We often hear players nowadays saying that either a whole golf course, or a particular hole, 'suits their eye'. Although I never thought of it that way, I certainly had favourite courses.

Obviously one was Zwartkop, where I won as a junior, then as an amateur (the Northern Transvaal Amateur) and finally as a pro (the Bert Hagerman tournament on the Sunshine Tour). Two other courses that were very good to me were Springs Country Club and Houghton Golf Club: I won at both as a junior, amateur and professional.

Houghton was especially good to me as it was where I won the 1976 SA Open. It was an interesting week, which started off with me having a minor temper tantrum during the first round. On the 10th hole, which in those days was a short, but very narrow par four, I hit my drive into the shallow bunker on the right side of the fairway. When we got there, the ball had run through the edge of the bunker into a narrow gulley that had been dug to allow water to run out of the bunker.

I called for a ruling and was told that I couldn't get a free drop. I argued and said that it was not a natural part of the bunker and had been dug to repair damage caused by the rain. I eventually asked for a second opinion which was just as unsuccessful.

I was seething because it cost me a shot. After the round I refused to be interviewed and was pulled aside by Brian Henning, who ran the Tour in those days. He said I should have had a free drop but the best way to handle the situation was not to act like a baby, but rather go out and win the championship. Good advice – but easier said than done!

The club had allowed the rough to grow to knee height. You had narrow fairways, a little semi-rough, then jungle. On one hole, Bobby Cole hit into the long rough and it took him three shots to get his ball back onto the fairway. The field that year included Gary Player and Tony Jacklin, both of whom never really featured. The scoring was high for the entire week and after the four rounds, John Fourie and I had tied at one-under-par 287.

Driving has never been my strong point but I had a 1-iron in my bag that I was very confident with, so this was used a lot off the tees.

John Fourie has been a great friend of mine. He played amateur golf against my big brother John, and he and I were in the same Springbok team that went to the Eisenhower Trophy in Spain.

The SA Open ended on a Saturday, but as golf events weren't allowed to be played on Sunday, John and I had to wait until the Monday for the playoff. This was right at the start of SA getting TV and the tournament got very little coverage, but thousands of people turned out to watch the 18-hole playoff.

John played his usual solid, consistent golf, hitting fairways and greens and making a lot of pars. My 1-iron was the decisive factor. On the par five 7th hole, John didn't reach the green with a drive and a 3-wood. I hit two 1-irons onto the green. I used that club off any tee where it was a little dangerous and I mostly hit it past John's drive. In the end John shot a level par 72 and I shot 69.

The best thing about winning the SA Open was the fact that neither my father nor my older brother, John, had won it. They both won the SA Amateur Matchplay, which I never did, although I did win the SA Amateur Strokeplay twice. They always used to tell me that the mark of a good golfer was to win the Matchplay.

DALE HAYES