Author: Michael Vlismas

IRENE, Tshwane –  Being newly married and coming off his most successful season yet may have added some extra load onto the broad shoulders of Louis Albertse, but the 26-year-old played with great freedom on Friday as he posted a tremendous eight-under-par 64 to claim a four-shot lead after the second round of the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at the Irene Country Club.

Claiming eight birdies and an eagle on the 112-year-old parkland course, Albertse will go into the weekend on 14-under-par, with his nearest challengers being Kyle Barker (64), Wynand Dingle (69) and Yurav Premlall (65) on 10-under.

Having been tied for third after his 66 in the first round, Albertse started on the 10^th hole and took a while to find the same success on Friday and was just one-under after his first seven holes. But the Dundee Golf Club representative broke the shackles around the turn, going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the 17^th hole to snatch the lead. A bogey on the par-three fourth did little to break the momentum as he finished strongly with three more birdies in the last five holes.

Albertse, who finished a career-best 17^th in the 2022/23 The Courier Guy Order of Merit with seven top-10 finishes, made his eagle on the 368m par-four first hole when he unleashed a fabulous drive that finished just short of the green and he was able to putt the ball into the hole for a two.

“There’s probably a little bit more added pressure when you’re coming off your best season and last week in Zambia wasn’t great, maybe because I was rusty after taking two weeks off to get married,” Albertse said.

“But I know I’m playing nicely and it’s just about trusting the process. It’s nice to see scores coming in though and luckily it all turned out in may favour today.

“I have a game-plan before the tournament which I try and follow, but some days are just better than others and you feel able to be more aggressive and it just works out.

“I gave myself quite a few opportunities today and just tried to be patient from the start. Having a birdie-bogey start wasn’t great, but after that things started to fall into place and I had an amazing stretch through the turn when I really hit second gear.

“It doesn’t happen often, but even then you just try and stay patient, although you take those runs with open arms. And it was an amazing drive on the first,” Albertse smiled.

Barker is another who has carried over his form from last season, when he broke through by finishing 22^ndon the order of merit and won the Stella Artois Players’ Championship at Dainfern Country Club.

The 25-year-old, who moved over to Titleist in the off-season, started his round with a birdie on the par-five 10^th. But he could only pick up more shots on the last two holes of the back nine, before coming home in style with four birdies in his last five holes to claim the lead before being overtaken by Albertse.

“It was a fantastic morning out there, I drove the ball very nicely and hit most of my targets. My wedges were pretty decent and I putted really well – my putts were in the low 20s,” Barker said.

Rookie Premlall was also highly-impressive with his 65. The 19-year-old finished his front nine with three birdies and an eagle, and then came home with birdies on the par-three 16^th and par-five 17^th holes.

IRENE, Tshwane – Wynand Dingle says his game is not yet 100% technically sound, but the 38-year-old still has the recipe for success as he took advantage of the receptive greens at the Irene Country Club and shot a seven-under-par 65 on Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am.

Dingle fired four birdies on each nine, following a bogey on the fourth hole he played, the 168m, par-three 13^th with its menacing bunker in front of the green.

Young Jovan Rebula was in the same three-ball that teed off at 7am on Thursday, and he matched Dingle with seven birdies and no bogeys on his card.

Dingle and Rebula enjoy a one-stroke lead over Louis Albertse and Englishman Jack Hawksby, who eagled the par-four first hole, his 10^th, to go with six birdies, but also had a couple of bogeys.

Seven-under 65 was a superb score on Thursday, but Dingle was not entirely satisfied.

“I didn’t have such a good start, it was cold in the morning and tough to get the body going and the ball didn’t go that far. And then I bogeyed my fourth hole,” Dingle said.

“But I got three birdies in a row straight afterwards and that kick-started my round, with another on 18 and then another three-in-a-row from the first. The greens are receptive and rolling nicely, you really can’t fault the course.

“One of my concerns though is my consistency is lacking a little bit. I need to get four rounds together and especially have better rounds on the weekend. Technically I’m not 100%, so when I’m under the gun I lose it a bit. It’s because technically I’m not totally sound.

“There are a few things bugging me in my swing and if I can correct those then it will stand up under pressure. But it’s not mental, it’s a technical thing,” Dingle said.

It was another fine day in the office for the in-form Neil Schietekat, who is top of The Courier Guy Order of Merit, as he shot a five-under 67 to share fifth place with Trevor Fisher Jnr.

Schietekat started slowly, reaching the turn at just one-under, but he then gathered four birdies on the back nine. 

Fisher Jnr began on the 10^th and had a poor bogey-bogey start, but he played his last 13 holes in seven-under-par.

It was a tough day for Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, the winner of last weekend’s Zanaco Masters in Zambia, as he shot a four-over 76.

LUSAKA, Zambia – Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi has won a couple of times on the Safari Tour, but on Sunday he clinched his first title of global significance when he won the Zanaco Masters at Lusaka Golf Club in a playoff over Neil Schietekat, in just his 11^th Sunshine Tour start.

Chinhoi, who began the day two shots off the lead, put himself in contention by collecting two birdies in a bogey-free front nine, and then claimed the lead with three more birdies on the back nine, before a pulled drive saw him bogey the 17^th and then only make par on the par-five final hole, leaving him with a 68 for 17-under-par for the tournament.

That was enough to get him into a playoff though, with Schietekat, the winner of the previous event on the Sunshine Tour, the FBC Zimbabwe Open a fortnight ago. Schietekat was six-under for his final round through 13 holes, roaring up the leaderboard, but he then made a crucial bogey on the par-four 14^th hole and then could only par his way in to the clubhouse.

The pair played the 515-metre 18^th hole again in the playoff and the 32-year-old Chinhoi produced an excellent tee-shot that left him 207 metres from the green. From there he hit a seven-iron short of the green, made sure he left his chip below the hole on the hard green, and calmly slotted a five-foot putt for birdie to claim the title, as the experienced Schietekat could only make par.

“I am just so grateful, I thank God, for this victory because it puts my name on the map,” a delighted Chinhoi said. “This win will be life and game-changing for me. I was getting tired of being in my comfort zone, I wanted to go away and play at another level. I managed to lift my game and this week has changed everything.”

While Chinhoi was superb off the tee on Sunday, he putted with computer-like accuracy under the pressure of the final round and a large crowd of contenders.

Young Ryan van Velzen birdied the 18^th hole to finish with the clubhouse lead on 16-under and then faced an anxious wait, but Chinhoi and Schietekat did not drop any further strokes, leaving the 21-year-old alone in third place.

Stefan Wears-Taylor was also in contention but then bogeyed the last to post a 69 that left him on 15-under, a score matched by Sean Bradley, who had reached 16-under by the 10^th hole, but then had seven straight pars and a bogey to finish.

Rupert Kaminski (65) and Trevor Fisher Jnr (66) were the other golfers to share fourth place on 15-under-par.

LUSAKA, Zambia – Sunshine Tour rookie David Wicks fired a bogey-free five-under-par 67 on Saturday for a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Zanaco Masters at Lusaka Golf Club, but even though a victory would make a world of difference for the Englishman’s career, he said winning is not that important for him on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Wicks previously competed on the EuroPro Tour, but last year decided to give up his professional career, before his management agency suggested he try the Sunshine Tour. Coming to Southern Africa has been a game-changer for Wicks, as he finished sixth in Q-School and then enjoyed his best performance as a professional in finishing in a tie for 15^thin the season-opening FBC Zimbabwe Open a fortnight ago.

A congested leaderboard now stands between him and a remarkable maiden victory, with at least a dozen golfers in with a shout for the title. While Wicks is on 15-under-par, Sean Bradley (-14), Robson Chinhoi (-13) and Stefan Wears-Taylor (-12) are leading the chasing pack.

Gerhard Trytsman and the in-form Neil Schietekat are on 11-under, while six golfers are on 10-under, including seasoned champion Hennie Otto and previous Tour winners in Jake Redman, Ryan van Velzen and Martin Rohwer.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to handle the nerves and emotions in the final round, but I am in a really happy spot at the moment and a happy golfer is tough to beat,” Wicks said.

“It doesn’t matter if I win or lose, as long as I stick to my process and keep smiling. If I do that, then it doesn’t matter to me if I win the tournament of not. I will still look back on the week as a success, because I’m confident that if I stick to my process then it will yield a win at some stage.

“It’s about building a foundation and winning for me is really irrelevant, it’s about sticking to my process, having fun, enjoying what I’m doing. And then I will add up my score at the end and see where I stand,” Wicks said.

While the likes of Bradley, who followed up his 64 in the second round with a 69 on Saturday that included two eagles and four birdies, Chinhoi (70, four birdies) and Wears-Taylor (71, five birdies) produced some scintillating play, Wicks showed there is sometimes no replacement for good, old-fashioned error-free golf.

“Going bogey-free was very important for me, both mentally and for my score. When other people are making lots of birdies and eagles, dropping even one shot can feel like a double-bogey,” Wicks said.

“Fortunately I did not make any silly mistakes to drop back, while amidst all the birdies on the rest of the leaderboard there were lots of bogeys and doubles too.

“My plan was to first and foremost make par and then go for birdie,” Wicks said.

It sounds like the sort of plan which could yield a life-changing victory on Sunday.

LUSAKA, Zambia – Stefan Wears-Taylor now really feels he belongs as one of the main contenders on the Sunshine Tour after his 2022/23 campaign, his fourth season in the professional ranks, was his most successful yet, so it was fitting that he says his mindset was his strongest attribute as he soared to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Zanaco Masters at the Lusaka Golf Club on Friday.

Wears-Taylor backed up his 67 on the first day with a fantastic six-under-par 66 on Friday, which lifted him to 11-under-par at the midway point of the tournament. The Centurion Country Club representative collected eight birdies in all, four of them in a row from the 15^th hole as he ended his opening nine in spectacular fashion.

He is not alone on 11-under-par, however, with Sean Bradley and Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi sharing the lead with him.

Bradley managed to fit in seven birdies and an eagle in his superb 64, while Chinhoi collected four birdies on the front nine in his 67.

Wears-Taylor finished 24^th on the order of merit last season and claimed his first Sunshine Tour title in the MediClinic Invitational on his home course in March. He then made a solid start to the new season by finishing 17^th in the FBC Zimbabwe Open. Friday’s round at a sunny Lusaka Golf Club was a continuation of that form.

“My attitude on the first two days is what I’m most proud of. I started the first round with a few errant shots to the left, which is unusual for me,” Wears-Taylor explained. “But I’ve just stayed patient and enjoyed my day out on the course, enjoying where I’m walking and there are some huge trees here which are fascinating.

“I’ve just been staying positive because this golf course is going to bite you if you make mistakes. I started on the 10^th and I had a productive morning, slowly building momentum until I had the wind in my sails and then some putts fell in the last few holes and I hit a very nice Sand-Wedge to three feet on the 17^th.

“Things slowed down a little after the turn, unfortunately I made some soft mistakes, but that will happen on this tough course. There are tight tee shots on both nines and visually, you have overhanging trees which makes it complicated for the eye. And it’s definitely simpler hitting from the fairways because the greens are tough with firm bounces if you don’t get spin.

“But I’ve built up experience over the last couple of years. It takes time to find your feet on tour, especially because I didn’t have any real amateur background.

“It’s taken time to get to where I am, but I am seeing steady growth and learning more about myself both as a player and a person. I’m really enjoying the journey and hopefully it leads to a long and fruitful career,” Wears-Taylor said.

Chinhoi said his ball-striking and approaches to the greens were his strong points on Friday.

“It was a good day for me, I’m so happy with how I am striking the ball and my control on the greens. The trick though is off the tee, I used Driver on most holes and I was just trying to be more aggressive.

“I am so grateful to see my name at the top of the leaderboard and I will keep to the same strategy and just try to keep it rolling. It shows that I am just as good as everyone here and I will just keep focusing and pressing,” Chinhoi said.

First-round leaders Neil Schietekat and David Wicks are still strongly placed just one shot off the leaders after they both shot three-under 69s on Friday, and Trevor Fisher Jnr (67) and Malcolm Mitchell (65) are a stroke further back.

LUSAKA, Zambia – David Wicks is an Englishman playing in just his second Sunshine Tour event, having decided six months ago to give up professional golf, but on Thursday he found himself on top of the leaderboard at the Zanaco Masters at Lusaka Golf Club in Zambia, following his outstanding opening round of seven-under-par 65.

Wicks’s bogey-free round was matched late in the day by Neil Schietekat, the winner of the FBC Zimbabwe Open, the previous Sunshine Tour event a fortnight ago. The pair hold a one shot lead over Robson Chinhoi, while Ryan van Velzen, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Jake Redman and Luke Trochado all shot five-under 67s.

Wicks had been competing on the EuroPro Tour, but was going to call time on his career as a touring pro when his management agency suggested he try out the Sunshine Tour. He went to Q-School last month and finished sixth. The St John’s County resident then enjoyed a very solid debut event on tour as he finished tied-15th in the FBC Zimbabwe Open in Harare.

The 29-year-old Wicks started on the 10th hole at Lusaka Golf Club on Thursday and collected four birdies on his front nine and then another three coming home. Wicks said ensuring he stayed in the fairways was a key focus.

“I was going to quit golf six months ago, but then I heard really good things about the Sunshine Tour from my management agency, they told me about the opportunities out here, the lifestyle and how well run the tour is. It’s been a great experience so far with how well the tour delivers to the
players and the fans, and the media production.

“The tour goes above and beyond and I’m really happy to be playing on it. I get to travel around Africa with my girlfriend, Megan Barone, on the bag.

“I was able to build some confidence at Q-School and in Zimbabwe, and my game is definitely trending in a good direction. I’m just staying in the process and ensuring I don’t make silly errors.

“Lusaka Golf Club is a tough test, you have to come in from the fairways due to the firmness of the greens. You’ll have lots of problems here if you miss the fairway, so that was my goal, putting a high price on hitting them and using lofted wedges into the green. You have to try and get the ball to
spin, you’re hoping you don’t get big bounces,” Wicks said.

Schietekat, still delighting in the relief of winning his first Sunshine Tour title since 2018 in Zimbabwe, was one-under through six holes, but then his game really began to purr like a well-oiled machine. He picked up four birdies in the next five holes around the turn, and also posted fours on the par-five 13th and 18th holes.

Van Velzen was also going extremely well on seven-under at one stage, but then double-bogeyed his penultimate hole, the par-four eighth, to drop back to five-under.

Ockie Strydom will make his Major Championship debut as one of four South Africans in the field for this week’s 105^thPGA Championship which tees off at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, on Thursday.

Strydom said he is determined not to let the occasion change his focus for the week.

“I’m trying not to approach anything differently. It definitely sounds nice to say I’m playing in Majors, and it’s a word that changes the mindset. But I’ll try and approach it as just another golf tournament where I have the opportunity to play against the best players in the world.”

Strydom will be joined in the field by Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Thriston Lawrence and Dean Burmester.

Lawrence will also be making his debut in the PGA Championship but is playing in the second Major of his career.

Bezuidenhout will be playing in his fourth PGA Championship, with his best finish in this Major being tied 30^th in 2021.

Burmester will tee it up in his third PGA Championship having finished tied 59^th in 2021 and missed the cut last year.

The quartet will be looking to claim the first Southern African victory in this Major since Zimbabwean Nick Price in 1994. Price won the PGA Championship twice in his career in 1992 and 1994 and holds the third-largest margin of victory in the history of this Major with his six-stroke triumph in 1994.

Gary Player claimed his two PGA Championship titles a decade apart in 1962 and 1972 and shares the record for the lowest 18-hole score in this Major of 63 which he shot in the second round in 1984. – Michael Vlismas

The Sunshine Tour is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Brian Henning, a man who stood as the cornerstone upon which the Sunshine Tour was built and a pioneer of the success it now enjoys.

Brian was instrumental in the founding of the Sunshine Tour and served as our first Commissioner.

He worked tirelessly to grow the Sunshine Tour, and to this end convinced some of the world’s leading professional golfers to compete here in the early days of the Tour, including Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Lanny Wadkins and Lee Elder.

Brian was himself a competent professional golfer and hailed from the famous family of Henning brothers including Harold, Allan and Graham, and who all played the game professionally.

But it was in the administration of professional touring golf that Brian found his true calling and passion.

Having established the Sunshine Tour, Brian emigrated to the United States and worked with Deane Beman in founding the extremely successful senior tour there, now called the PGA Tour Champions.

Brian’s contribution to the Sunshine Tour has been invaluable, and his contribution to professional golf is another proud moment in the history of the South African game.

The Courier Guy has delivered an exciting new partnership in South African professional golf, with the Sunshine Tour’s season points ranking now to be known as the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

The new partnership brings together South Africa’s leading courier service provider with a Sunshine Tour that is a leader in its field, in the shared pursuit of greatness.

The partnership will showcase this continued pursuit for excellence throughout the season. The leading three professionals on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy will have the official logo displayed next to their names throughout the season on the official SuperSport broadcasts, and their caddies will also wear bibs displaying the logo and their players’ positions of first, second or third on the ranking.

A further incentive this season will be that the top three professionals at the end of the season will receive an added bonus, with R500 000 going to the first-placed finisher, followed by R200 000 for second and R100 000 for third place. This will be on top of their season’s earnings.

“We’re all about excellence and that’s exactly what the Order of Merit is – a recognition of consistent excellence. In the fast-paced world of logistics you have to be on your game and it’s exactly the same with professional golf. The standards are so high, the competition so stiff and the margin for error so small that you just can’t afford to have a bad day. We can totally identify with this, which is why we’ve decided to come on board with the Sunshine Tour,” said Simon Hill, head of Marketing for The Courier Guy.

“Much like the Sunshine Tour, The Courier Guy is one hundred per cent homegrown and very proudly so. We also believe in the pillars of golf – honesty, trust, integrity. These are fundamental when it comes to running a business and it’s precisely how we run ours. So it makes sense on a number of levels, and the fact that we’re keen golfers ourselves doesn’t hurt either.”

Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, welcomed the new partnership at the start of the Tour’s 2023/24 season.

“The Courier Guy is such a well-established brand and we’re delighted to have such a passionate business as a partner. The Sunshine Tour has always aligned itself with the very best brands in our own pursuit to deliver the best product we can in professional golf. The Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy is a valuable addition to our Tour, and we cannot think of anybody better to help us deliver greatness on our fairways than South Africa’s leading courier services company.”

With a passion for golf and an equal passion for always pushing the boundaries to do new and exciting things in their own industry, The Courier Guy has hinted at further possible enhancements of their relationship with the Sunshine Tour in the future.

“We’re a brand that likes to do things differently. Like the Sunshine Tour, we’re expanding on and embarking on new and exciting things all the time. So watch this space,” said Hill.

Beloved South African professional golfer John Bland, who won 36 titles in a celebrated career, passed away shortly after 6am on Tuesday 9 May 2023.

Bland (77) passed away in a hospital in George after a battle with cancer, with his family and his bulldog Handsome by his side.

“As a family we are relieved that John’s suffering is over,” said his wife, Sonja.

“I met John 25 years ago and I knew immediately what a special man he was. The support and loving we have received from his lifelong friends during this time has been incredible and we are all grateful that John is now at peace.”

Bland began his professional career in 1969 and was one of the leading golfers and most loved figures on the Sunshine Tour and international circuit for decades.

He followed in the footsteps of some of South Africa’s greatest ever golfers by winning the 1970 Transvaal Open, joining a list of champions that included Sid and Jock Brews, Bobby Locke and Gary Player. In 1977 Bland beat Player to win the South African PGA Championship. He also won the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit title four times.

Bland was a two-time winner on the DP World Tour (European Tour) and achieved a career-high ranking of 48^th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Bland’s senior golf career was equally impressive as he won five times on the PGA Tour Champions and three times on the Legends Tour.

Tributes have poured in worldwide for one of the most loved and respected South African sportsmen.