Tournament officials were left with no choice but to abandon the third round entirely, reducing the event to 54 holes after more than 100mm of rain lashed the course.

Players didn’t even get the chance to tee off as scheduled, with conditions deteriorating in the early hours of the morning.

Gary Dodd. Photo: Sunshine Tour

“We had over 100mm of rain. I received my first phone call from the club just before 04:00. Several holes were compromised,” said Sunshine Tour Tournament Director, Gary Todd.

Despite the best efforts of the ground staff, including running pumps to drain the worst-affected areas, the sheer volume of water proved too much to clear in time.

“The club has been excellent in terms of their help, and we have the pumps going to try and drain those holes. But it just couldn’t happen quickly enough for today, unfortunately. 

“The team at DCC will work through the night to try and make sure we can resume again on Sunday.” All eyes now turn to Sunday (22/2), with the final round scheduled to get underway at 06:20, weather permitting.

At the top of the leaderboard, Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand and Spain’s Santiago Tarrio share the lead at 13-under-par after 36 holes, holding a slender one-shot advantage over England’s Alfie Plant in what promises to be a tightly contested finish.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg