Retief Goosen kept the media happy on Saturday as he catered wonderfully to our two great loves for good wine and quality golf.

Goosen invited the media to his Upper Langkloof Valley wine farm, which is on the way to Uniondale from George, to sample some of his terrific Goose and Gander wines, as well as hit some drives off an elevated tee towards a dam.

Having been treated to delicious tastes of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Shiraz and port, the media then returned to the Fancourt Links to watch Goosen make his way around the course in three-under-par 70, one of the best rounds on a blustery, rainy day.

We were most impressed by the rich complexities and elegant finish of his wines – thanks to the unique climate of the Upper Langkloof, the grapes ripen much later than elsewhere in the Cape and the annual average temperature is only 17 degrees – but Goosen himself was extremely irritated by his finish on the golf course on Saturday.

The two-time major champion finished par-bogey-par to end the third round on nine-under, just one shot behind leaders Branden Grace and Nicolas Colsaerts.

“It was a very poor finish. The last three holes were as easy as we’ll ever see it here, they were straight downwind, so to be one-over on them feels like making three bogeys.

“The last three holes should really be played in under-par, but I failed to get up-and-down from a bunker on 16, chose the wrong club on 17 and then hit a poor second on 18,” Goosen said.

The closing holes aside, The Goose was satisfied with his position heading into the final round.

“The first six or seven holes were really tough today, but I played nice and solid. On some holes today, par was a very good score,” Goosen said.

The bottles of Goose Sauvignon Blanc, Goose Expression, Gander Shiraz and Quinto do Sul Port we sampled were also very good and the future seems bright for Goosen the winemaker if the golfing lark doesn’t pay the bills!

Branden Grace knew there would always be chances for bogeys on Saturday, but he put his mistakes behind him and held on to a share of the lead after the third round of the Volvo Golf Champions at the Fancourt Links on Saturday.

On a day when only 10 of the 35-man field were under-par and there were two quadruple-bogeys and five triple-bogeys, Grace’s two-over-par 75 was actually a solid round and it left him on 10-under overall, tied with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts for the lead.

Grace started badly with two bogeys on the first three holes and he also made two double-bogeys on the back nine, on the par-four 12th and par-three 17th holes. But he also picked up four birdies and he was satisfied with his efforts on a rainy, blustery day in the Southern Cape.

“I always knew there’d be mistakes on the card, but I still played really well because the conditions were really tough. I handled it well and made some good saves to limit the damage,” Grace said after his round.

“I actually thought it was very good golf on the first five holes, I just missed one shot, when I mis-hit an eight-iron. Otherwise, I striped my drive on the first and unluckily it bounced into the pot bunker.

“The same again on 12, it was a great drive but it just had a big bounce right on one of the slopes and it ended up in a pot bunker. It makes the hole very long because you can’t really hit the ball a long way then, you have to go sideways and it leaves you with a very long club in.

“On 17, I just went for it a little bit more than I should have, I hit it a bit too hard and I was over the back of the green, which you don’t want to play with,” Grace explained.

But the 23-year-old didn’t allow the mishap to get him down and he promptly birdied the last hole to ensure he will go into the final round with a fabulous chance of pulling off back-to-back victories after his breakthrough triumph in last weekend’s Joburg Open.

“I’m still happy, I’m still in there. I’ll take two-over today and I’ll just stick to my own game tomorrow,” Grace said.

One should never underestimate the nastiness of the Fancourt Links and, after two rounds of low scoring, the course bit back on Saturday with Charl Schwartzel’s 68 the best round of the day and one of only 10 that were under-par.

Schwartzel’s outstanding round was enough to get the South African within a shot of the lead and the Masters champion achieved it despite having to get treatment for a sore elbow moments before he teed off.

“I only hit about 10 balls on the range because my elbow was giving me quite a few problems. The physio, Karen, gave me a quick stretch and hurt me a bit, but it was just a tight nerve and I never felt it on the course,” Schwartzel said after his round.

“But today was a lot tougher out there and to shoot five-under was very satisfying. I hit the ball the best I have in a long time, it was just flawless shot after flawless shot.”

Considering the carnage going on all around him, it was a top-class effort by Schwartzel to only make one bogey in his round, on the par-three 11th. In fact, the Masters champion could have posted a still better score were it not for a balky putter.

“All my birdies were basically tap-ins. The ball just wouldn’t go in the hole otherwise. It feels like I’m hitting good putts, I’m not starting them on-line and when I do, I’m just reading them wrong,” Schwartzel complained.

A blustery, gusting wind combined with steady showers to make Fancourt a treacherous place on Saturday.

“The wind and misty rain made it difficult. I was hitting four-irons into the wind where normally I’d be hitting a seven-iron. That’s how short the ball is going, the fairways are also a lot softer, and it’s very difficult hitting long-irons into these greens. You need to be wide awake and commit to whatever shot you’re playing because the margins are not big out there,” Schwartzel said.

Ironically, the one time the 27-year-old did take a chance, it paid off with an eagle-three at the ninth hole.

“I was actually considering laying up short of the ditch because there was a chunk of mud on the left side of the ball. The rule of thumb is that the ball will normally fly the opposite side of the mud and the wind was also off the left. But I was hitting the ball off a steep right-to-left slope, which tends to cause a pull, so I thought it would counter-balance the mud and wind. I had 264 yards and I hit a two-iron to six inches!” Schwartzel said with only a touch of exaggeration.

Schwartzel once again expressed his belief that the local golfers were favoured to win the title because of their course knowledge.

“You can’t come here and play one practice round and think you’re going to conquer the course. You need to know it really well because a lot of the slopes you can use to your benefit, but a lot of them can bite you,” he said.