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After a brief break the Sunshine Tour returns to the fairways with a strong run of tournaments to the end of the year, starting with this week’s FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Challenge at the Nkonyeni Lodge and Golf Estate.

The 54-hole tournament on a championship golf course located on the banks of Eswatini’s Usuthu River tees off on Thursday with a quality field featuring several of this year’s champions competing for total prize money of R1 million.

The tournament also signals the start of an important stretch of tournaments through to November including the Vodacom Origins of Golf series, the SunBet Challenge Series and several new tournaments.

It’s a crucial part of the season for the local professionals as they hone their games for the upcoming summer tournaments co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour.

The field includes four of the last five winners on the Sunshine Tour, with Herman Loubser, Albert Venter, Rourke van der Spuy and Dylan Mostert all in the kingdom of Eswatini this week.

Ryan van Velzen, who is currently leading the Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year race, is also in the field. Van Velzen has had a strong season so far including a finish of tied fourth in June’s KitKat Group Pro-Am and has missed only one cut in his last five Sunshine Tour tournaments.

The Sunshine Tour’s Papwa Sewgolum Class of transformation professionals will also be well represented in this event, including Dylan Naidoo and Heinrich Bruiners as well as younger stars such as Franklin Manchest and Karabo Mokoena.

The Sunshine Tour is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of professional Eugene Marugi (Maroga).

Eugene was a gifted member of the Sunshine Tour whose incredible talent for the game of golf took him from humble beginnings to a place on the Sunshine Tour where he was a respected and well-liked professional since 2003.

Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.

Dean Burmester had his best finish in a Major with his tied 11^th in the 150^th Open in St Andrews, and took another big step towards his goal of becoming South Africa’s next Major champion.

At the beginning of this year, Burmester said, “My goal is definitely to become South Africa’s next Major champion. I want to be challenging in the Majors. Last year in The Open I had a flash and was in the top five for about nine holes which was great. I saw my name up there. As a boy growing up, that’s where you want to be. You dream of standing at The Open with the claret jug.”

Burmester’s final round of 66 saw him finish as the leading South African in the field on 11 under par, nine shots behind champion Cameron Smith of Australia. Smith produced a back-nine masterclass to deny Rory McIlroy and hold off Cameron Young for the title.

“I played well, made great putts early on. Momentum was with me. I kept that throughout the day. I’m really chuffed. Made the cut on the number and a good weekend,” said Burmester, who showed his love and understanding of the Old Course when he also finished as the leading South African in last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship here in tied seventh place.

“I’m over the moon. Best finish in a Major. I’m really happy with the way I progressed and how comfortable I felt out there. I didn’t feel out of place. And that to me says a lot. And maybe one day I can lift one of these things.”

Burmester’s final round performance highlighted the character with which he plays the game.

“I learn never to give up, honestly. There was a stage there on Friday when we had the wind switch and I was just playing into the wind, the back nine. It was just so hard, and I was grinding it out. Never gave up and birdied the last to make the cut on the number. And I took that momentum and confidence into the weekend. So anything’s possible, just never give up. I think that’s just a good mantra for me.”

Dylan Frittelli finished the week on eight under par, with Thriston Lawrence on six under, Garrick Higgo on five under, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout on two under.

Dylan Frittelli’s love for links golf continues as he heads into Sunday’s final round of the 150^th Open Championship in tied 18^th place on six under par.

Frittelli did exactly what he said he was going to do, namely make a move up the leaderboard on day three. And he did so while feeling he didn’t have his best golf with him, despite two eagles on the par-four ninth and 18^th holes for his third-round 69.

“Not my best golf at times, but I somehow threw two crazy hole-outs in there,” he said.

“The ninth hole was a terrible tee shot. I hit it in the fairway or greenside bunker and had 45 yards to the pin. I was just trying to get it up there on the green on nine and it somehow went in. On 18, I hit a great tee shot. I thought it would get up on the green, but it didn’t. I had a tricky one from the Valley of Sin there but somehow made that one as well. The rest was a bit patchy but happy with the overall score.”

Frittelli is 10 shots off the shared lead of Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland. McIlroy and Hovland lead the field by four shots, with Cameron Smith and Cameron Young their nearest challengers.

Frittelli has had his best Major performances in The Open, including fifth in 2021 and tied 32^nd in 2019. Add his fifth place in The Masters in 2020, and Frittelli is showing he’s more than capable of winning a Major.

Dean Burmester is the next best-placed South African on five under par following a third round of 67. Christiaan Bezuidenhout will start the final round on four under par, with Thriston Lawrence at three under and Garrick Higgo at one over.

Thriston Lawrence remains at the forefront of the South African challenge heading into the weekend of the 150^th Open Championship in St Andrews.

The South African posted a second round of 71 to come through 36 holes on four under par overall. Australia’s Cameron Smith leads the field on 13 under par following a magnificent 64 on the Old Course on Friday.

Smith is two clear of American Cameron Young, while Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland are three shots off the lead.

Tiger Woods failed to make the cut of level par and bowed out of this milestone Open at nine over. South Africa’s Justin Harding, Louis Oosthuizen, Ernie Els, Zander Lombard, Shaun Norris and amateur Aldrich Potgieter also failed to make the cut.

But Garrick Higgo (-3), Dylan Frittelli (-3), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (level) and Dean Burmester (level) joined Lawrence in going through to the final 36 holes.

Frittelli in particular said he was looking forward to the weekend.

“I’ll go as low as I can. On Saturday I’ll go out in the morning, try to knock down all the pins and make every putt I look at. Try to shoot 6-, 7-under.”

And he’ll have enough time to watch the Test series decider between the Springboks and Wales on Saturday.

“Last week was really disappointing. I didn’t catch the first game. I was in the States and the timing didn’t work out. The second game I watched when I was in Scotland. I’ll definitely have enough time to get back to the room and watch it. But hopefully the Boks can get it done.”

As far as Major debuts go it was a memorable one for Thriston Lawrence as he led the South African challenge on day one of the 150^th Open Championship at the Old Course on Thursday.

Lawrence, who qualified for The Open with his maiden DP World Tour victory in last year’s Joburg Open, opened with a round of three-under-par 69 to place him tied 13^th behind leader Cameron Young of America.

Young signed for an eight-under-par 64 and leads by two shots over Rory McIlroy. Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent is also tied 13^th.

Ernie Els made a memorable start in this most significant Open Championship as he birdied his first two holes and was five under through 15. But a finish where he dropped three shots in two holes, including a double bogey on the  infamous Road Hole 17^th, saw him sign for a two-under-par 70.

“Yeah, it was good. Obviously just that one hole burning me at the moment. I played good. I putted nice and played good. I just had that one frickin’ tee shot on 17. Anyway, that’s my day,” said the winner of the 2002 and 2012 Opens.

“I played well overall. Hit it in play and hit good iron shots and played the course the way you should play it. Just felt comfortable. As I said, just that one shot is going to keep burning me until tomorrow.

“I haven’t played links golf since last year. I only came in Monday afternoon. I needed to get over the jet lag and never really had a proper practice round. I needed to find my feet, and that’s what I did, and I felt comfortable today. The golf course is playing fast. I’m under-par, which is good. I’ve got to take the positives when I start thinking about it.”

Dylan Frittelli joined Els on two under.

Louis Oosthuizen, winner of The Open here in 2010, began his week with a round of one-under-par 71.

Countryman Dean Burmester also signed for a 71. “I hit a lot of good golf shots but I missed too many short putts. I missed three or four putts inside five feet. That’s kind of cost me a good score today. It’s the 150^th Open so a little bit of nerves. It’s only human to be a little nervous out there. I had a couple of bad reads, but it’s the nature of the game. That’s links golf,” he said.

South African professional golf now has its clearest pathway to greatness for historically disadvantaged professional golfers, with the new Papwa Sewgolum Class combining more playing opportunities with support from major corporates to promote greater inclusion in the game.

A total of 61 historically disadvantaged golfers – including experienced professionals such as Dylan Naidoo, Keenan Davidse and Heinrich Bruiners as well as the younger generation of Franklin Manchest and Karabo Mokoena – will be given every opportunity to take their professional careers to the next level as the first intake of the new Papwa Sewgolum Class for the 2022/23 season, and with major support from Investec, SuperSport, Betway, VAT It, DNI, Credit Guarantee, Cobra Puma and TaylorMade, and The Papwa Foundation.

Papwa Sewgolum was a great Indian golfer who played a pioneering role in the advancement of South African golf amongst the historically disadvantaged and who through his international success in the game remains a role model to many South African golfers.

“The establishment of the Papwa Sewgolum Class 2022/23 not only recognises Papwa’s role in highlighting the need for golf to be more inclusive, but it also contributes to building a lasting legacy in keeping with the notable success he achieved at home and abroad,” said Jehad Kasu, Executive Board Member and Spokesperson of The Papwa Foundation.

“We are encouraged by the Sunshine Tour’s commitment to meaningfully transform the sport in collaboration with the Papwa Foundation and look forward to crystallising a lasting partnership through which we enable an opportunity to all qualifying, aspirant historically disadvantaged golfers, to achieve greatness.”

The Papwa Sewgolum Class is one of the most comprehensive development initiatives within South African sport, and which seeks to build on the work done by the South African Golf Development Board (SAGDB) and GolfRSA to identify the raw amateur talent within the game, and to then provide a sustainable pathway into the professional arena for historically disadvantaged golfers.

Naidoo is a key example of what the Papwa Sewgolum Class aspires to achieve, with the rising star having come through the ranks of securing his playing privileges via the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament for historically disadvantaged professionals and winning on the Altron Big Easy Tour before progressing to his place on the Sunshine Tour where he finished third in the Rookie of the Year race in 2020 behind current PGA Tour and DP World Tour stars Garrick Higgo and Wilco Nienaber.

Naidoo has now also secured his playing privileges on the Korn Ferry Tour in the United States, which is the main feeder tour to the PGA Tour.

Davidse has also used his opportunities to move to the next level in his career, working his way up to his current Sunshine Tour status and finishing a career-high of 16^th on the Luno Order of Merit for the past season. He has also progressed onto the Challenge Tour, the main feeder Tour to the DP World Tour.

The inaugural Papwa Sewgolum Class for this season will have greater opportunities to compete on the Sunshine Tour and Altron Big Easy Tour through the expanded schedules and increased prize money offered on both these tours, and with monthly financial assistance towards their tournament golf expenses, including their tournament entry fees.

The Altron Big Easy Tour alone, one of the main areas of competition for the Papwa Sewgolum Class, will this season feature 10 tournaments in a schedule running from May to September and which includes record prize money for the Tour. The prize money for each 36-hole tournament will be R150 000, which is an increase of R50 000 per tournament from the 2021 season.

The Papwa Sewgolum Class golfers will also receive access to quality coaching, golf courses, gyms and fitness instructors at the World of Golf. TaylorMade and Cobra Puma Golf will provide them with equipment and apparel, and they will have access to a sports psychologist and career counseling.

Further career paths within the golf industry have also been created through a partnership with the PGA of South Africa that allows for members of the Papwa Sewgolum Class to begin the qualification to become recognised PGA Professionals.

Photo: The Sunshine Tour announced its inaugural Papwa Sewgolum Class for the 2022/23 season at Randpark Golf Club on Tuesday, and which aims to help promote greater inclusivity in the professional game. Credit: Sunshine Tour.

South Africa’s MJ Daffue celebrated his recent PGA Tour status with a strong start in the US Open at The Country Club in Brookline as he came through round one just one shot off the lead.

Daffue, who recently earned his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour, opened with a round of three-under-par 67 to place him tied second just one shot behind leader Adam Hadwin of Canada.

“I think a lot of things worked well. Obviously the putter. I put a lot of work in on the speed on the greens. I’m not used to US Open speed. That translated into leaving myself in good spots, making it as easy as I can. Sometimes it meant hitting it in the rough. We had a good strategy. I drove the ball pretty decent. The times I missed the fairway, I missed it in good spots, and so, yeah, execution of the strategy, and I would say I can’t believe how relaxed I was out there. I was able to feel my hands, and that’s a big deal,” said Daffue.

The South African shares a close relationship with double US Open champion Retief Goosen, who he says did have a few words of advice for him before this week.

“The one time I asked him, I said, ‘Hey, how do you do so well under pressure in US Opens?’ He said, ‘I’ve just done it a few times’. It makes a lot of sense, actually. The more you do it, the more you get used to it. But he has just been encouraging. He has been really sending me encouraging messages as far as, listen, the ability is there. It’s just how do you put it together and believe in yourself.”

Daffue said that finally securing his PGA Tour card has also helped him to play with a lot more freedom this week.

“I’ve been just so focused on my process and my goals, and I know that the ability is there. It’s just how do I bring it out. I think now I’ve finally probably started feeling the freedom because I’m, like, I secured my card next year, and maybe I can go for a few more things that I would never have. Yeah, it’s definitely some more freedom.

“But I’ve really tried to come into this week not putting too much pressure on myself, just trusting that I have everything right now that I want. My life is really good. I have a great family, and everybody is healthy, and I think just being grateful for things has really given me a step back and looking from the outside in, and eventually this is just a game. We’re playing against the best in the world, and it’s just a privilege to be here.”

Of the other South Africans in the field, Shaun Norris opened with a level-par 70, Branden Grace with a six-over-par 76, Louis Oosthuizen with a 77, and Erik van Rooyen with a 78.

IRENE, City of Tshwane – Dylan Mostert showed great mental composure and produced a bogey-free back nine for his maiden Sunshine Tour title on Sunday, as he won the KitKat Group ProAm at Irene Country Club by three strokes.

Mostert shot a fantastic 68 in the final round for a 17-under-par total of 199, three clear of MJ Viljoen (67), to become the fourth first-time winner on tour this season.

A bogey on the par-five second hole made for a nervous start for the left-handed Mostert, but he showed he was up for the challenge when he chipped in for birdie on the third in superb fashion on the undulating green.

Malcolm Mitchell went out in three-under 33 to make for an exciting challenge for Mostert, but the 23-year-old from Modderfontein Golf Club birdied the ninth and then produced a fabulous hybrid approach shot from under the trees, in the dirt, finding the middle of the 10^th green and then sinking the putt for birdie for some breathing space.

Further birdies at the 12^th and 17^th holes meant he was partitioned by three shots from Viljoen, five clear of the dangerous Louis Albertse (70) and half-a-dozen strokes ahead of Kyle Barker (67) and Ryan van Velzen (71) by the end of the R1 million tournament.

Mitchell fell away with a horrible double-bogey at the 14^thfollowed by bogeys on the next two holes as well, finishing on nine-under-par.

The pro-am competition was won by the team of Sunshine Tour professional MJ Viljoen and his amateur partner Japie Holtzhausen from Sasko. The duo finished top of the leaderboard with 91 points, two ahead of the field. The teams of professional Madalitso Muthiya and amateur Nash Soni, and professional Hennie O’Kennedy and amateur Moe Mitha shared second place on 89 points.