM Golf Club, to shoot a one under 71 and cruise to a four-stroke victory on seven-under-par 209.
Liddle, also nicknamed ”Large” quietly stole the show to lead the first round after the seven-times Sunshine Tour champion fired a four-under-par 68, to take a three-stroke lead over Siphayi and amateurs Carrie Park and Louis Taylor.
His ninth professional win also earned Liddle the distinction as the IGT Tour’s oldest champion — and it’s an accolade he accepted with pride.
“Can you imagine the splash I am going to make on the European Senior Tour if I keep playing like this?” he asked.
“Hey, I might be old enough to be the father of half the field, but it’s been fun to show the youngsters a thing or two.
“I love talking to the young players, ribbing them and sharing a little wisdom, so let’s hope they learned something from the way I won.”
Liddle broke par for the first time with an eagle at the par-five 13th, and the only other colour on his card was a bogey six at 17.
“There were a lot of pars on my card, but the conservative approach is the best route to take when conditions are this tough,” he said.
“The wind blew a gale and, with the tough course set-up, it was very tricky out there. All these young guns can smash the ball, but they need to learn to think to win.
“I was the same when I started out 25 years ago, but experience teaches you a few things.
“With conditions like these, you can’t miss in the wrong spot on this course. That’s why I avoided mistakes and plodded along until I reached 13.
“It was playing downwind, so I knew I could reach in two. I hit a solid drive down the middle of the fairway, pitched a nine-iron to 15 feet and drained the putt for eagle.”
Liddle also hit a solid drive down the right fairway at 17, but the ball ended dead against a tree.
“I had to hit a back-handed shot to get it out,” he said.
“My approach pitched right next to the flag, but took a bounce and took off. I caught a terrible lie behind the green and hit a poor chip.
“These things happen, but when you are five strokes ahead it doesn’t matter.”
Liddle was pleased with the timely win ahead of his first Sunshine Tour start since March.
“I took over the driving range and launched my own academy here at ERPM Golf Club,” he said.
“It’s been a very busy year and this week was the first time I picked up a club in two months.
”Some of my students also played this week and I hope this win also encourages them.
“It was good to get the rust off and build some confidence and, who knows, maybe I surprise everyone and win the Vodacom Origins at Vaal de Grace. Can you imagine that celebration?”
Herman Minnie carded 74 and collected his second consecutive runner-up finish;, fellow GFG Academy player Hilton Hughes closed with 71 to finish in third on two under, while Siphiwe Siphayi’s lowest round of 68 lifted him to fourth at one under.
For his first competitive outing in two months, Liddle was more than impressive.
Final results
(All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified; amateurs indicated as AMA)
209 – Brett Liddle 68 70 71
213 – Herman Minnie 72 67 74
214 – Hilton Hughes (AMA) 73 70 71
215 – Siphiwe Siphayi 71 76 68
216 – Carrie Park (AMA) 71 73 72, Louis Taylor (AMA) 71 71 74
217 – Simon Kruger 75 70 72, Andi Dill (AMA) 77 68 72, Bryce McCabe 74 70 73
218 – Michael van Hoeck (AMA) BEL 72 72 74
219 – Gareth Akers (AMA) 76 73 70
220 – Chris van Tonder (AMA) 73 72 75
221 – CJ Levey (AMA) 77 72 72, Christiaan Pretorius 74 73 74, Jacques Ungerer 74 71 76
223 – Matt Bright (AMA) 75 75 73, David Lamprecht 73 72 78
224 – Sean Olfsen (AMA) 74 74 76, Cole Dodgen (AMA) 72 76 76
225 – Michael Kok (AMA) 80 71 74
226 – Danie Pretorius 73 77 76, Derryn Mitri (AMA) 77 75 74
227 – Divan Marais (AMA) 76 74 77, Joubert van Eeden (AMA) 77 75 75, Dylan Lavagna-Slater (AMA) 73 80 74
228 – Dwayne Coetzee 74 81 73
230 – Morne Wolmarans (AMA) 75 77 78
231 – Angelo Marques (AMA) 77 77 77, Zander Potgieter (AMA) 77 78 76
232 – Louwtjie J van Vuuren (AMA) 77 74 81, Jacques de Villiers (AMA) 77 74 81
234 – Michael Schutz (AMA) 86 70 78
235 – Duan Nagel (AMA) 78 73 84
236 – JP Schmidt (AMA) 82 75 79, Rikus Oosthuizen (AMA) 78 80 78
237 – Keanan Aysen (AMA) 81 77 79, Tung-nan Lin (AMA) TWN 79 81 77
238 – Jason Ackerman (AMA) 82 73 83, Chase Paton (AMA) 82 77 79, Ryan Wingrove (AMA) 79 81 78
244 – Jonty B Shelton (AMA) 80 77 87 – @SabeloBoksburg
