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Christiaan Bezuidenhout backed up his sublime opening round of 61 at this year’s Dimension Data Pro-Am with an even more impressive score, a six-under-par 67 on The Links, to total 17-under after 36 holes and keep his spot at the top of the leaderboard on day two at Fancourt Golf Estate.

He is joined by Spaniard, Santiago Tarrio Ben at the top after round two.  Bezuidenhout’s start on day two was similar to how he began the first round. He made two birdies in his first three holes to get started on the daunting Links layout before making further gains on the fifth. Bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes followed, threatening to derail his progress in the tournament.

His recovery from those, however, was swift and assured, with back-to-back birdies on the 10^th and 11^th holes. An important par-save on the 12^th was followed by a trio of birdies one after the other to get his round back on track and to tie the lead with Tarrio Ben who was already in the clubhouse.

“If anyone said I’d shoot six-under-par the Links today, I would’ve taken it,” said Bezuidenhout after yet another solid performance. “I made 11 birdies yesterday and I knew it was always going to be difficult to follow that up with a good score, so I’m happy with how things went out there today. The Links is a tough test and you have to drive it well here, and then it comes down to the putting. The putting wasn’t as good as yesterday’s but, as I said, it was always going to be difficult to do it here.”

Tarrio Ben was just as solid on Friday on the Outeniqua course, making seven birdies, an eagle and a bogey en route to a share of the lead with Bezuidenhout.

Richard Sterne lies third after a spectacular seven-under 66 on The Links which took his total for the week to 13-under and leaves him four shots off the pace as we head into the weekend. Stephen Ferreira who played on Outeniqua as well, also gave a good account of himself on Friday, firing in a 68 which catapulted him to fourth on the leaderboard on 12-under-par.

Tying fifth on a score of 11-under-par is the trio of Dean Burmester who shot a 68 on The Links, George Coetzee who shot a 69 on the same layout and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier who carded a 68 on the Outeniqua track.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout got off to a flying start in this year’s edition of the Dimension Data Pro-Am, firing in a flawless 11-under-par 61 opening round on the Outeniqua golf course at Fancourt.

He made back-to-back birdies on the first two holes, then a par and then another birdie. Two more birdies – one after the other – made it onto his card as he turned in 31 and blemish-free. He didn’t relent on the back nine, making two more birdies on the trot on the 10^th and 11^th holes. Those were followed by a par on the 12^th before another birdie arrived. A hole later, Bezuidenhout was at it again, birdieing the 15^th, 17^th and 18^th holes to sign for a bogey-free 61.

“Outeniqua has proven to be a scorable course over the years,” said Bezuidenhout, “and it was important to get a great start and, luckily, I did it and I just kept going. There’s a little bit of pressure there because it’s almost expected that you should score well there.

“If you walk off a scorable course with a two-under or level-par, you know you’ve got work to do on the tougher courses. It’s always at the back of your mind that you should do well on the easier course. Once you do that, you take a bit of the pressure off your shoulder going into the next three days.”

Close up on Bezuidenhout’s heels, is Spain’s Santiago Tarrio Ben who signed for a nine-under 63 on the Montagu layout.

Ernie Els who is making his debut appearance in this 25-year old tournament, along with Zimbabwe’s Stephen Ferreira shot eight-under 64. Like Bezuidenhout, ‘The Big Easy’ was just as impressive on the Outeniqua track. He, too, opened his round back-to-back birdies and after five straight pars, two more birdies went onto his card to turn in 32.

He made further gains at the turn, making it three birdies in a row. After six straight pars, Els made an eagle and closed off with a birdie to sign for an untainted 64.

“It was really nice today,” said Els who boasts 71 professional victories in a glittering career. “I’ve played this course many times and I’ve been coming to Fancourt for 30 years. It’s the kind of course that, at my age, I can play. It’s almost like a (PGA) Champions Tour layout. Good drives and a lot of irons to the flags. I played nicely and those last two putts, obviously, made my day.

“The experience here so far has been great. I’ve never played this event and when I looked at my schedule a couple of weeks ago, I said to Jeremy (Ord) ‘I will be in South Africa, can you give me a spot?’ and he said ‘sure’. So, it’s my first time playing this tournament in 25 years of history.”

Ferreira, who played on the Montagu layout, made nine birdies and a single bogey during his opening round at Fancourt.

Tying fifth on the score of seven-under 65 is Haydn Porteous, Germany’s Marcel Siem, 2016 winner of this tournament George Coetzee, Jean Hugo, the in-form JC Ritchie, Daniel Hillier of New Zealand and rookie, Deon Germishuys.

We return to the magnificent Fancourt this week for the penultima event on the schedule, the Dimension Data Pro-Am. This year’s event marks the 25^th year of play on the Sunshine Tour (and was co-sanctioned with the European Tour for the first two years) and is, for the first time, co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour. As has become the norm, the tournament will be played on all three course – Montagu, Outeniqua and The Links at Fancourt – from February 13 to 16.

The format:

72 HOLE STROKEPLAY – 180 Professionals will make up the field. The cut will be to 60 players and ties, after round three. Each contestant will play one round on Montagu, Outeniqua & The Links Golf Courses. The final round will be played on the Montagu Golf Course. In the event of a tie for first place, there will be a sudden-death playoff on holes to be determined by the Tournament Director.

72 HOLE BETTERBALL MEDAL – 180 Professionals and 180 Amateurs make up the Pro-Am field. Players drawn together in one team stay together for the duration of the tournament. The format is Betterball Medal, the best net score on each hole to count. Each team will play one round on the Montagu, Outeniqua & The Links Golf Courses. On conclusion of the third round, there will be a cut to the leading 26 team scores. All teams making the 54-hole cut will contest the final round to be played on the Montagu GC.

Defending champion:

Sweden’s Philip Eriksson is the defending champion after he Justin Walters by three shots on 21-under-par 268.

The Courses:

The Links:

This is regarded as the hallmark of this estate, with undulating, windswept terrain and dune-style landscape. 6,755 metres in length, this championship course will test and bring joy to golfers of all levels. The fairways on this beautiful par-73 design are made up of four different season kinds of grass; the Kentucky Blue, Rye, Fescue and Bent, with the greens a dominant Bent.

Outeniqua:

This course provides for an easier game than its counterpart, the Montagu while offering its fair share of challenges and water hazards on as many as 11 of its holes, including four of the last five. Outeniqua rolls over 6,312 metres of greenery and regarded as the easier course to play in this world-class estate, but will punish any complacent golfer.

Designed by Gary Player and named after the mountain range that forms its backdrop, the course is designed to accommodate a large volume of players. Grassed with Kikuyu on the fairways and Bentgrass on the greens, Outeniqua has been ranked the number one golf course in the country on a few occasions.

Montagu:

This 6,714-metre design is a tree-lined parklands layout, with a few slopes to climb, that is well-conditioned to provide the best-golfing experience.  Montagu and Outeniqua are closely related as they are both parkland layouts that wind across the undulating terrain. Montague, though, is the longer and arguably the tougher of the two with a host of wonderfully designed holes.

Several tight fairways here will demand accuracy and as well as length from the tee, and those treacherous water hazards will dangerously punish any golfer who will stray towards them on certain holes. Boasting fast undulating greens, stylish bunkering and the ever-present backdrop of the Outeniqua mountains, Montagu is a world-class golf course by any standard.

 

Form player:

There is no doubting Daniel van Tonder’s form headed into this week. He led for three straight rounds last week in Cape Town but faded away in the final round. He placed seventh thereafter a final-round 78, the only round he carded a score in the 70s for the entire tournament.

Before then, in Limpopo, where he came ninth, Van Tonder looked a threat, especially after the opening round there where he blitzed to a nine-under-par 63 round. There too, he could not seal the win. In his five starts this year – including the Gauteng Team Championship – Van Tonder has missed the cut twice, first at SA Open and then in Dainfern.

Worth noting, however, is that in the three events where he has not missed the cut, Van Tonder has been in contention. He came 12^th year here last year and shared 32^nd the year before. He will feel he can pose a threat in George this week, especially because of the form he’s recently shown.

Plus, there’s the Order of Merit to fight for. He currently sits behind JC Ritchie on those standings, trailing by just a little over R100 000. He is the man to look put for this week and if his recent form is anything to go by, then Van Tonder is very capable of walking away with a victory here this week.

Sentimental pick:

Jacques Kruyswijk will feel that with his performances in the last three to four weeks, he deserves a win. He walked away with two third-place finishes back-to-back – Eye of Africa PGA Championship and Limpopo Championship – and got a top 20 finish in Cape Town.

His aggressive style has had some questioning whether or not it can deliver him victory but Kruyswijk is no stranger to the big stage and his 2016 victory in the Cape Town Open is testimony to this. He struggled in Europe last year but has started this year rejuvenated and by his own admission, in a better space mentally.

While he has shown that he can produce the goods when it’s that time, Kruyswijk has struggled in the final round and as such, especially in the last few events, he lost narrowly lost out when many thought he’d run away with the victory. Be that as it may, however, Kruyswijk, on his day, can get the job done and an early victory on the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca, will surely give him confidence moving forward.

The bolter:

Wilco Nienaber has left a lot of pundits and fans talking since making his Sunshine Tour debut. His length of the tee and his general demeanour has had many punting him as the next big star and his performances on the golf course have given a glimpse of what may yet come from the lanky 19-year old.

He was on contention ahead of the final round in Cape Town and that result was preceded by a second-place finish in Limpopo. The former GolfRSA Elite Squad member was on course to finish in the top 10 at the Eye of Africa PGA Championship but forgot to sign his scorecard, an error which got him disqualified.

Currently the longest-hitter on Tour and second to Garrick Higgo on the rookie of the year race, Nienaber looks like he is intent on winning something quite early in his career and as Higgo did in only his fifth start as a pro when he clinched the Sun City Challenge, Nienaber has shown all the qualities of a veteran winner and it would be a pleasant surprise to a lot of people if he won here this week.

Sweden’s Anton Karlsson joked on Saturday that he was going to claim a come-from-behind victory at the RAM Cape Town Open and did just that on Sunday, winning it by one stroke over Garrick Higgo on 14-under-par 274 at Royal Cape.

He was three shots off the pace set by Daniel van Tonder at the start of the final round and a bogey on the first hole threatened to set him back even further. Another bogey, on the fourth, followed before he could make any gains. He brought it back to level-par with birdies on the seventh and ninth holes to give himself an opportunity at a win.

“It was tough out there and I wasn’t really in the best spots in those first few holes,” he said. “The wind was the worst I’ve seen in a long time. But I spoke to my caddie and I said it was going to be a tough day for everyone.”

He took to the back nine with some flair, however, birdieing the next four holes one after the other to make it six birdies in seven holes and get it to 15-under par. A disappointing bogey on the 15^th took from those gains and with Garrick Higgo sitting in the clubhouse at 13-under, Karlsson knew he could not afford to falter again. He kept it steady from there, making four straight pars highlighted by an impressive save on the last hole to finish at 14-under.

“To win here feels so good,” he admits, “for the first time, I was not really sure what score I was on for the day. I knew I was on top of the leaderboard but I couldn’t tell by how many shots I was leading and I saw Higgo finished well at 13-under so I had to play solid golf. It was pretty brutal out there but I’m very happy to have pulled it together like that. It’s always important to get the season off to a good start because you can really get going after that.”

A third successive five-under 67 proved not enough to get Higgo into a playoff and give him an opportunity to make it two wins in his rookie season on the Sunshine Tour.

Daniel van Tonder’s fine form continued in round three of the RAM Cape Town Open where he shot an eventful three-under-par 69 to total 14-under and take a two-stroke lead into the final round at Royal Cape Golf Club.

He went birdie, bogey and birdie on his opening three holes, then, three pars later, made another birdie on the par-five seventh. That was soon threatened by the bogey he made on the ninth. Back-to-back birdies on the 11^th and 12^th then made their way onto his card before another bogey came, this time on the 15^th hole. That bogey was immediately followed by a birdie on 16 which sealed a three-under-par round.

“It wasn’t too tough out there,” said Van Tonder whose confidence seems to reflect his current form. “There were a few tough pins out there. I managed to shoot under par but I did find myself in some danger a few times. But I made a couple of birdies as well, so, that helped.”

The three bogeys he made on day three were the first he has made in 54 holes, a sign of a man who is high on confidence.

“I can’t say I’ve left a few out there,” he admits, “I missed one short putt on one of the par-fives.”

Lurking dangerously following a stunning round of eight-under-par 64 which took his total to 12-under for the week, is Luke Jerling. Seven birdies, an eagle and a single bogey characterised his third round as he got himself in the mix ahead of the final round of this event which is co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour.

“I love this golf course,” said Jerling who is still looking for his breakthrough win on Tour. “It reminds me a little bit of my home course, PE Golf Club. A little bit of a breeze, greens running pure and I had a great day. Last week I struggled a lot with my ball-striking and I wasn’t happy with my game but I talked to my coach and sorted a few swings. Started working on the range for a few days and started hitting a few shots with the middle of the clubface, then you realise you haven’t really lost it. This course suits me.”

Third on the leaderboard and a shot behind Jerling lies Sweden’s Anton Karlsson on 11-under par after he shot a 64 of his own to make moving day count. He is followed by JC Ritchie at 10-under while Wilco Nienaber, Toby Tree Daniel Young, Damien Perrier, and Harry Ellis share the fifth spot on nine-under for the week.

Another bogey-free round – a 67 this time – saw Daniel van Tonder keep his place atop the leaderboard on a total of 11-under-par after 36 holes in the RAM Cape Town Open while taking a -one-shot lead into the third round which will be played at Royal Cape Golf Club.

In what was a similar start to his opening round, Van Tonder had to make do with three consecutive pars before making his first birdie of the day at Royal Cape. Then, he found joy, birdieing the par-three fourth. Two more birdies – this time on the sixth and seventh holes – got onto his card and another on the ninth to turn in 32.

Coming home, Van Tonder didn’t make any more birdies until the one he picked up on the 17^th to sign for another untainted round of golf in Cape Town.

“We made it easy out there,” says the man who sits third on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, “We tried to hit fairways today but missed a few. But we recovered from there and hit the greens and made a few putts, so I’m happy.”

While there was some wind at the start of the round, it was nothing like yesterday’s and Van Tonder was happy to take advantage.

“Yesterday was a bit of a mission out there with that wind,” he admitted, “but, today was one-club wind for me so it wasn’t as bad but you still need to hit the good shots and really strike the ball. Otherwise, the wind will play with you ball in the air. But I enjoy it out here, maybe I just like bad weather.

“Both courses play similar but I just think the greens at Royal Cape roll a little bit faster. But, from tee to green, I am playing solidly and if I get myself in the bush, I can recover. Just give me a swing and I’ll make a plan to get out of there somehow.”

Hot on Van Tonder’s heels is Italy’s Aron Zemmer, who carded a perfect seven-under 65 which catapulted him to second after two rounds of golf. He made his gains on the second, seventh, ninth, 11^th, 12^th, 14^th and 17^th holes. A further two strokes from Van Tonder’s lead is Mitch Waite of England who is followed by compatriot Toby Tree who shares the fourth spot with JC Ritchie on a tournament total of eight-under-par.

Daniel van Tonder carded a bogey-free six-under-par 66 in the opening round of this year’s edition of the RAM Cape Town Open co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour and hosted at Royal Cape and King David Mowbray Golf Club.

Van Tonder had to wait four holes before making his first birdie of the day on the King David Mowbray golf course and would not make any more birdies on that front nine as he turned in 35. He turned things up on the homeward stretch, making back-to-back birdies on the 10^th and 11^th before a par on the 12^th threatened to slow him down.

He shrugged that off expertly, bouncing back with a birdie on 13 before making a game-changing eagle in the next hole. He kept things steady from there on, making pars in the last four holes to sign for a blemish-free 66.

“The wind was blowing hard hey,” he said, describing the conditions most of the morning field had to contend with on day one. “It was gusting and stuff. Sometimes on 110 yards, I was hitting a 6 iron. Hitting it low and hard and trying to keep it nicely in play. It was tough.

“It is very difficult to commit to a club when the wind is like that. Most of the time here the wind is in off the right and sometimes you have to aim 40 metres right of the green and trust the wind to bring it back. But it was fun.

“Overall, I’m happy with my score. It felt easier, I don’t know why, maybe because I was listening to my wife who’s on the bag. It felt easy.”

Lurking closely just a shot off Van Tonder’s pace is England’s Toby Tree whose familiarity with the courses and grasses in South Africa must be attributed to the couple of years he spent here as a Sunshine Tour member. He carded a five-under 67 opening round on the King David Mowbray Golf Club track.

His round was characterised by an eagle, four birdies and a single dropped shot in windy conditions in Pinelands. Lying two strokes behind Van Tonder and in a share of third in JC Ritchie and France’s Damien Perrier who both signed for 68s.

Italy’s Aron Zemmer and the English pair of Mitch Waite and Harry Ellis share the fifth spot on three-under-par while Belgium’s Christopher Mivis, Martin Simonsen and Nicolai Kristensen of Denmark and Jean Hugo are among the 11 players who share eighth on two-under-par after the first round in Cape Town.

Exciting rookie Wilco Nienaber says having enjoyed success as an amateur in the windy Cape, he is more than ready to get going at this year’s RAM Cape Town Open co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour.

The tournament gets underway on Thursday and Nienaber returns to the Cape after some solid first few events as a pro. He was set for a top 10 finish at the Eye of Africa PGA Championship in Eikenhof three weeks ago but forgot to sign his scorecard, an error which got him disqualified. Then, two weeks later, he finished second in the Limpopo Championship, the first of three events the Sunshine Tour is co-sanctioning with the Challenge Tour this year.

“I’d like to take that momentum into this week,” says Nienaber from Royal Cape Golf Club, one of the two venues that are set to host this mega showdown, the other venue being King David Mowbray Golf Club. “I played good golf at Eye of Africa, played good golf last week. So, I am looking forward to this week because I’ve had quite a bit of success down here in my amateur events.”

While he has not won an event as a professional just yet, his length off the tee has had pundits and fans talking and to some extent, has left some even worried that he might be a little bit too aggressive on the ball. A tag which does little to bother him.

“Because I hit the driver pretty long, I guess some people will see me as an aggressive player,” he notes, “I think I am an aggressive player because I know that is my strongest point. But, it doesn’t bother me because coming to the Cape is the same game for me, you still  have to hit the fairways, still have to hit the greens even in the wind, it is just a little bit trickier to do it.”

Like many golfers who have come down to Cape Town this week, Nienaber says he enjoys playing in this region despite the frequent and gusting winds which the area is associated with.

“I don’t know,” he says when asked about what it is that players enjoy the most about coming down to the Mother City, “You see the Table Mountain while playing, it’s relaxed, the people in Cape Town tend to come out and watch us play, so there’s no one specific thing you can say you enjoy. It’s just a great experience to come down here.

“This week is a bit different to last week because last week it was bushveld and it was pretty wide,” he says when explaining what it takes to play well here. “Here, it’s tree-lined and you’ve got to hit good shots to have an opening for your second shot and to be able to hit the greens on the right spots, you have to hit the fairways, that’s just it.”

Defending champion of the RAM Cape Town Open, Benjamin Follett-Smith of Zimbabwe says while he aims to defend his title this week in Cape Town, he has few expectations this year following a rather difficult spell on Tour since his win here.

He has made the cut five times in 19 starts this season and admits he’s struggled while also pointing out what the courses for such struggles may have been.

“Very few expectations this week,” he says ahead of this year’s edition which is co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour. “I’ve learnt my lesson last year. I struggled this year because my expectations got too high. Now, I’m just trying to maintain composure; hit fairways, hit greens and just make sure I do the basics right. If you get the basics right, you should be able to give yourself chances.”

He admits, however, that all is not lost for him because regardless of the undesirable results he’s gotten this season so far, he is still learning about the game and about himself as well.

“It’s a learning curve,” he notes, “because this year, I’ve missed more cuts that I have done in my whole career. It’s just learning how to get back up bigger and stronger. I’ve taken five steps back but I’m trying to take them forward now.”

A fierce competitor of his calibre is not to be distracted by a series of unwanted results, however, and in all his struggles, Follett-Smith has had some positives to draw on and the eighth-place finish he and his compatriot Stephen Ferreira got in the team championship a fortnight ago, is one such positive.

“At team champs, I hit the ball really well,” he says, “and it was easier because I had Stephen backing me up. But I did hit it well and that showed me that when I am confident, I can pull through. Obviously, with a few mishaps and not playing well, the confidence will go down but coming to a place where I have succeeded, seeing the positives, seeing what I did and what I can do, is helping the confidence. So, I feel good and I feel like I can compete again.”

No matter his current form and the struggles with which he has had to deal with on the golf course, Follett-Smith is ready for everything this great championship has to throw at him.

“I hope the wind picks up,” he says with a smile, “I really like it here when it gets windy. It just makes things a little bit more interesting.”

The Sunshine Tour is in the Mother City this week for the eighth edition of the RAM Cape Town Open. This year’s event is for the first time co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour, making it bigger and better while marking the first co-sanctioned event to hit the Cape.

The format:

The competition will be decided over 72 holes of stroke-play. The first two rounds will be played at both courses of Royal Cape and King David Mowbray Golf Clubs, with each competitor playing a round at each course. After 36 holes there will be a cut to the leading 60 professionals and those who tie on the score.

The final two rounds will be played at Royal Cape Golf Club. In the event that the cut qualifies more than 78 players, there will be an additional cut after 54 holes to the leading 72 professionals and those who tie on the score. The final decision regarding the number of players for a 3rd round cut will be made by the Tournament Directors.

The field:

204 professionals

Defending champion:

Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith is the defending champion, having earned his maiden Sunshine Tour title via a two-stroke victory over Cape Town’s Jean-Paul Strydom and Zander Lombard on a 13-under-par 275 total.

The course:

Royal Cape Golf Club:

The Royal Cape Golf Club was established in 1885 which makes it South Africa’s oldest golf club. It is in the shadow of Table Mountain and is subject to three of nature’s beguiling offerings: a near-constant wind to challenge, sweeping mountain views to charm and water features to ensnare.  The par-72 course which is 6,121 metres in length was designed by Charles Murray and its fairway grass is Kikuyu, while the greens are made of Bent grass. There are plenty of challenging bunkers.

It is a course has hosted the SA Open 10 times, as well as many other professional and top amateur events. Winners at Royal Cape include Gary Player, Ernie Els, Mark McNulty and Trevor Immelman.

Tree-lined with narrow fairways and subtle greens, Royal presents a traditional test of golf, although the numerous ponds and lakes teeming with birdlife provide beauty and distraction along the way.

King David Mowbray Golf Club:

Set in a very central area – about 15 minutes from the V&A Waterfront and Cape Town International Airport – King David Mowbray is a parkland course, which provides an excellent test of golf. The terrain is flat, but plenty of trees and water features make for an interesting experience, with the beauty of the mountain and abundant wildlife dominating the scenery.

A significant feature of any coastal course is, of course, the wind. This is where King David Mowbray is unique, in that the holes have been so laid out that you will seldom find yourself with the wind directly in your face or right at your back. Also, believe it or not, the wind in Pinelands is seldom as severe as in other parts of the peninsula.

Both fairways and greens remain soft throughout the year. The fairways consist predominantly of Kikuyu grass while the greens are paspalum which provides an excellent putting surface. Experiments with pure bentgrass have not been successful, so the indigenous grass family variety is now being “managed”, with more than satisfactory results.

While the course is not particularly long, the golfer will find King David Mowbray a real challenge. It is generally accepted that the SA Golf Association ratings of 71 from the back tees and 69 from the front make it about 2 or 3 strokes more difficult than average. Don’t let this put you off, however. If you hit the ball straight, you’ll do well and even if you go off line here and there, the rough is very forgiving and is kept well-trimmed.

Form player:

JC Ritchie is coming into this event red hot. He comes to the Cape at the back of not one but two successful title-defences at the team championship a fortnight ago and in Limpopo just this past weekend. Those victories follow sixth-place and seventh-place finishes at the SA Open and Eye of Africa PGA Championship, respectively.

To put things into perspective, Ritchie has not missed a cut since September last year when he did so at the King’s Cup in eSwatini and has not finished outside of the top 10 since this year began. His best finish in the Cape dates back to 2018 when he finished third here and the way he is currently playing, it would not be a surprise to see him in the mix here come the weekend.

Sentimental pick:

A final-round 74 proved to be local man, Jean-Paul Strydom’s undoing last year here after he had played some brilliant golf in the week to get in contention for what would have been his first Sunshine Tour victory.

Strydom enjoys the windy Cape and while he was also runner-up last here, he also boasts a fifth-place finish in this tournament, a feat he achieved back in 2015. While he has not enjoyed a jaw-dropping season in the way of best results, his has been a decent season which included a runners-up finish, a top 15 and a top 25 result. Plus, by his own admission, he tends to play rather well in the windy conditions with which golf in Cape Town is associated.

He has everything it takes to go one better here following last year’s disappointment when Follett-Smith won last season.

Bolter:

Anton Haig has had to wait a long time for his third Sunshine Tour title, having last tasted victory on Tour back in 2007 when he claimed the Johnny Walker Classic which was co-sanctioned with the European Tour, and which is now defunct.

He has enjoyed a decent season so far, sitting 73^rd on the Order of Merit after 17 starts and last week’s seventh-place finish was yet another glimpse into the quality he possesses when he is in a good form. While he is a proven winner, with four titles to his name (Seekers Travel Pro-Am 2005, MTC Namibia PGA Championship 2006, Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters on the Asian Tour in 2006 and that playoff victory over Richard Sterne and Oliver Wilson in the Johnny Walker Classic of 2007) Haig has not enjoyed a lot of success on Tour, and this follows years of absence from the professional golf scenes. Despite all this, however, on a few occasions since he regained his Sunshine Tour playing privileges, he has shown glimpses of the player he was in the mid-2000s and that top 10 finish last week in Limpopo would have reminded him what it felt like being at the top.

A win in Cape Town would not only assure him of his own ability to win but would mark a new chapter for his career overall.