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The tagline for the 2024 Jonsson Workwear Open is “Iron and Grit”. South Africa’s Keenan Davidse has had to show exactly this as he’s worked through an extremely difficult time in his personal life, but ended Thursday’s first round of this tournament a content man both inside and outside the ropes.

Davidse signed for an eight-under-par 64 at Glendower Golf Club to share the lead with Spain’s Ivan Cantero. They are one stroke clear of a strong South African challenge including Thriston Lawrence, Oliver Bekker and Louis de Jager, with the in-form Robin Williams just two shots back.

Davidse was delighted with his start in this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned tournament, and spoke with a sense of relief at feeling a balance in his life and game again.

“I’m on a good foot again. We’ve had some personal challenges as a family and it’s been tough, but we’ve overcome it. That’s my motivation at the moment – my wife and my kids. We all know it’s a tough life out on tour. Golf can bring you down. But with my family and my golf I’m in a good space, and I think that’s what’s motivating me,” said Davidse.

The South African is no stranger to leading a DP World Tour co-sanctioned event, having also done so in the 2017 Joburg Open. But it’s a lesson he learnt last week, where he finished tied 16^th in the SDC Championship, that he’s tried to bring into his game here.

“I made 27 birdies last week to finish 16^th. I made nine birdies today and one bogey, so I told myself if you limit the bogeys you can score because I make enough birdies,” he said.

Behind him lies the experience of multiple DP World Tour winner Lawrence, who was equally pleased with one of his best opening rounds of late.

“I just had a great day. I had fun and stayed patient and it worked out pretty nicely. I don’t think I’ve shot seven under in a first round in a while. To be up there on day one really helps me. I know I’m good over a weekend, but it’s important if you want to win to go low on day one.”

And on six under par, Williams finds himself in contention for a maiden DP World Tour title for the second week in succession after losing a playoff for last week’s SDC Championship.

“I had time to reflect on last week. This week is a new week on a course I enjoy so I’m looking forward to it. I feel this golf course suits me. Getting so close last week shows that what I’m working on is right and hopefully it’s just a matter of time.” – Michael Vlismas.

Birdies for Rhinos, the vision of Sunshine Tour professional Justin Walters in aid of rhino conservation, celebrated its latest champion ahead of this week’s Jonsson Workwear Open at Glendower Golf Club.

Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard Moller added his name to the spectacular rhino trophy after making 417 birdies last year. The money raised by the professionals is donated to Connected Conservation in aid of rhino conversation.

“It feels really good to make a difference,” said Moller.

“I’m from Denmark so I’m far away from where this is all happening, but animals have always been close to my heart and this was an initiative where  I could not just talk about making a difference but actually do something. I feel very proud to be part of it.”

Walters was delighted to hand over the trophy to Moller.

“Niklas is a wonderful player and the rhinos are very happy he’s on board with us. He also the prize to Sabi Sands Game Reserve,” Walters said of an initiative he remains extremely proud of.

“It’s about raising money and awareness for the plight of rhinos. It’s a small part that the professionals on the various tours make. They donate money for every birdie they make in the year and we pool the money and hand it over to Connected Conservation, who have made wonderful strides in protecting wildlife around the world. It started as something small and its gathering momentum now. Tommy Fleetwood came on board last year and he’s brought a lot of clout with him.”

Bruce “Doc” Watson, the Executive Chairman of the Connected Conservation Foundation, also praised the work of the professionals in supporting their cause.

“It’s making a big impact. We now cover 29 reserves primarily in Africa and the East, and this makes a dramatic difference in the work we do.”

Dylan Frittelli won his first DP World Tour title in six years with a two-shot triumph at the Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies.

The South African started the final day at Royal Golf Club with a two-shot lead but was overtaken at the turn and two over for the day after 12 holes as a host of players staked a claim for the trophy.

Frittelli is not a winner on the DP World, PGA and European Challenge Tours for nothing, though, and he made three birdies in four holes from the 13th, signing for a 71 and finishing at 13 under.

Countryman Zander Lombard and Swede Jesper Svensson were his nearest challengers after rounds of 68 and 70 respectively, two shots clear of another South African in Ockie Strydom and Frenchman Frederic Lacroix.

Frittelli enjoyed a fine amateur career, holing the winning putt as the University of Texas won the national collegiate championship in the United States in 2012.

A Challenge Tour graduate in 2016, he won the LYONESS OPEN powered by ORGANIC+ and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in 2017 before moving to the PGA TOUR and taking the title at the 2019 John Deere Classic.

After a difficult 2023 which left him contemplating his future, he said this week he was “invigorated” to be back on the DP World Tour after taking up a route for those who finished outside the top 125 on the FedExCup Fall Points List and he has now been rewarded with a first worldwide victory since the summer of 2019.

“It feels great, it feels awesome,” said Frittelli, who missed the cut or withdrew from 23 of his 27 starts on the PGA TOUR last season. “It’s been a long road the last five or six years since I left the DP World Tour and went to the States. It was a pretty tough year last year in America but it feels awesome to back on top right now.

“Last year I was in a couple of spots where I thought I was giving the game up to be honest and looking for something else.

“I found some resolve at the end of last year and got some good work from my physio and my coaches and trainers. I’m glad I persevered and all the support from family and friends has been well worth it.”

He added: “I think it shows my mental toughness, it shows the focus I have and those things that you can’t really quantify. I was swinging it great all week and then all of a sudden couldn’t hit it on the planet on the Sunday round so I’m glad I managed to have the resolve.”

Svensson started the day three shots off the lead but a 24-footer at the second and a lovely approach using the contours of the green at the fourth had him within one.

Strydom recovered from a bogey on the fifth with an approach to 14 feet at the next and an excellent tee-shot on the seventh, and that had him in a three-way tie as Frittelli three-putted the par three.

Svensson and Strydom then both took advantage of the par-five ninth – Svensson finding the green in two and Strydom holing a 21-footer to get up and down – but the 39-year-old bogeyed the tenth and 11th to fall back.

Svensson also dropped a shot on the 11th after sending his tee-shot right but Frittelli missed the green on the 12th to leave him alone at the top.

At that point Frittelli was in a four-way tie one shot off the lead but it was soon a three-man group as Lombard moved to the summit.

After a bogey on the first, the 29-year-old birdied the third after laying up, put an approach to 11 feet at the fifth and got up and down on the ninth.

A tee-shot to tap-in range on the 12th had him in double figures and two putts on the 14th had him on top but Svensson made a two-putt gain of his own on the 13th to edge back ahead.

A three-putt from over 80 feet on the 15th dropped Lombard two back and Frittelli was once again the nearest challenger after a smart up and down on the 13th.

Svensson then made an awful mess of the 14th, going from waste area to sand to a tricky lie as he dropped a shot, handing the lead back to Frittelli who made a two-putt gain after a 398-yard tee-shot.

A 42-foot putt on the 16th moved Frittelli two ahead and while Lombard birdied the 17th from eight feet, he had to settle for a seventh DP World Tour runner-up finish as the leader held his nerve.

Strydom bogeyed the 15th on his way home in a 73, while Lacroix had a birdie-birdie finish in his 70.

Canadian Aaron Cockerill and Swede Sebastian Söderberg finished at eight under, a shot clear of Danes Rasmus Højgaard and Niklas Nørgaard, Swiss Joel Girrbach and Frenchman Julien Guerrier. – DP World Tour

After seven editions, the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open has made an undoubted impact inside the ropes as one of the most popular Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned tournaments, but it’s impact outside the ropes on the youth of Mauritius is also being felt.

This year’s tournament at the spectacular La Réserve Golf Links included a golf clinic in association with the Mauritius Golf Federation, the AfrAsia Bank Foundation and the local chapter of the global charity Caritas.

Roughly 50 children from diverse backgrounds gathered on the driving range and were given an introduction to golf by several professionals who competed this week as part of a general focus on growing the game amongst the youth on the island.

And the enthusiasm for the game of those who attended surprised even Dylan Frittelli, a former winner of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

“It’s amazing to see how once they’ve figured out the grip and the swing and they hit a good shot, they turn around to their friends and you can just see the pure joy on their faces. Seeing that is pretty cool for us as professionals as well,” said Frittelli.

It’s a feeling Frittelli himself remembers.

“I can remember being six years old and for the first time hitting a ball out of the middle of the club, and that feeling just running through your hands and up your arms. That’s the feeling that made me want to always go back to the driving range and made me wake my dad up early in the morning to take me.

“That feeling when you strike a golf ball well for the first time wasn’t a feeling I’d ever had playing any other sports. It’s good to see just how keen the kids here are on golf.”

The golf clinic in partnership with the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open provides a seamless pathway that allows a young Mauritius golfer to be exposed to the game and then see at the highest level where it could take him or her.

And it’s clearly working as the tournament’s aspirational effect has increased participation in golf on the island.

“When we look at the figures, we can see a significant increase in the number of licenses,” said Yannick Merven, President of the Mauritius Golf Federation (MGF). “Compared to last year we have a more than 12% increase in licenses, and especially amongst the juniors where we are seeing growth of more than 25%. The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open definitely contributes to this growth of the game. This tournament creates dreams for our younger generation and for young Mauritians to one day want to compete on tour.”