Month: October 2024

ST ANDREWS (Scotland) – South African golf is poised for a big weekend at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with three players within the top 20 chasing glory, and two of whom are amongst the Sunshine Tour’s brightest young stars.

Darren Fichardt maintained his challenge in this prestigious championship, following up his opening 61 with a 70 on the Old Course on Friday to place him on 13 under par overall. He is one shot behind the leaders, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and Australia’s Cameron John.

But behind the 49-year-old Fichardt, the next generation of South African golf is also making its presence felt with 23-year-old Robin Williams just two shots off the lead and 21-year-old Yurav Premlall only four shots behind.

Williams, making his debut in this event, signed for a 66 on the Old Course on Friday to climb to 12 under par overall, while Premlall, playing in only his second Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, posted a 68 on the Old Course for a total of 10 under par.

“If you had told me at the start of this year that I’d be in this position now I’d have never believed you,” said a delighted Williams.

“To shoot a 66 at The Home of Golf is so special. I think I’ve only shot that score on PlayStation. This is such a big tournament with so many big names, and to put myself in a position with them is definitely a pinch me moment. Hopefully I can give myself a shot for Sunday.”

Premall was equally delighted with his progress so shortly after breaking through with his maiden victory on the Sunshine Tour in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sishen.

“I’ve put myself in a good position. I’m just feeling very comfortable with my golf game and it’s a nice frame of mind to be in. It’s also always nice seeing fellow South Africans near the top of the leaderboard and hopefully it’s one of us that lifts the trophy on Sunday.”

With five DP World Tour victories to his name, Fichardt is the experienced campaigner of the three and is hoping to make his own memories come Sunday on an Old Course that is extremely special to him.

“It’s always special playing the Old Course. I played my first Major here in 2000 when Tiger Woods won, and hearing my name echo out on the first tee was daunting. I’ve never played such a tight fairway in my life as when they called my name. But walking up the 18^th here you always think of all the past champions in the Majors and even in this event. It’s very special. I’m excited for the weekend,” Fichardt said.

It’s a tantalising weekend indeed with the three Sunshine Tour professionals perfectly poised, and even 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship winner Branden Grace at nine under par.

“It shows the product that the Sunshine Tour produces every year and how well it works. Everybody involved there is doing the job needed to get players from the Sunshine Tour all the way to compete with the big guns on a stage like this,” said Williams. – Michael Vlismas

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) –  Normally this season when Danie van Tonder has put pressure on the leader in the final round, things have headed south for the frontrunner, but on Friday, Luke Jerling held his nerve to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club.

Jerling fired a fantastic three-under-par 68 on Friday to finish on 13-under-par, beating Van Tonder, who closed with a 70, by four strokes in the end. But their gripping duel was much more closely fought than the final winning margin suggests, with Van Tonder, who began the day two behind, drawing level on the 13^th hole.

“It feels unbelievable to have finally won. There were times when I never thought this day would come and you wonder if you can get over the line,” a delighted Jerling said. “I haven’t been in this position for a while and going toe-to-toe with Danie was something I really enjoyed for the whole day.

“And the contest was a lot closer than four strokes, there were momentum swings all through the day. From the get-go, Danie came out firing, driving through a narrow gap and over the bunkers on the first hole. But I stuck to my game-plan, putted nicely on the tough greens and my iron play was solid. I was not overly aggressive.

“I really enjoyed being in contention with Danie. The other times I’ve been in contention, I didn’t really enjoy the moment, it was more a feeling of not wanting to mess up. So that’s testament to the work I’ve been doing with my coach Neil Cheetham. My swing really held up under the gun today and it felt like my day, momentum just seemed to be on my side,” Jerling said.

It was a tricky day out on the sub-tropical south-east African coast, with a strong wind blowing. That wind helped Jerling on the hole which he believed was the most critical to his triumph – the par-four 14^th.

“I made a really good birdie on 12 to go two ahead. But then on 13 the wind took my ball left into the trees. I chipped out sideways and then I thought I hit a good third, but the wind didn’t hit it and I was left with a tricky chip. I made bogey and Danie made birdie so that was another two-shot swing.

“But in retrospect it was actually good that Danie teed off first on 14 because he hit a really good shot and I had no choice but to be aggressive. It was playing 259m to the front edge and it was straight downwind. But three-wood was too much and I was worried that two-iron wouldn’t cover the water or the bunkers. In the end I threaded a two-iron between the bunkers, it was probably my shot of the day, leaving me with a 12-foot eagle putt, which I made.”

Jerling was suddenly three shots ahead when Van Tonder, who missed some crucial shortish putts in the final round, bogeyed the par-four 15^th. The Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer then parred his way in while Van Tonder, still pushing hard, bogeyed the last two holes.

Pieter Moolman, who has done well on this stretch of coastline before, finished third on eight-under-par, five strokes behind Jerling, after a 70 on Friday, while Heinrich Bruiners (69) had to share fourth place on seven-under with amateur Astin Arthur, who completed his outstanding week with a 71.

ST ANDREWS (Scotland) – South Africa’s Darren Fichardt impressed some of the biggest names in world golf as he opened with an 11-under-par 61 to lead Thursday’s first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Fichardt finished the day with a one-shot lead over Australian Cameron John following a round at Kingsbarns that was one shot off the course record held by fellow South African Branden Grace. In the 2012 edition of this DP World Tour event, Grace opened with a 60 at Kingsbarns and went on to win the tournament.

“Let’s hope we can carry that South African flag high and continue what Branden did,” said Fichardt, who leads one of the strongest fields assembled for this tournament.

Jon Rahm started his tournament with a 65 at Carnoustie, while Tommy Fleetwood signed for a 68 on the same course. Carnoustie was also where Rory McIlroy opened with a 69, Billy Horschel shot a 70, and Brooks Koepka signed for a 71. Patrick Reed posted a 70 on the Old Course.

“It was crazy,” Fichardt said of his round. “If I was on the green it was either going in or just missing. My putter was obviously really hot today, and my driver was exceptional. I was never really in trouble. I didn’t try and attack today. I didn’t take on any flags. I played to the open sides, and I was just making those putts. I’ve shot rounds in the low 60s before, but there’s nothing like shooting 61 in the Dunhill Links.”

Fichardt said he felt like his game was heading in the right direction coming into this tournament.

“I’ve come off a really frustrating year and been working really hard. The last couple of weeks I could feel certain things were clicking, but you never quite know. Then today, the weather was amazing at the start and I think we were second out. I had a good warm-up, but you can never get too excited. On my first hole I made a long putt for birdie and thought, ‘Ok, here we go’. Then I three-putted the next hole and thought, ‘Oh jeez’. But then I made a good putt for eagle on the 12^th hole – my third – and I just kept it going from there. I started making a few putts, feeling the flow, and before I knew it I was 11 under.”

He remained at 11 under with two holes to play, including the par-five ninth as his finishing hole, and looked well on track to match the course record.

“I felt good, and then I just read the wind wrong on my second last hole and three-putted there. I thought I could make eagle on the last and I hit a great second shot but it just caught the bank and came back. But I was happy with birdie.”

Robin Williams and Yurav Premlall are the next best South Africans in the field following their rounds of six-under 66 at Kingsbarns. Branden Grace opened with a 67 on the Old Course, while Rupert Kaminski, Thriston Lawrence, Olive Bekker, MJ Daffue, and Kyle Barker all started their tournaments with rounds of four under par. – Michael Vlismas

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Luke Jerling rates Umhlali Country Club as being one of his favourite courses and he continued to show how comfortable he is on the 5943m Peter Matkovich design as he fired a second consecutive 66 on Thursday to claim a two-shot lead after the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya.

The 32-year-old Jerling had eight birdies but three bogeys on the first day, but he played much more controlled golf on Thursday, dropping just the one shot, on the tough par-four 15^th hole. A hot putter allowed him to collect six birdies as he goes into Saturday’s final round on 10-under-par.

“I really enjoy this golf course, I finished third here in this event last year and just missed out on a playoff,” Jerling said. “I’m not the longest hitter and this is not a bomber’s paradise. There are quite a few fiddly tee-shots and good par-threes.

“Fortunately my short game is my strength and I also made a few putts after struggling for a while with the putter. It was nice to see a few roll in and my iron-play was also very solid,” Jerling said.

Danie van Tonder is poised for another final-round charge as he lies second on eight-under-par, following a 67 on Thursday that included an eagle on the 489m par-five 10^th hole.

Pieter Moolman (66) and Astin Arthur (69), the amateur from nearby Mount Edgecombe who has won five events this year, are tied for third on seven-under-par.

Overnight leader Jacob Oakley endured a disappointing day as he shot a 75 to finish on four-under-par, still inside the top-10 though. There are a host of Sunshine Tour winners in the top-10, including the in-form Malcolm Mitchell, who is ninth on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Jerling has come close before to winning his maiden Sunshine Tour title, finishing third three times and being the runner-up in the 2022 Manguang Open. Although he is now based at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, Jerling is with the coastal players who are hoping for the wind to get up in the final round.

“The wind might pick up more and I won’t mind at all coming originally from Port Elizabeth, where you have to shape the ball a bit. It’s the sort of course where my game-plan will be the same whether I’m chasing the cut or enjoying a five-shot lead, I’ll hit the same shots.

“So I’m not going to think too much about the final round, although it would be lovely to get over the line. It’s actually a bonus being in contention because I’ve been doing some good work with my coach Neil Cheetham and we made a breakthrough last week with my driver and my transition of weight, getting a better turn off the ball with more width. I can see the improvement, which is exciting,” Jerling said.

ST ANDREWS (Scotland) – Louis Oosthuizen has tipped Thriston Lawrence as a strong candidate to become South Africa’s next Major champion.

Lawrence has been in phenomenal form this year having just broken into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking, currently in second place on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings, and having recently finished tied second in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth for his fifth runners-up finish on the DP World Tour this year.

Speaking at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Oosthuizen said he has his eye on Lawrence for the next few Majors, and in particular The Open.

“Thriston had an unbelievable Open Championship this year, and then played so well at Wentworth recently. He’s a good ball striker, and windy and difficult conditions are right up his alley. I think he’s definitely one to watch in the next few Majors, and especially The Open where he’ll be up there and performing well,” he said.

Oosthuizen, the winner of the 2010 Open on the famed Old Course of St Andrews, will again be chasing some history of his own here this week.

He heads into this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship hoping to equal a record only one other player in history has managed to achieve, and who also happens to be a fellow South African.

As the reigning champion of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa following his victory at Leopard Creek last year, Oosthuizen is hunting the rare ‘Dunhill Double’ this week.

Countryman Branden Grace is to date the only player in history who has managed to win both the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and its South African sister tournament, the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which he did in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

“It would mean a lot to me to win the double. It’s a great opportunity to have. This is just such a special week to be able to see old friends and mix with the amateurs, and the golf is almost secondary to those friendships in the week. But if I start to play half decent, then I’ll definitely set my mind on winning a tournament,” said Oosthuizen. – Michael Vlismas
 

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Jacob Oakley improved on his best ever round on the Sunshine Tour for the second tournament in a row as the Englishman fired an excellent eight-under-par 63 on Wednesday to lead the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya after the first round at Umhlali Country Club.

Oakley shot a wonderful 65 on the first day of the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Sishen Golf Club on September 20, and even though he then posted rounds of 75 and 74, his finish of tied-18^th was still his best ever on the Sunshine Tour.

That 65 gave him a one-shot lead after the first round, but on Wednesday his 63 saw him open up a two-stroke gap on the well-travelled duo of Trevor Fisher Jnr and Alex Haindl.

The 26-year-old Oakley was also the first to tee-off on the first hole at Umhlali on Wednesday and no-one was able to better his haul of eight birdies. He started slowly with three pars, before three birdies in four holes led him to three-under at the turn. Oakley collected back-to-back birdies on the 12^th and 13^th holes, and then finished brilliantly with three successive birdies, making threes on the 16^th and 17^th holes and then a two on the 182m closing hole.

Having claimed the last of his five Sunshine Tour victories in August 2021 at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sishen event, Haindl may have wondered when his next appearance at the top of a leaderboard would happen, finishing 93^rd and 160^th on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy since then. He has not made a cut in five events this season.

But the Schoeman Park golfer was inspired on Wednesday, collecting seven birdies by the 16^th hole, but then dropping his only shot on the 18^th.

Fisher Jnr began his round on the 10^th and reached the turn on three-under. He then birdied the first hole but dropped a shot at the par-four second. But an eagle on the par-five fifth was followed by a birdie on his last hole, the par-four ninth, as he joined Haindl in the tie for second.

Astin Arthur, the winner of the Western Province, Indian Ocean and Southern Cape amateur opens this year and the runner-up in the South African Strokeplay Championship, was another surprise packet on Wednesday as he shot a five-under-par 66 to be in the tie for fourth place on four-under-par.

Luke Jerling, who made eight birdies but also three bogeys, and Malcolm Mitchell also shot 66s.

South African golf sensation Christo Lamprecht has earned a coveted spot in the prestigious Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted at the iconic Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, from December 5-8, 2024.

This opportunity follows Lamprecht’s historic recognition as the inaugural recipient of the Gary Player International Golfer of the Year Award presented by FlightScope, an accolade that is now closely tied to the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

The Gary Player International Golfer of the Year Award, established in partnership with the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and FlightScope, recognises the top international collegiate golfers from outside the United States. The award is presented annually to five athletes across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA levels.

Lamprecht, a standout in NCAA Division I, is the first-ever winner of this prestigious award, which is set to become a hallmark in identifying future global golf stars, with a clear pathway to competing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the professional golf tours.

“Many congratulations to Christo on an exceptional achievement in earning a place in the Nedbank Golf Challenge,” said World Golf Hall of Famer, Gary Player. “As a fellow South African, it fills me with immense pride to see Christo’s success. His dedication to both his education and the game of golf exemplifies the values we hold dear in this sport as he conducts himself on and off the course like a true gentleman. I have no doubt that Christo will continue to make us proud and I look forward to watching his career flourish on the international stage and welcoming him to Sun City later this year.”

Lamprecht’s stellar collegiate career at Georgia Tech, where he earned multiple accolades including the 2024 ACC Golfer of the Year and the Byron Nelson Award, solidified his place as one of the most promising talents in the sport. His achievements on the amateur stage, including winning The Amateur Championship and finishing as the leading amateur at The Open in 2023, set the stage for this latest recognition.

Lamprecht’s award-winning season saw him claim six top-ten finishes, a win at the Fighting Illini Invitational, and a PING First-Team All-America honour for the second consecutive year.

 Lamprecht, who hails from George, South Africa, also competed at the 2024 Masters Tournament where he played alongside Gary Player at the Par 3 Challenge.

Now, with the Gary Player International Golfer of the Year Award as part of his growing resume, Lamprecht’s invitation to the Nedbank Golf Challenge highlights the award’s growing prestige. The event will offer Lamprecht the chance to compete against top international golfers, including defending champion Max Homa and fellow South Africans Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen, among others.

Lamprecht’s participation continues a tradition of rewarding South Africa’s most promising young golfers with entry into the field, following in the footsteps of Zander Lombard, Thriston Lawrence, and George Coetzee.

The Nedbank Golf Challenge has long been a showcase of top golfing talent, and with the establishment of this new award, future recipients can look forward to following in Lamprecht’s footsteps, earning their place in one of the sport’s most iconic tournaments. Since its inception in 1981, winners include World Golf Hall of Famers such as Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els and Bernhard Langer.

With Lamprecht’s rising profile and the continued prominence of the Gary Player International Golfer of the Year Award, the future of South African golf looks brighter than ever.

ST ANDREWS (Scotland) – George Coetzee will continue his comeback from wrist surgery in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, and with a specific focus to take the lessons he’s learnt in his time off into a new phase of his career.

Coetzee is part of a large South African contingent competing in this DP World Tour event from Thursday and played on the three links courses of the Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie with a stellar field of professionals, sports stars and celebrities.

The five-time DP World Tour champion was laid off for about 16 months following a torn ligament that required surgery, and playing three quality links courses this week will be a good test for him.

“I tore a ligament in my wrist and it took me a couple of months to figure out what to do to get it sorted so that I could start my rehab. It ended up needing surgery, and that’s always high risk. Nobody ever gives you that 100% assurance that you’ll be alright. There’s a lot of time spent worrying about what’s going to happen,” says Coetzee.

“But I decided that golf is still my purpose and I’ve got to tick a bunch of boxes to get back to playing competitively again. So I did everything I could to get back. I started adding new healthy habits to my life, and luckily so far it looks like everything is holding up and the wrist is strong. It does get tight in this cold Scottish weather, but it’s all about working hard now, getting the cobwebs out of the game and hopefully starting to play better golf.”

Coetzee has had a few events on the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour to warm up for this week.

“I’ve played about five or six events. The first two were nerve wrecking because I was testing out the wrist and it was tough on me not knowing whether it would hold up or not. I’m just trying to work through it now.”

But he says the time off was valuable in terms of recalibrating, and also enjoying being a father.

“I wish I could’ve given myself some of these pointers when I was younger. It’s just about becoming more mature in your approach, and more strategic. It’s not just a hit and miss approach, but more doing what you know works, and doing it intentionally. I suppose that just comes with age.

“It’s also awesome to be a father. Emma is exactly what I needed in my career at this time – to be able to spend time with my baby and watch her grow and become a little human being. It’s one of the best gifts we get to have, and as a traveling sportsman it’s something we miss. So I’m fortunate to have had to deal with some stuff off the course, and the perk of it was I got to spend time with my child.”

As much as this week is one of the most popular on tour as a festival of links golf with a more relaxed pro-am format, Coetzee is very much focused on what he wants to achieve inside the ropes.

“I’ve got a job I’m working towards and I’ve still got a way to go to get back to my usual confident self. I don’t think any professional golfer is ever satisfied. Scottie Scheffler might be. But I’ve always been focused on what’s next. I think I’m lucky like that because golf is that kind of game where you’re always pushing forward and trying to get better.” – Michael Vlismas