Ngcobo decodes secret to Blue Label tournaments

Following his impressive fourth-place finish in the Blue Label Development Tour event at Reading Country Club two days ago, Thabiso Ngcobo feels he has decoded the secret to playing well in these one-day tournaments.

The Centurion Country Club player shot two-under-par to take a share of the fourth spot alongside former GolfRSA’s national squad captain, Kyle De Beer, at Reading and feels that in that event, he discovered how to play these types of tournaments.

“Usually when you play a three-day or four-day tournament, you have a day to ease yourself into the tournament and not necessarily go to shoot lights out,” started Ngcobo. “But with the Blue Label events, it’s a shoot-out and you need to shoot the lowest round. It’s almost like a pre-qualifier, in a way. You want to play a bit more aggressively; aggressively smart, if I could put it that way. That is the approach I used at Reading and it worked, so we will see how that goes.”

He will not wait too long to see whether his new approach is beneficial because he is in the field at Services Golf Club where the third tournament of the series is taking place on Thursday. He is familiar with the track and will want to take advantage of the knowledge he’s amassed about dos and don’ts on this layout.

“Services is not that long; very short. If you’re hitting your driver well off the tee, that’s going to leave you with nothing more than a wedge into the greens. I also remember that these greens do spin a lot; I think that’s the only defence that this course has. You need to control the spin and be very precise with your approach shots.

“Then, of course, if you’re putting well, that is always going to help you. But, as I said, I will have to be aggressively smart and choose my targets. Other than that, I am looking forward to playing my best.”

The 30-year-old, like many of his peers on this circuit, believes the Blue Label Development Tour is a valuable asset of the Sunshine Tour because of the sheer amount of playing opportunities it has provided for the players.

“I think the Sunshine Tour and Blue Label did well in creating this avenue for us,” Ngcobo added, “you can see how much the guys appreciate it. It’s a great initiative.”

Ngcobo is a member of the Papwa Sewgolum Class, another Sunshine Tour initiative aimed at supporting and fast-tracking transformation within the professional ranks.