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BENONI, Gauteng – Pieter Moolman claimed his maiden victory on the Sunshine Tour when he beat Jayden Schaper in a playoff to win the inaugural Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links on Sunday.

Moolman started the final round three shots behind Schaper. As he reached the final hole in regulation play, he was three-under for his round, having mixed five birdies with two bogeys, and looked like falling just short on 12-under-par as Schaper was already on 14-under-par.

But the 31-year-old Moolman hit an excellent drive and a superb approach shot on the par-five 18^th to 10 feet from the hole, and nailed the eagle putt to vault to 14-under.

Schaper then bogeyed the par-four 17^th but made birdie at the last to force a playoff with an excellent up-and-down after short-siding himself.

Moolman again hit a brilliant second in the playoff, finishing just off the green after being in the semi-rough on a mound. He would chip and sink a four-foot putt for birdie, while Schaper was unfortunate that his approach shot took a hard first bounce and ran through the green. The 21-year-old then missed his 10-footer for birdie, handing Moolman the win.

“I’ve lost a few times in these situations, but I’ve played better golf a few times than I did today,” Moolman said. “So to get over the line is really special and it shows that it does not take a perfect performance to win. It’s more mental, about believing you can still put a score on the board if you’re playing average golf, when your swing is not really there. I just had to stay in the moment and commit to what I was doing, take it shot-for-shot.”

Schaper will look back on a level-par back nine, which featured bogeys at the par-three 11^th and the penultimate hole, as having cost him, but he showed tremendous determination and character in birdieing the last hole to get into the playoff.

For Moolman, who like Schaper is based in Benoni and knows the Ebotse Links well, the win will give him great confidence heading into the big summer events. He has finished runner-up twice before this year, including at the Tour Championship at nearby Serengeti Estate.

“I’ve been playing solid golf for a while and I played solid enough the whole week, I was just trying to give myself opportunities, keep the ball in play and give myself a chance,” Moolman said.

“Finishing second at the Wild Coast a few weeks back, I made some mistakes down the back nine, but I learnt from that and how to stay strong. Now that I’ve won, you start believing you can win again and that you belong here. I’m looking forward to the summer events,” said Moolman, who will go down in Sunshine Tour history as the inaugural Fortress Invitational champion.

“Firstly, a huge congratulations to Pieter Moolman on his first win. The level of play has been brilliant. It’s been so impressive to watch the professionals shoot the low scores we have seen over the last three days on such a challenging course. Ebotse Links have been great hosts throughout the tournament and nothing has been too much trouble. We have thoroughly enjoyed our first year of sponsorship of the Fortress Invitational and helping to power growth in golf in South Africa,” said Steven Brown, CEO of Fortress Real Estate.

Although he finished fourth, two shots off the pace, Sean Bradley will remember the final round for a long time as he began with a double-bogey at the first hole, but then made a hole-in-one at the par-three eighth. He then rounded off his round with a massive eagle putt, from off the green, on the last hole, finishing with a 63 that put him right into contention.

American Dan Erickson claimed third place on 13-under, signing for a 67 after he could only make par on the last three holes.

BENONI, Gauteng – Jayden Schaper enjoyed a three-shot lead, but Makhetha Mazibuko was building a strong challenge, when dangerous weather caused the second round of the Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links to be suspended on Saturday afternoon.

Schaper, who was in a three-way tie for the lead after a first-round 65, separated himself on Saturday with another fine round, a five-under-par 67 lifting him to 12-under for the tournament, going into Sunday’s final round.

Two birdies and a bogey on the front nine saw Schaper reach the turn just one-under, but he blossomed on the back nine with four birdies to pull away from the field.

“I had a steady start, I was hitting the ball well and I just left a couple of putts in the jaws of the hole. But I just stayed patient and it was pretty much another solid all-round game. It was more difficult today, the wind was up and that makes the course a lot tougher,” Schaper said.

But Mazibuko is on nine-under-par, tied in second place with Richard Joubert (69), and he still has six holes to play when the second round resumes at 7am on Sunday.

The 34-year-old from Bloemfontein Golf Club is three-under for his round, all three birdies coming on the front nine.

Schaper will be chasing his first Sunshine Tour title on Sunday, with the final round being played to a two-tee, three-ball format. The 21-year-old enjoyed a prolific amateur career and it will be remembered that he was touted as South African golf’s next big thing when he finished second in the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

“I guess there will be some added pressure, but I’ll be saying to myself that there is no difference between a Sunshine Tour event or an amateur tournament. It’s the same as any round of golf.

“Playing at my home course at Ebotse will also keep me calm because I know the course well. I’m looking forward to it, I’m going to enjoy it and if it’s my day then I’ll take it,” Schaper said.

The other first-round leaders went backwards on the second day, with Ockie Strydom shooting a level-par 72 and staying on seven-under, which is now in a tie for fifth, while Clinton Grobler is four-over-par through 12 holes, having double-bogeyed his last two holes to be nine shots off the pace.

BENONI, Gauteng – Jayden Schaper enjoyed an excellent day on his home course of Ebotse Links as all aspects of his game came through for him in a seven-under-par 65 that gave him a share of the lead with Clinton Grobler and Ockie Strydom after the first round of the Fortress Invitational on Friday.

The highly-promising Schaper began his round on the 10^th hole with a birdie, and followed that up with consecutive gains on the 12^th and 13^th holes. A marvellous outgoing nine holes was capped by birdies at the par-three 15^th and par-five 18^th, seeing him go to the turn in just 31 strokes.

Schaper picked up three more birdies in four holes from the fourth, and even a bogey at the par-three eighth could not put a damper on a superb round of golf.

“Playing on my home course is a bit of an advantage because I know where certain pins are, where to miss and which bunkers to avoid,” Schaper said after his best round of the Sunshine Tour season so far.

“But you’ve still got to hit the ball well, hit the shots and make the putts. In the last couple of weeks, my tee-to-green play has been solid and I’ve been slowly getting better on the greens too.

“Today I just played really solid golf, I made good decisions and hit some really good shots. I was consistent today,” Schaper said.

The return of long-time coach Grant Veenstra from the United States may also have played a role in the impressive showing, with Schaper saying “it was the first week I’ve seen him in the last couple of months and it was really good to have him back to help out.”

Grobler, the 28-year-old Krugersdorp golfer, also started on the 10^th and began the round with three straight birdies, while bogeying the 17^th and fourth holes on the way to his 65. The highlight of his round was his eagle-three on the 18^th.

The in-form Strydom, from the nearby Serengeti Estate, cruised through the front nine in four-under-par, but then the rollercoaster began: The 37-year-old bogeyed the par-four 10^th, then grabbed a hat-trick of birdies from the 12^th, dropped a shot at 17, but then finished spectacularly with an eagle on the last hole to vault into a share of the lead.

The leaderboard is congested, with five golfers shooting 66, including the veteran Hennie Otto, the American Dan Erickson, the amateur Kyle de Beer, as well as Makhetha Mazibuko and Richard Joubert.

Wynand Dingle, the winner of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series San Lameer event three weeks ago, is in the group on five-under-par.

ST ANDREWS, Scotland – Sunshine Tour professional Christiaan Burke was at a loss for words to describe the feeling of walking up the 18^th on the Old Course in the final round of his first DP World Tour event during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday.

“It was amazing. I actually can’t describe it. It was just an amazing feeling,” said Burke, who finished tied 48^th on three under par in his debut in this tournament. New Zealand’s Ryan Fox took the title on 15 under par.

The Sunshine Tour rookie had two good rounds of 66 and 65 and then two 77s for his first taste of pure links golf at the highest level of the game.

“I finished fifth in the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge at the Wild Coast Sun before this, and that gave me quite a bit of confidence playing in the wind this week. I’m pleased with my overall performance. I’m very happy to have made the cut in my first DP World Tour event. I started well and then the second day was tough in the bad weather. The third round went well and then in the final round nothing went my way, but that’s golf.

“I love these golf courses. You just need to soak it all in. The history of the Old Course, the views at Kingsbarns and then Carnoustie where they’ve played The Open a couple of times – it’s just special.”

While not the finish he was hoping for, the experience has given him plenty of confidence as he now heads back to the Sunshine Tour and prepares for the big summer events.

“I’m feeling confident for the summer to come. I’m really keen for the next couple of tournaments on the Sunshine Tour.”

His first tournament back on the Sunshine Tour will be this week’s Fortress Invitational and Burke’s experience from this week will certainly make him one of the favourites.

The venue is none other than the Ebotse Links. – By Michael Vlismas

Sunshine Tour professional Christiaan Burke was at a loss for words to describe the feeling of walking up the 18^th on the Old Course in the final round of his first DP World Tour event during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday.

“It was amazing. I actually can’t describe it. It was just an amazing feeling,” said Burke, who finished tied 48^th on three under par in his debut in this tournament. New Zealand’s Ryan Fox took the title on 15 under par.

The Sunshine Tour rookie had two good rounds of 66 and 65 and then two 77s for his first taste of pure links golf at the highest level of the game.

“I finished fifth in the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge at the Wild Coast Sun before this, and that gave me quite a bit of confidence playing in the wind this week. I’m pleased with my overall performance. I’m very happy to have made the cut in my first DP World Tour event. I started well and then the second day was tough in the bad weather. The third round went well and then in the final round nothing went my way, but that’s golf.

“I love these golf courses. You just need to soak it all in. The history of the Old Course, the views at Kingsbarns and then Carnoustie where they’ve played The Open a couple of times – it’s just special.”

While not the finish he was hoping for, the experience has given him plenty of confidence as he now heads back to the Sunshine Tour and prepares for the big summer events.

“I’m feeling confident for the summer to come. I’m really keen for the next couple of tournaments on the Sunshine Tour.”

His first tournament back on the Sunshine Tour will be this week’s Fortress Invitational and Burke’s experience from this week will certainly make him one of the favourites.

The venue is none other than the Ebotse Links. – Michael Vlismas

Golf can be a terribly cruel game at times and while leader Ockie Strydom was busy racking up a quadruple-bogey eight at the par-four 11^th hole, Ruan Korb was putting the finishing touches to his brilliant round of 63 by sinking yet another birdie putt on the final hole to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf St Francis Links tournament on Saturday.

Korb’s third successive birdie, to go with two-in-a-row on the 12^th and 13^thholes, saw him shoot an astonishing nine-under-par in the final round, leaving him on 13-under-par for the tournament.

Strydom had been on 15-under before the awful shock of his eight on the 11^th, and thereafter he could only par his way through to the close, settling for a level-par 72 after being four-under at the turn. That left the 37-year-old in second place on 11-under, two behind Korb.

Veteran Doug McGuigan also challenged for the title, but bogeyed the last two holes when pushing for birdies to tie Korb, with the 52-year-old closing with a 71 that left him on nine-under and in third place for the tournament.

The 28-year-old Korb admitted that it was just one of those idyllic days when every putt he looked at, he seemed to sink.

“I really enjoyed myself out there today, the weather was better and my putting was definitely the main reason for my win, every putt just seemed to find the bottom of the cup,” Korb said.

“My putting was certainly much better than when I finished second in the SunBet Challenge Time Square in August.”

The Silver Lakes golfer, who had begun the final round seven shots off the pace, had picked up decent momentum on the front nine with three birdies and a bogey in his first four holes, but he really began pushing for the title with a brilliant run that saw him eagle the par-five sixth and then pick up shots at the next two holes.

He was now 10-under for the tournament and in striking distance, but his charge was reversed as he had a 15-minute delay at the ninth tee while the group in front searched for balls. Korb lost concentration and bogeyed both nine and 10.

“I said before the round that if I could get to 14-under then I would have a chance, but waiting on the ninth was a bit of a momentum-breaker,” Korb said.

“But after those two bogeys I just tried to get calm and said to my caddie that we have to do something now otherwise the win is going to get away from us.”

Knowing he had to be positive, Korb birdied both the par-four 12^th and the par-five 13^th into the westerly wind, and then, with holes 16 and 17 heading in the opposite direction, he took advantage with two more birdies.

The three on the par-four 18^th was the icing on the cake for his second Sunshine Tour victory, his first coming at the Time Square Casino Challenge at Wingate Park Country Club in 2020.

“It’s a big confidence-booster to win at this time of year, with the big summer events coming up,” Korb said.

SCORES:

203 – Ruan Korb 71 69 63

205 – Ockie Strydom 66 67 72

207 – Doug McGuigan 69 67 71

208 – Hennie O’Kennedy 69 68 71

209 – Dylan Naidoo 67 67 75

210 – Bradley Bawden 72 68 70, Jayden Schaper 72 67 71, Brooklin Bailey 67 72 71, Heinrich Bruiners 65 74 71, Keenan Davidse 70 67 73

212 – Dan Erickson 69 72 71, Christiaan Basson 73 68 71, Jaco Prinsloo 67 72 73

213 – Luca Filippi 71 75 67, Wynand Dingle 72 73 68, Adam Breen 70 73 70, Hennie Otto 70 70 73, Riekus Nortje 72 67 74

214 – Jacques P de Villiers 72 73 69, Estiaan Conradie 71 71 72, MJ Viljoen 73 69 72, Herman Loubser 75 67 72

215 – James Kamte 71 69 75, Peter Karmis 69 70 76

216 – Therion Nel 72 74 70

217 – Lyle Rowe 69 77 71, Pieter Moolman 70 74 73, Kyle Barker 73 71 73, Matthew Spacey 70 72 75, Steve Surry 69 73 75, Dean O’Riley 69 70 78

218 – Rupert Kaminski 76 70 72, Jean Hugo 70 75 73

219 – Madalitso Muthiya 70 76 73, Jacques Blaauw 75 70 74, Luke Jerling 69 70 80, Jake Redman 70 69 80

220 – Wallie Coetsee 72 73 75, Sean Cronje 74 71 75, Callum Mowat 75 69 76

221 – Michael Kok 76 70 75, Richard Joubert 78 68 75, Kevin Rhoderick 70 71 80

223 – Maverick Faber 76 69 78

224 – Aneurin Gounden 72 74 78, Sean Bradley 71 74 79, Nikhil Rama 70 73 81

225 – Danie Van Niekerk 71 75 79

227 – Clancy Waugh 74 72 81

CAPE ST FRANCIS, Eastern Cape – Ockie Strydom woke up on Friday morning and thought it was going to be a wet and miserable at the St Francis Links, but it ended up being a happy day for the 37-year-old as he was sitting high, and dry, at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event there.

Strydom shot a five-under-par 67 on Friday to go to 11-under for the tournament, leading Dylan Naidoo, who also shot a 67, by one stroke.

“When I woke up this morning, I thought it was going to be a very wet day and driving to the course, I kept wondering if I should turn back and get my rain shoes,” Strydom said.

“In the end I didn’t drive back and it was as wet as it can be when we started the round. But it actually turned into a lovely day in the end. It was overcast, but the wind largely stayed away, until it came up a bit again with five holes to go on the back nine.”

Strydom, who began the day one stroke off the lead, made a quiet start to his round with just a single birdie on the front nine, coming at the par-five third hole.

It was actually a bogey – his only one of the day – at the par-four 11th that gave birth to an astonishing run of five successive birdies from the 12th that gave the Serengeti Golf Estate golfer the lead.

“I made sure I played good golf into the wind, but on the first nine I kept hitting all my putts short. Then on 11 I had a 15-foot birdie putt and I told my caddie there’s no way I’m leaving it short. So I hit it eight foot past and then missed the putt coming back,” Strydom explained.

“So I had a harsh little chat with myself walking to the next tee, I thought I must get something going now, take advantage of being downwind and give myself a cushion for the last hole when you’re back into the wind.”

Apart from Naidoo, the other golfers chasing Strydom on the final day will be Doug McGuigan (67) on eight-under-par and Hennie O’Kennedy (68) and Keenan Davidse (67) on seven-under.

Strydom has been leading many times before and he knows what he has to do.

“I’m just going to do the same as I’m doing at the moment. Try keep the ball in play and hit the greens. If I can make five putts, be five-under tomorrow then I’ll be in with a good shout. I must just be patient,” Strydom said.

Heinrich Bruiners grew up in George, a little more than three hours along the N2 in a westerly direction from Cape St Francis, so a little bit of blustery wind is never going to give him grey hairs.

So although the wind almost reached 30km/h on the opening day of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series at the St Francis Links on Thursday, it was no bother for Bruiners as he cruised to a marvellous, bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 to claim a one-stroke lead after the first round.

Things became a little gory for the rest of the field though, with only 31 of the 83 golfers ending the first day under par. Bruiners’ nearest challengers are Serengeti’s Ockie Strydom (66), and American Brooklin Bailey and a pair of South Africans in Dylan Naidoo and Jaco Prinsloo on 67.

“It was a bit windy today, but not too bad, just one or two clubs. Growing up on the coast, I’ve played a lot of tournaments in these conditions. I tend to focus a bit better because you have to be a bit more specific, otherwise it’s so easy to make a mistake in the wind.

“But playing in the wind feels like a bit of an advantage for me, to be honest, and I have a lower ball-flight than most,” Bruiners said.

Apart from playing what he described as his “worst two rounds for the year” in the preceding pro-am event, Bruiners has felt that he has been playing good golf, but has committed the sin of not capitalising when it comes to his final score.

On Thursday he put that right with three birdies on his front nine as he went off on the 10^th and then four more on his back nine, including three-in-a-row from the fourth.

“I’m very happy because in the last while, I’ve been playing really well but I just didn’t end off rounds the way I would like. I made a good birdie on 11 today, which is quite a tough hole, so it was nice to get off to a good start.

“The next few holes were also downwind and I was glad I capitalised because I was thinking the wind was going to pick up. I hit two very good shots for birdies on the first and fourth holes.

“Then there were more holes into the wind coming in, but I tried to be aggressive. Last week I was in contention in the SunBet Challenge Wild Coast, but I became a bit defensive down the stretch. So I tried to be a bit more positive today.

“It ended up being a really solid round, no drops because I made a really nice putt for par on the seventh. It’s the first time in a while I’ve sunk a putt like that, so it meant a lot.

“In fact this must be one of my most memorable rounds. I’ve played a few good rounds, but this one I’ll remember,” a delighted Bruiners said.

Strydom also started on the 10^th and had a much slower start to his ascent up the leaderboard, being just one-under at the turn. The first three holes at St Francis Links are deceptive, but the 37-year-old birdied all three for a great start to his back nine. Strydom also picked up shots on the fifth, sixth and eighth holes for a top-class round of golf.

Bailey also made a leap up the leaderboard on the front nine, also collecting five birdies.

SCORES:

65 – Heinrich Bruiners

66 – Ockie Strydom

67 – Brooklin Bailey, Dylan Naidoo, Jaco Prinsloo

69 – Toto Thimba Jnr, Steve Surry, Dan Erickson, Luke Jerling, Lyle Rowe, Dean O’Riley, Peter Karmis, Hennie O’Kennedy, Doug McGuigan

70 – Kevin Rhoderick, Nikhil Rama, Keenan Davidse, Pieter Moolman, Hennie Otto, Matthew Spacey, Jake Redman, Jean Hugo, Adam Breen, Madalitso Muthiya

71 – Danie Van Niekerk, Estiaan Conradie, Sean Bradley, James Kamte, Ruan Korb, Dylan Mostert, Luca Filippi

72 – Aneurin Gounden, Bradley Bawden, Ryan Van Velzen, Jayden Schaper, Riekus Nortje, Wallie Coetsee, Brody Harbinson, Jacques P de Villiers, Wynand Dingle, Therion Nel

73 – MJ Viljoen, Rhys West, Kyle Barker, Christiaan Basson, JJ Senekal

74 – Stefan Wears-Taylor, Clancy Waugh, Louis Albertse, Makhetha Mazibuko, Sean Cronje

75 – Callum Mowat, Philip Geerts, Herman Loubser, Jacques Blaauw

76 – Dwayne Basson, Michael Kok, Maverick Faber, Mandla Dlamini Jnr, Shaahid Mahmed, Rupert Kaminski, Mark Williams, James Pennington

77 – Paul Boshoff, Jordan Duminy, Kyle McClatchie, Clinton Grobler, Jean-Paul Strydom

78 – Jacquin Hess, CJ du Plessis, Michael Palmer, Hayden Griffiths, Richard Joubert

79 – Fezekile Kana, Stephen Ferreira

80 – Joshua Seale

81 – Samuel Simpson, Alphius Kelapile

82 – Mark Maart, Chris Swanepoel

83 – Alex Haindl

86 – Tumelo Molloyi

88 – Gareth Sargent

CAPE ST FRANCIS, Eastern Cape – Golf in the sand dunes and bush of the St Francis Links can be a confusing experience for those who do not know one of South Africa’s top courses well and director of golf Jeff Clause, a Master PGA Professional, says the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sunshine Tour event that will start there on Thursday will be a test of temperament.

Being the fun-loving, entertaining character he is, Clause uses a song to describe how the professionals should approach the magnificent Jack Nicklaus designed course.

“It’s like the Kenny Rogers song The Gambler – ‘You’ve got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them’,” Clause says. “There are holes that demand much respect and others, if you’re with the wind, that you can attack.

“When you’re out there in the dunes, there’s more to the course than meets the eye. It can be visually distorting and often there is more room than what you see. I think this course really excels in some wind, but not necessarily the tough conditions we had on the first day of the pro-am.

“All links and coastal courses have wind as a factor in the design and we are generally an east-west course. There are three par-threes that go across north-south, and one par-four and one par-five, meaning there are 13 holes that will be either downwind or into the wind.

“The difference can be three clubs. But we’ve given golfers as much landing area as we can and the course is a lot more playable than when we opened in 2007. This will be our 12^thVodacom Origins of Golf event and, in the first one, +9 made the cut, while 13-under was the winner last year,” Clause says.

“Our aim is to make it more than a putting contest. It takes more than that to win here. Why I love links golf is because it requires more shots. If you learn to play here, you can play anywhere.

“It’s more about shot-making, where you put the ball, where you leave it for the next shot. You can burn up every hole or you can blow it, so you need a strong mind around here.

“Steve Surry had a putt for 62 here last year in the PGA Championship, while on a bad day, pro golfers are tiptoeing around 90 here.

“Next year is the 100^th anniversary of the PGA Championship, and our aim is to return that tournament to past glories.

“But we also love the Vodacom Origins of Golf series, we love working with them, I like the format which brings the amateurs in to enjoy our course. We have property owners here who have bought because of this tournament,” Clause says.