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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

George Coetzee has confirmed he will play in all three of the upcoming Sunshine Tour and European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments, starting with a return to the Joburg Open which was the first of the five European Tour titles he has won.

Coetzee heads to Randpark Golf Club for the 19-22 November Joburg Open with memories of his first European Tour title in this event in 2014 still fresh in his mind.

“I’ve always thought that the Joburg Open is one of the most beautiful trophies on Tour, probably because it was my first European Tour win. I’m very excited that it’s making its comeback on the Tour. It’s been missed the last couple of years,” Coetzee said of a tournament that is back on the international schedule for the first time since 2017.

Coetzee is very aware of the role the Joburg Open played in launching his international career. This September he added his fifth European Tour title in the Portugal Masters, and this was also his first European Tour victory in Europe.

“When I think back on it now I feel very lucky to have won the Joburg Open in 2014. I remember I was so nervous and I hit some shaky shots in the final round. I started that final round a few shots behind which made it a little bit easier to be more aggressive. But it was nice to tick that box of a first European Tour win because it gave me the confidence to know I can do it, and I used that confidence for my other European Tour wins.

“This year’s victory in Portugal was another box ticked because it was always my goal to win in Europe. I targeted a couple of events where I thought I’d have a really good opportunity of winning, and Portugal was one of them. It all worked out pretty well that week.

“Hopefully I can put a similar plan together for these three upcoming co-sanctioned tournaments in South Africa. I’m very excited about these three tournaments. I think the Sunshine Tour and European Tour have done a great job in getting these co-sanctioned tournaments to take place this year. I think everybody is very excited for the opportunity to play some serious golf.”

Bongi Mokaba, Director of Events for the City of Johannesburg, said: “We’re delighted to have George confirm his place in the field as not only a great former champion of this tournament, but also a current European Tour champion. The Joburg Open was launched with a vision to be a tournament of opportunity in a world-class African city, and it has certainly been this as it helped to tee off George’s international career.”

Coetzee has been in great form this year with a victory on the Sunshine Tour’s Rise-Up Series in the Titleist Championship to add to his European Tour triumph.

He also heads to Randpark with the chance to become the third golfer to win this tournament twice. Charl Schwartzel (2010 and 2011) and Richard Sterne (2008 and 2013) are the only golfers to have achieved this since the tournament teed off in 2007.

This week’s Time Square Casino Challenge at Wingate Park Country Club will be the final tune-up for the Sunshine Tour professionals before a big summer featuring three European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments.

The 54-hole tournament offers a R700 000 purse for the Sunshine Tour professionals competing. But beyond that will be their desire to use this week as the final preparation for the upcoming three-week Summer Swing of the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open.

The good news for the rest of the field this week is that Daniel van Tonder has decided to take a week off.

Van Tonder has been the hottest golfer on the Tour since its restart in August, winning four of the last six tournaments. But he’s decided to take this week off and prepare for a Summer Swing where he hopes to turn his current form into a maiden European Tour title.

“I’m just taking this week off from tournaments because I want to work on some things to make sure everything is ready to go for the three co-sanctioned tournaments. So I’m just putting in some work on my own to make sure I’m ready for those,” he said.

Van Tonder is certainly not alone in seeking to capitalise on the upcoming run of co-sanctioned tournaments on home fairways, which tees off on 19 November with the Joburg Open.

MJ Viljoen will feel confident about his own chances. Currently second on the money list behind Van Tonder, Viljoen hasn’t finished worse than 35^th in the last seven tournaments, including three top-10s. His seventh-place finish in last year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship will also have convinced him he has what it takes to compete against European Tour fields.

Jacques Blaauw also came very close to a maiden European Tour title when he finished second in the 2015 Tshwane Open. His last three Sunshine Tour events have seen him finish fourth, second and sixth. – Michael Vlismas

Daniel van Tonder claimed his fourth victory in his last six Sunshine Tour starts when he won the Investec Royal Swazi Open at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday.

And now the most dominant player on the Sunshine Tour this year has set his sights on the upcoming European Tour co-sanctioned events and the three-week run of the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open beginning at the end of November.

“All of my titles in my career have come on golf courses that have good greens. I do well on courses with good greens. Randpark Golf Club (Joburg Open), Leopard Creek Golf Club (Alfred Dunhill Championship) and the Gary Player Country Club (SA Open) all have very good greens so, yes, I’m looking forward to those tournaments,” he said.

Van Tonder completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Investec Royal Swazi Open as he closed with a final round of 10 points under the modified stableford scoring system used for this event, giving him a winning total of 48 points.

Neil Schietekat took second place on 30 points after a final round of six points, while MJ Viljoen was third on 29 points after a closing tally of nine points.

The victory was not only another affirmation of Van Tonder’s incredible form since the Tour’s return after the hard lockdown, but also his second in this tournament following his win in 2014. He also won with 48 points on that occasion.

For a man who has taken to intermittent fasting, Daniel van Tonder has clearly not lost his appetite for winning.

Van Tonder is on track to claiming his fourth victory in his last six Sunshine Tour starts after entrenching his position at the top of the Investec Royal Swazi Open leaderboard going into Saturday’s final round at the Gary Player Country Club.

The Johannesburg professional added 11 points in Friday’s third round, lifting him to 38 points overall as he tightened his grip on a tournament he has led from day one.

“The greens were a bit firmer out there today and they put some flags in the corners so if you attacked them and misjudged yourself you were in trouble. But other than that, everything about my game still feels great,” said Van Tonder.

Neil Schietekat is his nearest challenger with 24 points following a day in which he added seven points to his total. Anton Haig worked his way into a tie for third place on 22 points after his third round of eight points, and JC Ritchie also ended the day on 22 points following a haul of six points.

Van Tonder is in easily the best form of his professional career, which he puts down to a combination of having good sponsors, his wife’s calming influence on the bag, and his new diet of intermittent fasting. The intermittent fasting in particular has been a gamechanger for him.

It’s something Van Tonder picked up during lockdown, when he lost 25 kilogrammes in a month-and-a-half.

“It’s actually scary how much we eat in a day. Now I only have one meal a day, and that’s dinner. At 10am I have a protein shake, and I pack a bit of biltong and a protein bar into my golf bag in case I get hungry on the course. But my body is used to it now. It just feels like I have more energy throughout the day and can concentrate better.”

And he’s clearly focused on adding to his 2014 triumph in the Investec Royal Swazi Open, which would make him the first double winner since Des Terblanche won in 2003 and 2007. – Michael Vlismas

Daniel van Tonder has maintained his position at the top of the Investec Royal Swazi Open leaderboard, and is on track for his fourth Sunshine Tour victory in his last six starts.

Van Tonder added 12 points to his opening 15 (this tournament uses a modified stableford scoring system) to head the field on 27 points through two rounds at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday.

His nearest challengers are Neil Schietekat and Oliver Bekker on 17 points. JC Ritchie is currently fourth on 16 points.

Van Tonder was once again in dominant form and clearly enjoying a Gary Player Country Club course that is in impeccable condition for this 50^th anniversary of a tournament with a list of past champions including Dale Hayes, John Bland, Mark McNulty, John Daly and Ernie Els.

“I wasn’t even thinking about leading the tournament. I was just focused on going out there and making as many birdies and eagles as I can,” said Van Tonder, who signed for a second round of five birdies, one eagle and three bogeys.

“Leading just comes with the territory. If you make birdies and eagles and keep the bogeys off your scorecard, then the lead comes on its own. You don’t need to think about it.

“The greens were a bit faster today. I had a three-putt today where I thought I actually hit a good putt, but it just didn’t stop rolling. But the course is playing great. The wind was a bit tricky and it was swirling out there, but overall I’m happy.” – Michael Vlismas

She is quiet. She is calm. But you would be very wrong if you thought that all Abigail van Tonder does is carry her husband, Daniel’s, clubs around a golf course. She is also a very big part of why Van Tonder cannot stop winning on the Sunshine Tour at the moment.

Van Tonder’s incredible run of form on the Tour is showing no signs of ending anytime soon as the Johannesburg professional ended Wednesday’s first round of the Investec Royal Swazi Open in a familiar position – at the top of the leaderboard.

He scored 15 points at the Gary Player Country Club under the modified stableford scoring system that is used for this tournament, which this year is celebrating its 50^th anniversary.

Van Tonder’s nearest challenger is Estiaan Conradie on 14 points, while Cameron Moralee and Keith Horne are tied third on 11 points.

Hitting fairways and greens is a big part of Van Tonder’s current success. But so is listening to his wife and caddie Abi.

“That’s the secret. Listening to Abi. She’s spot on with the club selection, and I just trust that,” said Van Tonder.

“The course is in great condition. The rough is up and the greens are perfect. I just focused on hitting fairways and greens and making putts.”

Van Tonder is also relishing the typically impressive condition of this iconic golf course.

“With a course this good you can make so many birdies from anywhere. And on these greens, even if you have a 40-metre putt you have a chance of making it if you just get it on the right line.”

Van Tonder came out of the hard lockdown and wasted no time establishing himself as the hottest golfer on the Sunshine Tour.

He won three of the five tournaments on the Rise-Up Series that marked the official restart of the Sunshine Tour’s calendar. And now he’s hunting a fourth victory this year. And his timing couldn’t be better with the announcement of the three European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments of the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open at the end of November and the beginning of December.

“It feels like I can go out and win any tournament at the moment. I’m very happy there’s a few co-sanctioned events coming up. I’ll give myself chances there and hopefully I can take them.”

And for now, he’ll just keep listening to Abi.

“You know, there were a few struggles out there today. A few double bogeys and bogeys that made me feel like I was last on the leaderboard at one point. But on the last hole Abi said just make eagle and get it over with,” he said.

He did. He listened to Abi. – Michael Vlismas.

This week’s Investec Royal Swazi Open at the Gary Player Country Club takes on even greater significance on its 50^th anniversary, and in light of December’s South African Open being played on the same golf course.

This will be the first major tournament at the Gary Player Country Club since it reopened for play on Saturday 19 September. And it will be a fitting one as the Investec Royal Swazi Open celebrates 50 years as a truly iconic event on the Southern African golf calendar.

“This is the longest standing event on the Sunshine Tour, and it deserves its place in the history of South African golf,” says Selwyn Nathan, Executive Director of the Sunshine Tour.

The field for this 72-hole Sunshine Tour event, which tees off on Wednesday, will certainly relish the opportunity to play this golf course ahead of its hosting of the SA Open, which is co-sanctioned with the European Tour.

In particular, the likes of Darren Fichardt – who has been in good form during the Sunshine Tour’s restart – will appreciate an early look at this course before approaching a South African Open he’d love to win. It’s still the only one of South Africa’s “Big Three” to elude him after his victories in the South African Masters and the South African PGA Championship.

Fichardt and his fellow professionals will encounter a Gary Player Country Club course in impeccable condition considering the low volume of traffic it has had this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

One of the most iconic golf courses in the world joined all South African courses in closing its doors for the duration of the hard lockdown. It was reportedly so quiet that the animals which normally stick to the fringes of this celebrated course bordering the Pilanesburg Game Reserve came as close as grazing on the hotel lawns at Sun City.

It will also serve as a great test for the Sunshine Tour professionals as the second last tournament on the schedule before the big run of three consecutive European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments tees off with the Joburg Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open.

The restrictions on international travel forced the Investec Royal Swazi Open to be moved from its traditional home of the Royal Swazi Sun Country Club to Sun City this year. But this is not the first time eSwatini’s national Open has been played in South Africa. In 2002, the year Mark McNulty won with a final round of 61, the tournament was played at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club.

This week’s field will also include six Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals. Nobuhle Dlamini is seeking a hat-trick of titles after wins in 2018 and 2019. She also finished runner-up in 2017.

Lejan Lewthwaite is also in the field and having won the SuperSport Ladies Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club in February this year. – Michael Vlismas