The 27-year-old won the final Race to Q-School series event of the 2016 season in December and kicked off the new season with another R10 000 pay-day in the 12th Race to Q-School at Randpark Golf Club.

Prinsloo banked his seventh title on the country’s premier golf development circuit courtesy of a five-stroke victory over Jacopo Vecchi Fossa from Italy, Pretoria amateur Albert Venter and Bryce McCabe from Glendower.

The Sunshine Tour campaigner closed with a two-under-par 70 to finish on 13 under. With the Sunshine Tour’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship just three weeks away, it’s not surprising that Prinsloo walked off the 18th with a beaming smile.

“I took a bit of time off and took the family to Balito over Christmas, but I started practising just as soon as we got back before New Year,” he said.

“I was absolutely gutted when I missed the cut for the SA Open by one shot at the Kempton Park Qualifier. I’d played solidly, but I messed it up at the last hole. I was so disappointed and all I wanted to do was come out here this week and win.

“It’s a really great feeling to accomplish that kind of goal. Every time you win that little lift gives you a boost of confidence into the next tournament. I’m striking the ball really well and I am putting well, so the game is in a great spot. I just need to polish a couple of things and keep the game at this level for the Eye of Africa.”

Prinsloo mixed four birdies with a pair of bogeys for his 70, which he admits, was the only small disappointment of the day.

“I’ve been shooting a lot of 70s or 71s in final rounds, so I was pushing to break 70 today, but the two soft bogeys got in the way,” said the GFG Academy player.

“Unfortunately I was dead behind a tree at seven. I had to punch out and limit the damage to a bogey and at 11, I caught a really bad lie just off the rough. Two poor tee shots, two soft bogeys. These things happen and the most important part of that problem is not to let it upset your round. I finished with seven straight pars, so I’ll take the 70. Hopefully, I can push into the sixties in the next one.”

Venter reeled in five birdies on the back nine, including a flurry of three from the 15th, for a 66 and a tie for second in his pro debut, while Fossa and McCabe returned respective rounds of 67 and 68 to join the rookie at eight under.

Final round results

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA.

203 - Jaco Prinsloo 67 66 70

208 - Albert Venter AMA 72 70 66, Jacopo Vecchi Fossa (ITA) 74 67 67, Bryce McCabe 71 69 68

210 - NJ Arnoldi 72 68 70

211 - Sipho Bujela 67 75 69, Stephan Erasmus AMA 72 70 69, Ruan Conradie 68 68 75

212 - Allister De Kock 74 70 68, Louis Albertse AMA 71 73 68, Dongkwan Kim (KOR) 75 68 69, Heinrich Bruiners 70 70 72, Jonathan Waschefort 71 68 73

213 - Coert Groenewald 69 74 70, Tyrone Ryan 71 71 71

214 - Thabang Simon 73 73 68, Makhetha Mazibuko 71 72 71, Andrew Carlsson AMA 75 67 72, Quintin Crause 69 71 74

215 - John Parkinson 71 74 70, Paul Boshoff 76 68 71, Justin Turner 76 70 69, Derick Petersen 77 69 69, Terence Boardman 71 75 69, Hayden Griffiths AMA 69 74 72, Jake Roos 71 70 74, Paul De Beer 71 70 74, Philip Geerts AMA (ITA) 69 71 75

216 - Matt Bright 73 72 71, Gregg Blainey (ENG) 73 71 72, Altaaf Bux 69 77 70, Duane Keun 71 71 74, Estiaan Conradie 73 77 66

217 - Teagan Moore 70 75 72, Michael Palmer 75 71 71, Neal Herman 71 71 75

218 - Divan Marais 77 69 72, Calvin Caldeira 70 72 76

219 - Omar Sandys 72 73 74, Christian Basson AMA 73 73 73, Johan Van Der Wath 75 69 75, Craigen Clough AMA 71 76 72, Ruhan Van Dijk AMA 73 70 76, Trevor Mahoney 76 74 69

220 - Matthew Spacey 75 72 73, Phillip Kruse AMA 76 71 73

221 - Gerard Du Plooy 74 71 76, Irvin Mazibuko 75 72 74, Neal Hauptfleisch AMA 74 75 72, Theunis Bezuidenhout AMA 83 66 72, Sam Botham (ENG) 77 73 71

222 - Owen Grobler 72 74 76, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 76 67 79, Herman Loubser AMA 74 69 79

223 - Ruan Korb AMA 79 68 76

224 - Matthew Vogel 74 74 76, Michael Kok AMA 76 73 75, Jeff Hopkins (IRE) 73 77 74

225 - Mark Fraser 72 78 75

226 - Gary Daoust (BEL) 76 70 80, Eric Park AMA (KOR) 73 75 78, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 76 73 77

227 - Stephan De Beer 76 72 79

228 - NJ Van Der Walt AMA 77 72 79

229 - Conner Mackenzie AMA 71 77 81, James Ford (ENG) 76 73 80

RTD - John McClean (NIR) 72 72 RTD

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the IGT Challenge Tour.