Category: Uncategorized

The first stage of the Vusi Ngubeni Qualifying School came to its conclusion at Observatory Golf Club on Wednesday, with 31 players qualifying for the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament Presented by the Sunshine Tour and Petrus Kleinbooi to be held at Soweto Country Club next week.

Overnight leader, amateur, Siyanda Mwandla signed for one-over-par 73 in the final round but still qualifies top of the leaderboard on a total of two-under over the 36 holes played here.

“It was a rollercoaster out there today,” admitted Mwandla who was once tipped to develop into a great golfer by Retief Goosen. “But, I hit the ball nicely but I couldn’t  convert the putts that I was supposed to but two-under overall is still decent.”

He, along with the other 30 which include 19-year old Nikhil Rama whose biggest win in the Junior Circuit was that scintillating wire-to-wire victory he pulled in the inaugural Friends of Engelberg Challenge hosted by Anna Becker-Frankel at Devndale Golf and Wine Estate in Stellenbosch to celebrate his national breakthrough last year.

Rama finished in a share of the second spot with Zu Mavunda, with both players finishing on six-over-par after 36 holes.

They now move to the Vusi Ngubeni presented by the Sunshine Tour and Petrus Kleinbooi Tournament with a purse of R100 000 to be played at the beautiful Soweto Country Club in Pimville where Sunshine Tour playing cards will be earned.

Over at State Mines Country Club in the First Stage of Qualifying School where there are 36 more holes to play, it was Rupert Kaminski along with amateurs Rigardt Albertse and Gregory McKay who shot to the summit of the leader board in round two. They are on 10-under-par for the week and have a single shot lead over Luke Brown, in what has been a closely contested first stage of Qualifying School in Brakpan.

Brown occupies the fourth spot while the fifth spot is taken by Vaughn van Deventer. Morne Buys, Dabnie van Niekerk and overnight co-leader, Basil Wright are all seven-under-par and share the sixth position on the leaderboard. Caylum Boon, CJ Levey and Gerard Pepler share the ninth on six-under going to the third round.

Players who qualified  at Observatory GC:

Siyanda Mwandla, Nikhil Rama, Zu Mavundla, Keanan Aysen, Warrick Greentree, Jarryd Govender, Lindani, Presley, Nkosikhona Dilla, Brandon Moodley, Tebello Maphike, Kamalan Munsamy, Ethan Joseph, Alee Solomon, Juninho Classen 75 81, John Sangqu, Norman Sebaku, Donald Makhafola, Songz Sonamzi, Ricco Motsa, Joe Mnyandu, Siphiwe Nhlapo, Phathisi Ndlovu, Tetelo Jonathan Seseni, Neo Mokgatle, Thabo Motale, Mchumane Wayiti, SP Mthethwa, Arnold Mazibuko, Norman Lucas, Adonis Johnson, Ashwin Krishen.

The first stage of Qualifying School began at State Mines Country Club while the first stage of the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament presented by the Sunshine Tour and Petrus Kleinbooi also got underway at Observatory Golf Club on Tuesday.

Out at State Mines, Basil Wright got off to a fast start as he works to reclaim his Sunshine Tour playing privileges, firing in an opening six-under 66 to lead by one shot after round one. Wright made three birdies on the front nine and the same number of birdies made it onto his card on the homeward stretch en route to a bogey-free 66. He ties the score with Gordon Neale of the United States.

“It was a superb round of golf.” said Wright after his round, “I just had to knuckle down and play the best golf that I know I am capable of and just prove that I am worthy of being on Tour again. For a while now I have been shooting under-par and I now have a new coach and we have done a lot of work and mentally, I am much stronger. I am happy to see some of the work starting to show.”

With a single-stroke lead after round one, Wright knows he can’t get carried away just yet and says his objective is to string together solid rounds of golf this week.

“I’m taking it easy,” he said, “I am not putting pressure on myself. I’m looking at it as another golf tournament that I want to win but I don’t want to put pressure on myself.”

At Observatory, Siyanda Mwandla sits at the top of the leaderboard with a five-shot lead after he carded a three-under-par 69 to get his pursuit of a Sunshine Tour playing card on the go.

Starting off the 10^th tee, Mwandla opened with a birdie but two pars later those gains were gone as he dropped on the 13^th, his fourth hole of the day. He then made 11 straight pars before making a game-changing eagle on his 16^th hole. A par on the 17^th followed before he closed off with a birdie on the last to sign for the lowest score of the day.

“I came here prepared,” said Mwandla, and it was a great round. I am currently at my best level and my objective is to get to the main qualifying school after this. Leading by five, I’m not really worried about what happens tomorrow because it’s another day. I am playing great golf and as I said, I’m at the best level right now.

“I am happy with how I am playing and the only thing I might say worries me a hit is controlling my spin. But tomorrow, I’m going to go out there and do the same thing. If anything, I’ll just try to control my ball flight a little better but overall, I am happy with the round.”

Garrick Higgo claimed a come-from-behind one-stroke victory over Haydn Porteous in the season-ending Tour Championship which was held at Serengeti Golf and Lifestyle Estate to finish a successful rookie season on Tour.

Higgo started the round one shot off Ockie Strydom’s overnight lead, at 13-under-par, and had some work to do to earn his second title in his rookie season – having claimed the Sun City Challenge last June.

He went around the front nine of the Serengeti Signature golf course in 33 and bogey-free. But it was Thriston Lawrence who was leading at that time. Two birdies, an eagle and a bogey followed on the back nine – his favourite nine of the course, by his admission – to sign for a six-under 66 final round which took his tournament score to 19-under-par 269.

“I wasn’t really expecting to win this one,” admitted Higgo after his scintillating round. “I just came here to play my best golf and have some fun. And even today, it didn’t really feel like I was up there but things kind of changed on 16 when I made the eagle and I don’t know what Thriston did. I don’t really like the front nine here so I was happy to get out of there with w decent score.

“Thriston Lawrence was already 19-under through the first nine so I knew I had to go for it on the back nine and I did. But I missed a short putt on 13, 14 and then made bogey on 15 and I thought ‘whoa, now I’ve got to go eagle, birdie, birdie to have a chance. Then things changed on 16.”

To make it even a sweeter finish to the season for Higgo, he was also awarded the Bobby Locke Trophy for a superb rookie season in which he claimed two wins (Tour Championship title included), a runner-up finish in Cape Town and three top 10 finishes among other great results.

“I’m very proud to win the rookie of the year trophy,” said the 21-year old Garrick who plays out of De Zalze Golf Club. “It will look really good on my CV and I’m sure there have been big names that have won it before. That race was quite tight, you know, I think Wilco (Nienaber) snuck up on me there a little bit but now I’m very happy that I’ve got it done.”

Higgo already has his European Challenge Tour card secured for the current season on that circuit and will look forward to the new Sunshine Tour season with keenness thanks to a great first season as a professional.

Ockie Strydom will take a narrow one-stroke lead into the final round of the season-ending Tour Championship after he carded a second-round two-under 70 on moving day to get his total to 14-under-par for the week at Serengeti Golf and Lifestyle Estate.

He admits to struggling with his ball-striking, in particular, and as such, failing to back up his round two score of 63 with another solid round on day three.

“Today was a bit tough for me,” says Strydom, “ball-striking wasn’t there but luckily, with the round being suspended due to the weather, I found something on the back nine there. Then, I started hitting the ball well again, but it was a bit too late. I am happy I managed to go around the golf course on two-under-par with the ball-striking that went haywire.”

With dangerous weather conditions proving to be the enemy of skill once again in the latter stages of the round – and which called for play to be suspended just as had happened in round two – Strydom had it all to do as he tried to hold on to his lead.

He made birdies on the first hole, the fourth and the seventh, but the bogeys he made on the fifth and the eighth holes took from those gains. His back nine was quiet too and he made eight pars there which were accompanied by the one birdie he made on the 16^th.

Chasing closely and just a shot off Strydom’s lead is the trio of Thriston Lawrence who wants to tin this after he finished second last year, the resurgent Haydn Porteous and rookie of the year, Garrick Higgo who signed for a 66 in round three to throw his name in the mix ahead of the final round. They are all 13-under par while Brandon Stone and Luke Jerling aren’t far off the lead either.

The share the fifth spot on 12-under for the week. Veteran Keith Horne, who shot the lowest round of the day – eight-under 64 – and Order of Merit-chasing Daniel van Tonder lie three shots behind Strydom on 11-under while Jacques Blaauw, Darren Fichardt and member of the Gary Player Class, Keenan Davidse share ninth on 10-under-par.

The final round will be streamed live on the Sunshine Tour Facebook and YouTube platforms from 10h30 on Sunday.

Ockie Strydom moved to Serengeti Golf and Lifestyle Estate a little over a year ago and admits the little course-knowledge he has amassed during that time helped him a lot on his way to a nine-under 63 second-round of the Tour Championship which is hosted there.

That score catapulted him to the summit of the leaderboard on a total of 12-under for the week, and with a two-shot lead over Brandon Stone heading into the weekend. While the weather was kind when he and most of the field were out on the course, the round had to be suspended due to dangerous weather conditions which began to develop around noon.

“It’s always nice playing on your home course,” said Strydom “If I’d made all my putts on the front nine, I probably would have shot a 28 there. I know the course and I know the greens here, so if I hit it on the right spots, I’ll generally knock it in.”

Strydom looked comfortable from the start on day two, refusing to let any bogey come onto his card, and instead, walking away with a birdie and an eagle on the front nine. But it was on the homeward stretch where he turned things up a little bit.

He made back-to-back birdies on the 11^th and 12^th holes and after the par he made on 13, another birdie found its way onto his card. He made par on 15 before bagging three more birdies on the trot to finish bogey-free and take the lead for the first time in this tournament.

“You have to stay patient, however,” he said, “because things were a little bit slow on the front nine but I was patient enough and sometimes things will work better on the back nine there.” Things definitely worked better for him coming home.

Stone was equally impressive en route to his seven-under 65 round which took his total to 10-under for the week. Teeing off the 10^th, his front start was a lot different to Strydom’s. He made five birdies there to turn in 31 and without a bogey too. Coming home on the other side of the course, Stone made bogey on his 11^th hole, the second of the course.

That was quickly forgotten as he made up for that with a birdie on the next hole. He kept things steady for the next four holes, making important pars to keep the round alive. Then, on his second-last hole, a much-welcomed eagle got onto his card to take his total to 10-under and leaving him just two shots off Strydom’s lead.

“I probably had more one-putts in this round of golf than the entire season combined,” said Stone after his round. “But any time you shoot a 65 you can’t really complain or moan about anything. I played solid golf, read the lines nicely and rolled the ball a little better. They found the hole today because it seemed they had been afraid of the dark for the last couple of months, so it was nice to see those putts disappear.”

The defending champion, Jean-Paul Strydom and Thriston Lawrence are tied for third at nine-under-par.

Jean-Paul Strydom fired in a solid six-under-par 66 opening round of the Tour Championship to get his title-defense underway at Serengeti Golf and Lifestyle Estate.

Strydom claimed victory here last year, defeating Jean Hugo, Jake Roos, Ockie Strydom and Thriston Lawrence by a single stroke at 14-under-par to claim his only title on Tour.

He started this year’s edition solidly, making back-to-back birdies on the 10^th and 11^th hole, having teed off from the 10^th tee. He would not make another birdie for the next four holes but didn’t drop a single shot there, either. He turned things up a bit and birdied the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes to turn in 31.

“I played nicely and solidly,” he said after his round, “and I think we missed only about two or three fairways today. I played solidly off the tee, kept it in play and putted nicely. I think I missed two fairways today. I made three (birdies) in a row – 16, 17 and 18 – which is a bonus. This nine is always the trickier one with the wind coming in so it makes those holes even trickier. But I come for the wind (Cape Town) so, that kind of benefitted me today.”

His back nine – the front nine of the golf course – was a little indifferent because despite picking up two birdies there, Strydom also dropped a shot on his 13^th hole.

A shot behind Strydom lies one of last year’s runners-up, Thriston Lawrence, Haydn Porteous, Daniel Greene, Rhys Enoch of Wales and leading rookie, Garrick Higgo.

“I played nicely today, starting with a 20-foot birdie-putt,” said Higgo who effectively has the rookie race won. “I hit the ball average though and I think my putter saved me today. My tee shots were great and because the fairways can be quite wide here so you can miss a few fairways here and the rough isn’t that long. Today, I guess, it just came down to wedge-play and putting.”

Occupying the fourth spot today at four-under 68 is James Hart du Preez, Luke Jerling who has seen his stock rise this season thanks to a couple of solid results, Christiaan Basson and another rookie who has really impressed this season, Deon Germishuys.

Jacques Kruyswijk, Jacques Blaauw, JC Ritchie, Brandon Stone and Ockie Strydom share 11^th at three-under. With this being the final event of the regular season, Ritchie and Daniel van Tonder have it all to play for because they are both trying to win the Order of Merit and with Jaco Ahlers not in the field this week, that race is between the two of them.

It’s down to the wire for JC Ritchie and Daniel van Tonder in the Tour Championship which tees off at Serengeti Estates tomorrow.

The pair has emerged as the two most likely winners in the race for the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit and they will be keeping a wary eye on the other as they jostle to get their hands on the Sid Brews trophy – as well as the attendant extras which the winner receives.

Ritchie leads by just short of R135,000 in the winnings column on the 2019-20 Order of Merit. That means that a second-place finish for Van Tonder should allow him to overhaul Ritchie – provided Ritchie finishes 10^th or worse.

Of course, should Van Tonder win at Serengeti, then Ritchie would have to finish third to hold him off and finish the season at the summit of the listings.

Last year, Ritchie finished the season-ending tournament in a share of ninth, and Van Tonder closed out his efforts for the season in a share of 15^th.

The current holder of third position on the Order of Merit, Jaco Ahlers, is in Asia playing the final stage of the Asian Tour’s qualifying school, together with Hennie Otto, Neil Schietekat and Trevor Fisher Jnr from inside the top 50 on the South African listings. So Ahlers will have no further say in the battle for top spot.

Also absent from the list of players who could have had a material influence on the way the top 10 of the Order of Merit could look like after the Tour Championship are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who is playing the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship, and Wilco Nienaber, who is gearing up to play in the Oman Open on the European Tour which gets underway on February 27.

The other two players from inside the Sunshine Tour’s 2019-20 top 50 who won’t be teeing it up at Serengeti this week are Englishmen Toby Tree and Jack Harrison.

That leaves a field of 41 who will be looking to win the trophy in the Tour Championship.

But the focus will be firmly on Ritchie and Van Tonder as they try to pull off the win in the race for the Order of Merit title.

The latest Official World Golf Ranking list issued today says it’s so. Christiaan Bezuidenhout is the second-best golfer from South Africa after his victory in the Dimension Data Pro-Am last week.

Bezuidenhout climbed to 48^th from 60^th on the list, leap-frogging Erik van Rooyen and Shaun Norris in the process as he eagled the last hole in a thrilling climax to a tournament that saw him duelling with George Coetzee for the entire final round. He is now the closest South African to Louis Oosthuizen, who slipped a single spot to 17^th this week.

Bezuidenhout is now set fair for a tilt at a spot in the Masters in April if he can keep himself inside the top 50 in the world until the week before the first major championship of the year gets underway at Augusta National on April 9.

He heads off to Mexico this week for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, together with fellow-South Africans Branden Grace, Justin Harding, Zander Lombard, Norris, Louis Oosthuizen and Van Rooyen. The seven South Africans make up fractionally short of 10 percent of the 72-man field in a no-cut event that will be stacked with world ranking points.

With Van Rooyen, Harding, Oosthuizen and Trevor Immelman already in the field for this year’s Masters, Grace and Norris in particular will be keen to pick up enough points to get them into the reckoning for a trip down Magnolia Lane.

Van Rooyen is 52^nd, Norris 61^st and Grace 71^st. With the likes of world number one Rory McIlroy leading all of the world’s top 10 – except Tiger Woods – into action this week, a solid finish could catapult those close enough to 50^th on the rankings above the benchmark and set them up for one of the most coveted invitations in golf.

Bezuidenhout, who started the year ranked 87^th, exhibited the kind of form which made him a debut European Tour winner last year in June when he took the Andalucia Masters. He had been in good form in 2020 so far too, with a play-off defeat to Australia’s Lucas Herbert in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January.

The manner of his victory in the Dimension Data Pro-Am will give him the confidence he needs to take this opportunity to cement his place inside the world’s elite for the foreseeable future.

Given that the Mexico tournament will be his first taste of play in the WGC series, he is certain to pick up world ranking points for even an average performance. The other South Africans in the field, however, will be looking for more than that.

South Africa’s Top 10

1. Louis Oosthuizen (17)
2. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (48)
3. Erik van Rooyen (52)
4. Shaun Norris (61)
5. Branden Grace (71)
6. Justin Harding (91)
7. Dylan Frittelli (118)
8. JC Ritchie (120)
9. Dean Burmester (160)
10. George Coetzee (169)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout made an eagle on the last hole on Montagu to claim a one-stroke victory over George Coetzee in the Dimension Data Pro-Am on a tournament total of 25-under-par 264 on Sunday.

Bezuidenhout was in scintillating form the whole week at Fancourt, having led the tournament from the first day through to the last. On the final day, however, he had some serious competition from the 2016 winner of the event, George Coetzee, who looked liked he’d sealed victory when he finished at 24-under par and was a shot clear of Bezuidenhout when the latter was playing the 17^th.

“I got off to a perfect start and made birdies on the first two holes,” he said, “but I hit a wayward tee shot on the third but it was tough out there. Today the wind was swirling a lot and on the first nine, it was blowing quite a bit. But I just stuck to it and it was great to finish off with an eagle.”

Tough it was because for about 50 minutes the round was suspended due to a threat of a storm which was passing through the area. As can be imagined, the brief stop affected momentum for all players but Bezuidenhout showed some serious big-match temperament to keep going even when Coetzee was leading.

“It affected the momentum a little bit, especially on the restart,” he admits, “and I hit a poor tee shot on the 12^th, three-putted and kind of thought my chances were gone because George was playing great with no bogeys, hitting fairways and greens every time. I knew I needed something special and luckily, I did it.”

He admits that he was watching the leaderboard on every hole so that he knew what the other playing were doing, especially Coetzee who was looking to becoming only the third player to win this title two times, with others being Nick Price and Darren Fichardt.

“I was watching it a lot, ever hole,” he says, “that way I knew what I needed to do. So, I knew I had to make birdie on the last to take it to a playoff but luckily, I hit a great driver and then an eagle to win. It’s a special tournament, this, and I have always wanted to win it. So, to do it now is really awesome.”

Bezuidenhout has now won on the Sunshine Tour, European Tour and the Challenge Tour as this event was one of three that were co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour for the first time.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout says while he hasn’t taken time to look at the past champions of the Dimension Data Pro-Am to draw some inspiration from, his only aim to ensure his name is the next to be etched onto that trophy.

He was speaking after his third-round of three-under 69 which took his overall tournament total to 20-under-par at Fancourt.

“I haven’t really looked at the past winners here,” he admits, “but I’m sure there are a couple of good names on it and I would like to put my name in there too. I will go for it tomorrow and hopefully, I can pull it off.”

Unlike the first two days when he opened his round with birdies from the onset, Bezuidenhout was a little slow off the mark on Montagu on Saturday, making three straight pars before making his first birdie. That joy was short-lived because immediately after making that birdie, a bogey followed. A par on the sixth was followed by another bogey which was followed by a birdie which ensured he was level-par at the turn.

“I hit some great shots on the first few holes,” says the man who has been leading in this tournament from day one, “I just couldn’t convert the putts. I felt like I was playing well but the putts were not going in as they did in the first two rounds. Tee to green, I played well and it was tough with the swirling wind but, overall, it was a solid round.”

That birdie on nine was the beginning of the turnaround for Bezuidenhout on moving day. From there on, he picked up two more to make it three birdies on the trot. He made further gains on the 15^th hole, taking his total to 20-under and ensuring he takes a two-stroke victory into the final round which will be played on Montagu.

Trailing him by two shots is compatriot, George Coetzee and Spain’s Santiago Tarrio Ben. Tarrio Ben carded a one-under 72 round on the Links while Coetzee was unrelenting in his pursuit for the top spot, signing for an impressive seven-under 65 on Montagu.

He shrugged off a painful bogey on the opening hole and made three birdies on the front nine to turn in 33. Then, he made an important eagle on the 10^th and followed that up with a birdie on the next hole. He dropped another shot on the 14^th but swiftly recovered with back-to-back birdies on the 15^th and 16^th holes to seal the second spot ahead of what promises to be a spectacular final round if this 25^th edition of the Dimension Data Pro-Am.

“Today I made a lot more birdies,” he said, “but I also made a couple of dodgy swings which I will go and sort out now. Hopefully, my knowledge of this course helps me tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and I hope the course treats me well again because I’ll be sure to treat it very well.”