Category: Uncategorized

Michael Vlismas

It was the performance of Tiger Woods at The Masters that has made young South African star Jayden Schaper even more determined to take the challenges of 2020 and turn them into opportunity in this week’s Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club.

Schaper returns to the scene of his incredible performance in January’s South African Open hosted by the City of Joburg where, as the country’s top-ranked amateur, he challenged for the title and finished tied sixth behind winner Branden Grace.

He now tees it up in this week’s R19.5 million Joburg Open as one of the professionals in this Sunshine Tour and European Tour co-sanctioned field. Schaper secured his playing privileges at the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School in March and was looking forward to his rookie season before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

But the 19-year-old is determined to use Woods’s example at The Masters, where the 15-time Major champion followed up a 10 on the par-three 12^thhole with five birdies in his next six holes of the final round, as his own motivation this week.

“It’s been an odd year that nobody could’ve predicted. It’s been tough to have my first year as a professional where you just have to sit at home, and I cannot go out and do what I’ve prepared for my whole life. But all the good players find a way to bounce back. I watched Tiger Woods make 10 on the 12^th hole of The Masters and then come back with five birdies in six holes. I’m trying to take it the same way. Everybody gets a tough break sometimes, but the great players show how they come out of that,” Schaper said after a practice round at Randpark on Monday.

There is certainly a sense of opportunity for Schaper this week. Since the Sunshine Tour’s restart in August, Schaper has looked solid with only one missed cut in his last eight tournaments as well as three top-10s. He’s now starting to feel like his game is approaching where he wants it to be, and the Joburg Open could well provide the same spark to his career as it did for some of South Africa’s top professionals when the tournament tees off on Thursday.

Branden Grace claimed his first European Tour title in the 2012 Joburg Open. The Joburg Open was also a first European Tour title for George Coetzee when he won it in 2014, and it’s the same for Haydn Porteous, who won this title in 2016.

“This is the time to peak. These next three weeks (the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open) are really important. I didn’t expect these events to happen this year and am very grateful to everyone who made them possible. I’m playing on an invitation this week and I’m just as grateful for that. I’m just looking forward to it, and to going out and doing what I do best, which is playing golf and having fun.”

Of the many titles and records Gary Player holds, his 13 South African Open victories rank among the most special to the Grand Slam champion.

It’s therefore fitting that this year the second oldest national Open in golf will for the first time in its history be played at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City from 3-6 December, jointly supported by Nedbank and Sun International.

“The South African Open has always been immensely important to me in my career. I won it 13 times, but many times I couldn’t even play in it. I’d estimate that there were at least four occasions when I was in the prime of my career that I didn’t play the SA Open. But I’m extremely grateful to have won our national Open 13 times,” Player said of a record that will most likely never be broken.

The Gary Player Country Club will join an illustrious list of South Africa’s finest golf courses to have hosted the South African Open, and this is also a sense of great achievement for Player.

“I’m very proud that the Gary Player Country Club has been selected to host the SA Open this year. I can honestly say that never as a young man did I ever think the South African Open would be played on a golf course I had designed.

“Our national Open has travelled around the country and throughout its history has always been played on our most iconic golf courses. The fact that the Gary Player Country Club will now become a part of this history is a very special moment for me.”

One of the most exciting elements around this year’s South African Open will be the swapping of the nines at the Gary Player Country Club for this year’s tournament, thus seeing the picturesque par-five ninth hole serve as the finishing hole.

It’s a change Player is particulary excited about.

“That’s the most exciting thing about this year’s SA Open for me. It’s actually how the golf course was originally designed. As it plays now, the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes make for a very tough finish. By finishing on the ninth, it’s going to make for an exciting end to the tournament. You can make an eagle there and it changes everything. I think the fans are going to enjoy watching this year’s finish from their homes,” he said.

Louis Oosthuizen will be the first South African out when the first round of the 84th Masters begins today.

Oosthuizen tees off the 10th at 14:33 South Africa time in a marquee group with Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. Justin Harding, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Dylan Frittelli also all begin their Masters week off the 10th at Augusta National Golf Club.

Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel gets his challenge underway at 14:55 off the first, with Erik van Rooyen also teeing off the first on his Masters debut.

You can catch all of the action on SuperSport are as follows:

THURSDAY, 12 NOV
SS Action (210): 14:45-00:30
SS Golf (213): 14:30-00:30
SS Grandstand (201): 14:30-00:30

FRIDAY, 13 NOV
SS Action (210): 14:45-00:30
SS Golf (213): 14:30-00:30
SS Grandstand (201): 14:30-00:30

SATURDAY, 14 NOV
SS Action (210): 17:00-00:00
SS Golf (213): 17:10-00:00
SS Grandstand (201): 17:20-00:00

SUNDAY, 15 NOV
SS Action (210): 15:00-22:00
SS Golf (213): 15:10-22:30
SS Grandstand (201): 16:45-22:30

In a city that has played an important role in terms of the development of Black professional golf in South Africa, the return of the Joburg Open to the Sunshine Tour and European Tour schedules this November combined with the rebirth of Soweto Country Club will make for a very significant moment.

The 2020 Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club from 19-22 November represents a very tangible beacon of success that a young Black golfer from Soweto can aspire towards. And the development of a now world-class golf facility in Soweto, a project which began in 2016 as a partnership with the Sunshine Tour and the City of Johannesburg as well as various stakeholders throughout the golf world, provides that pathway to success.

All of which makes the timing of the Joburg Open’s return to the international golf calendar for the first time since December 2017 so important.

Soweto Country Club professional Sipho Bujela is amongst those who will attempt to qualify for this year’s Joburg Open, and he is indeed playing with greater purpose. “I will be playing for the young amateur in Soweto who wishes to be a professional one day,” he said when he played in the last Joburg Open in 2017.

Soweto golfer Vincent Tshabalala’s 1976 French Open victory remains the gold standard for the country’s Black professionals seeking to become the first since then to win a European Tour event.

This year, Toto Thimba Jnr, Keenan Davidse and Dylan Naidoo will be amongst those leading the charge to change that.

Thimba Jnr. is already a winner on the Sunshine Tour in last year’s KCB Karen Masters, while Davidse has been knocking on the door for several seasons now and came close when he finished tied seventh in the 2017 Joburg Open.

Naidoo made a powerful statement when he challenged for Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year honours at the end of last season, finishing third in that race, and he is clearly seen as a future champion following an impressive amateur career.

But the significance of a Soweto golfer’s success in the Joburg Open would be equally immense, and is something even 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman recognised when he attended the official opening of the new Soweto Country Club clubhouse in 2017.

“The opening of the clubhouse was such a passionate moment. You could feel the passion when the people were speaking, and you could feel how important this day was to them, and how important this club is going to be to the community,” he said.

This year, the aspirational link between Soweto’s young golfers and a place in future Joburg Opens will be as strong as ever.

By Michael Vlismas

Ruan Korb claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour victory in the Time Square Casino Challenge at Wingate Park Country Club on Friday, and his timing was indeed spot on as he also booked himself a place in all three of the upcoming European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments in South Africa.

Korb birdied the last hole to win by one shot over Anton Haig, closing with a 70 for a total of 15 under par. He is now exempt for all three of the upcoming Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open.

“It feels so good. I am very grateful. I’m so glad that my days of pre-qualifying for tournaments are over,” said a delighted Korb.

Haig took second place on 14 under with a closing 66, while Jake Redman and Deon Germishuys shared third place on 12 under with respective final rounds of 69 and 70.

There is no overstating what this win means to Korb. After a difficult 2019 and then the lockdown of 2020, he says he still came out of that with a feeling that this could be his year. And he put all of that self-belief into a six-foot putt on the 18^th that pulled him free of a tie with Haig on 14 under and earned him the winning birdie.

“I’m so happy to have pulled it off. I was on the 17^th when I saw the leaderboard and that Anton had made par at the last, so I knew I had to make birdie on 18 to win. It was a six-footer, but there were so many thoughts going through my head.

“I’m just glad I was able to do it. I don’t think I played my best golf today, but I managed to pull it through. I almost cried on the 18^th when I made the putt. I haven’t felt like that in a very long time. It’s such a great feeling.”

Garrick Higgo will return to South Africa as the country’s most recent European Tour champion when he plays in all three of the upcoming Sunshine Tour and European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments, and with a particular focus on the 110^th South African Open at the Gary Player Country Club from 3-6 December.

Higgo has confirmed he will play the entire summer swing of co-sanctioned tournaments consisting of the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club (19-22 November), the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek (26-29 November) and the South African Open – jointly supported by Nedbank and Sun International – at Sun City.

The winner of the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos in September joins a strong contingent of South Africa’s European Tour champions who will be back on home fairways for these three events, including Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dylan Frittelli, George Coetzee, Brandon Stone and Dean Burmester.

Higgo will feel particularly confident ahead of the South African Open. He won his first Sunshine Tour event – the Sun City Challenge – at the Gary Player Country Club  in 2019, and is looking forward to returning there as a European Tour winner this year.

“It’s going to be awesome going back there for the South African Open, although it will be different. That was my first win, but that was in the winter and I think the golf course will play differently in the summer. It should be longer and softer, but you still need to be straight off the tee and you need a lot of patience. Playing anywhere where you have good memories is fun. I can’t wait,” said Higgo.

This will be the first time in the history of the second oldest national Open in golf that it will be played at the iconic Gary Player Country Club, and with it will come a change to the layout of this celebrated golf course.

The nines will be swapped so that the picturesque par-five ninth hole becomes the finishing hole.

“Finishing on the ninth will be good because you can have the chance to make an eagle to win,”said Higgo.

“In its traditional format, the 17^th and 18^th make for such a tough finish. If you have a one-shot lead coming down those final two holes, it’s a very different challenge.”

Higgo’s return to South Africa comes amidst what’s been a meteoric rise for the 21-year-old since he turned professional in 2019. He won twice on the Sunshine Tour that season and was named the Rookie of the Year. Then in 2020 he broke through on the European Tour with his victory in the Open de Portugal.

“I haven’t yet played a tournament in South Africa since I won on the European Tour this year, so it’s going to be nice coming home as a European Tour winner. The South Africa Open is definitely the one we as South African golfers all want to win.”

By Michael Vlismas

Ruan Korb woke up on Thursday morning, saw the bad weather that would force a delayed start of the second round of the Time Square Casino Challenge at Wingate Park Country Club, and decided the best way to prepare for it was a Wimpy breakfast with his girlfriend.

And it worked.

Korb signed for a sublime 64 that took him to the top of the leaderboard of this Sunshine Tour event on 13 under par, giving him a three-stroke clubhouse lead before bad light forced a suspension of the second round.

First-round leader Deon Germishuys kept within touching distance of the lead on 10 under par following a 70, while Martin Rohwer was also on that total with two holes to play.

“We are staying quite close to the golf course so when I woke up I knew there was going to be a delay. That’s when I decided to take my girlfriend for a lekker Wimpy breakfast,” said Korb.

Whether it was the Farmhouse special or the flapjacks, it had the desired result for a golfer who in his first tournament after lockdown finished third in the Betway Championship and decided right there that 2020 was going to be his year.

“During lockdown I didn’t practice much at all. I hit maybe 200 balls into a net. That was it. But when we came back I just had this feeling it was going to be my year. It’s a weird feeling, but in that first tournament I hit the ball really well and just felt it was going to be a better year than last year.”

This is the first time Korb is leading a Sunshine Tour event.

“It nice to see my name on top of the leaderboard. I’m feeling positive. I enjoy Wingate because I used to be a member here for four years. I always like coming back to play it.”

Korb is also keenly aware of what a win could mean for him.

“I always knew this was going to be a big week. A win will make me exempt for all three of the upcoming European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments.”

And a big pay day in one of those can buy a few Wimpy breakfasts.

A strong South African challenge will gather at Leopard Creek for this year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship from 26-29 November as they seek to return the famous bronze leopard trophy back to home soil following victories by foreign golfers for the past two years.

The four European Tour winners of Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Brandon Stone, George Coetzee and Dean Burmester will spearhead the quest for a South African winner of this prestigious championship following last year’s victory by Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal and the 2018 triumph by American David Lipsky.

Larrazabal has confirmed that he will return to defend the title he won in spectacular fashion last year as he battled through blisters on the final day to claim his fifth European Tour title.

But the South Africans are as determined as ever to reclaim their dominance of this championship, and on a golf course that is close to all of their hearts.

“Leopard Creek is one of my favourite courses worldwide, and the Alfred Dunhill Championship is one of the tournaments I’d love to win just because it’s played at such a special course,” said Bezuidenhout, who is currently the highest ranked South African in the Alfred Dunhill Championship field at 58^th in the world.

The young star will heads to Leopard Creek after competing in his first Masters, and with the confidence of a solid performance on the PGA Tour this year where he made the cut in seven of the 10 tournaments he played, including four top-25 finishes.

After claiming his maiden European Tour title in the Andalucia Masters in 2019, Bezuidenhout started the year with a win in February’s Dimension Data Pro-Am and went on to break into the top on the Official World Golf Rankings.

“I’m getting more comfortable with where my game is at and my swing, and the whole environment of playing on the European Tour and PGA Tour and playing with the best players in the world,” he said.

Stone will be looking to join Charl Schwartzel and Pablo Martin as the only multiple winners of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, and is relishing the prospect of returning to Leopard Creek and the golf course’s unique setting on the banks of the Crocodile River overlooking the magnificent Kruger National Park.

“I’ve always loved this tournament and this golf course. It’s a tournament I’ll play for the rest of my career. To be able to have my name on that trophy is special,” he said.

The allure of Leopard Creek is an equally strong source of inspiration for Coetzee and Burmester.

“Every South African player loves to come back to Leopard Creek. The feeling you get from the course, especially with the views from some of the holes, is just unbelievable. There’s nothing else in the world that can compare to it. You get Pebble Beach with the ocean, St Andrews with the history, but then you get Leopard Creek and the wildlife. I’ll travel from anywhere in the world to come to play in this event,” said Coetzee.

The 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship will be played for R29 million in prize money, making it the richest event on the Sunshine Tour this season.

A change in putter paid off for Deon Germishuys as he came through Wednesday’s first round of the Time Square Challenge with a one-stroke lead at Wingate Park Country Club.

Germishuys opened with a bogey-free eight-under-par 64, with Malcolm Mitchell and Anton Haig his nearest challengers following their rounds of 65.

Keenan Davidse is once again also in contention with his first round of 66, and following finishes of second and seventh in his last two Sunshine Tour events.

Germishuys has been in good form of late with finishes of 12^th and 14^th in his last two tournaments. But what carried him to the top of the leaderboard on Wednesday was his performance on the greens.

“I felt very comfortable on the greens today. I’ve recently moved to an arm-lock putter. My coach told me on Monday that I look good with it and I should just commit to it, so that’s what I did,” he said.

“It was an awesome day out there. It’s never that easy to go bogey-free in a round, but it certainly helps. Wingate also suits my eye because I enjoy parkland golf courses.”

Germishuys had two top-10 finishes on the Sunshine Tour’s recent Rise-Up Series, and his 64 on Wednesday is certainly a further confidence boost ahead of the three European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments of the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open at the end of this month and the beginning of December.

“I’ve been comfortable with my game since the Sunshine Tour’s restart. I really feel like I’m getting close to where I want to be. I’m confident with my golf, and I’m really excited for the three big events to come,” he said.

As one of his nearest challengers going into Thursday’s second round, Haig is also showing signs of consistent good form.

He finished eighth in last week’s Investec Royal Swazi Open, and can add finishes of 12^th in the Vodacom Championship Reloaded and ninth in the Betway Championship as his top finishes in the last seven tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. – Michael Vlismas