|
It’s well over 50 years since I first visited Royal Cape Golf Club and I’ve never seen the golf course better.
It was glistening under bright blue skies this last week.
It’s always an enjoyable experience for me to visit the clubhouse with all their wonderful memorabilia on the walls. Peter Saaiman, their local historian, has done a fabulous job of displaying their history.
I often think that I’m the exception to the rule as I love the history, but when I mentioned it to two of the guys that I worked with, they both said they had enjoyed walking around the clubhouse.
We were there for the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open and the weather was magnificent. Breezy to start but it calmed down over the weekend.
Jacques Blaauw was the leader for almost the entire week. After last week’s bush experience the International players were more at home on Royal Cape’s parkland layout and there were many more of them high up on the leader board. Mikael Lindberg from Sweden and Ewen Ferguson from Scotland were in joint third position along with left-hander Luke Jerling.
Other than Jerling and the two players in the play-off, there were only two other South Africans in the top 13.
Jacques Blaauw took three from the edge of the 16th, a par 5, for a par and that proved to be costly, as a few minutes later JC Ritchie holed a 4-metre putt at the 18th for birdie to finish at 14-under par. Unfortunately Blaauw was not able to birdie either of the finishing holes so it was a play-off.
Ritchie hit two beautiful shots in to 2 metres at the 18th hole, the first play-off hole, and holed the putt to win.
The sponsorship by Bain’s Whisky is a perfect match for the Cape Town Open. Long may the partnership last!
KitKat are also doing a phenomenal job with their Food Hamper donation and should reach the 7000 mark after the Dimension Data tournament. Remember that they donate a food hamper for every birdie made on Tour.
Another great week for South Africans on the European Tour where Dean Burmester made it two in row at the 2021 Tenerife Open. He shot a final round 62 to pick up his first win in just over four years. He finished at 25-under 259 and won by five-shots over Nicolai Von Dellingshausen.
Adrian Meronk and Kalla Samooja tied for third at 19-under.
Garrick Higgo had another good week finishing in a tie for 8th at 16-under while Louis De Jager and Justin Harding tied for 12th at 15-under.
When the Ball Hits Back
Another great video from the European Tour…
In this one, Marcus Armitage teams up with former British Touring Car Championship winner Paul O’Neil,l to try and break the Guinness World Record for the longest golf shot landed in a moving car.
The previous record – set in 2012 – was 273 yards.
Click here to watch it.
• Sam Burns won his first PGA Tour title at the Valspar Championship at the Innisbrook Resort in Florida. Burns was tied with Keegan Bradley through 36 holes and 54 holes, and through 12 holes on Sunday. After Bradley found water and made double bogey on the 13th hole, Burns made two birdies and got to a four-shot lead with two to play. Despite a bogey at the last he shot a 3-under 68 and won by three over Bradley at 17-under. Viktor Hovland and Cameron Tringale tied for third at 13-under and Abraham Ancer was fifth at 12-under. Louis Oosthuizen tied for 8th at 9-under and Charl Schwartzel tied for 21st at 5-under
• Hyo Joo Kim won the HSBC Women's World Championship at the Sentosa GC in Singapore. She came from five shots off the lead, shooting a bogey-free final round 64 that saw her win by one at 17-under 271. It’s her fourth LPGA title but her first since 2016. Hannah Green was second at 16-under while Inbee Park, Patty Tavatanakit, and Xiyu Lin tied for third at 15-under. Ashleigh Buhai tied for 57th at 5-over.
• Casandra Hall won the Joburg Ladies Open at Soweto Country Club by one shot over Lee-Anne Pace in a final round tussle. Pace held a two-shot lead entering the final round but the round played very differently after autumn rains lashed Johannesburg. Hall finished at 1-over 217. Maiken Paulsen was third at 3-over and Michaela Fletcher fourth at 4-over. The next event is the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge which will be followed by the Investec South African Women’s Open at Westlake.
• Mike Weir won his first PGA TOUR Champions title at the Insperity Invitational. The event at The Woodlands in Texas was reduced to 36-holes because of heavy rain earlier in the week. John Daly had a two shot lead after making an eagle at the 13th, but Weir matched him. After a bogey at the 14th Weir made birdie at the 15th to tie again. Daly found water on the 18th and made a double bogey which gave Weir a 2-shot win at 10-under 134. Daly tied for second alongside David Toms and Tim Petrovic. Retief Goosen tied for ninth at 5-under and Ernie Els tied for 20th at 2-under. This week is the first of the Champions Tours five majors, the Regions Tradition.
• France’s Paul Barjon won the Korn Ferry’s Huntsville Championship in a play-off with Mito Pereira and Billy Kennerly. He started the final round with a three shot lead and had a double bogey on the first hole and had dropped to four off the lead through nine. He played his own game though and ended up tying at the close of regulation play at 15-under 265 with Kennerly, who had set the clubhouse target after a 7-under 63, and Pereira who had shot a 66. They all parred the first play-off hole, the 18th, then Kennerly fell out with a bogey on their second trip, and on the third, Baron made eagle to take the title.
• Hiroshi Iwata won the Japan Tour’s The Crowns. He shot a final round 7-under 63 to win at 12-under 198, three clear of Katsumasa Miyamoto. Shaun Norris tied for 37th at level par.
• Isabella van Rooyen won the Nomads SA Girl’s Rose Bowl Championship at Durbanville Golf Club. Her final round 1-under 71 saw her win by two at 5-under 211. Sam Whateley finished second at 3-under and Bobbi Brown finished third at 2-under. Ashley Huysamen won the Silver Division on 14-over, four shots clear of Gia Raad, while Tamsen Skippers won the Bronze Division in a count-out with Alexandria Botes. They had tied on 72 points.
• Christiaan Maas won the Nomads SA Boys U-19 Stroke Play Championship at Waterkloof Golf Club in style, beating Charl Schwartzel’s 20 year tournament record of 272, set in Benoni. Maas shot rounds of 64-64-67-70 to win by eight at 23-under par 265. Yurav Premlall finished second at 15-under while John-William Blomerus and Jordan Duminy tied for third at 13-under. In the Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play Championship, Hannes Strooh beat Daniel Bennett 1-up in the 36-hole final. On route to the final he beat Behn Heyns 2 & 1, Dean Wilken 2-up, Damian Osner 4 & 2 in the quarter final and reigning SA Amateur champion Christiaan Maas in the semi-final, with a birdie at the 22nd hole.
• Thirteen year-old Roelof Craig won the Nomads Gowrie SA U15 Challenge at Gowrie Farm Golf Estate. Faced with wind and rain over the three days, he shot rounds of 77-76-69 to beat SADGB member Vuyisani Makhama by one shot at 9-over 222. Marno Lange also shot a 69 to finish third at 11-over, while Hendre van der Watt and Akil Maduray tied for fourth at 15-over.
• Central Gauteng’s Ryan Dreyer won the South African Mid-Amateur Championship at Devonvale Golf & Wine Estate . He has come close to winning on four other occasions but this year, things came together. He started the final round with a two-shot lead and in windy conditions shot a 2-under 70 to win by one over Christopher van der Merwe (who shot a 67) at 7-under 209. Pietie Loubser was third at 4-under and Philip Taberer was fourth at 3-under.
• The SADGA Provincial Challenge took place at Uitenhage Golf Club last week. Team South dominated, winning 17-6 over Team North. They were tied after the first day, which was a nine-hole scramble from tee-to-green. On Day Two the team’s played four alternate-shot matches over nine holes, followed by four matches of better-ball also over nine holes and team South won 7 of the 8 available points. They needed just three points from Sunday’s Singles to take the win.
• The PGA of America has offered exemptions to Rickie Fowler and John Catlin to play in the PGA Championship later this month. The event will be played from 20th to 23rd May at Kiawah Island‘s Ocean Course in South Carolina. Fowler’s invite might have ruffled a few feathers as he has dropped out of the top 100 on the World Rankings and hasn’t won on the PGA in over two years. He didn’t qualify to play in the Masters either – the first major he missed in 11 years. Catlin however has had three wins on the European Tour in the last eight months and has moved up to 79th in the Rankings. This will be his first major.
• Garrick Higgo moved up to 65th in the World Rankings last week thanks to his win. He’s dropped one today to 66th but that’s still fantastic – what a tremendous boost. South Africans in the Top 100 are Louis Oosthuizen – 33rd; Christiaan Bezuidenhout – 40th; Garrick Higgo – 66th; Erik van Rooyen – 72nd; Daniel van Tonder – 75th; Dylan Frittelli - 77th; Brandon Stone – 84th; Branden Grace – 91st & George Coetzee – 97th . Dean Burmester moved up from 168 to 107 after his win yesterday and JC Ritchie moved up from 263 to 182.
• In recognition of becoming Japan’s first male major champion, Hideki Matsuyama received the Prime Minister's Award from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo in last week. Hideki said; “Due to the influence of the coronavirus, both worldwide and across Japan, we are all living different lives, but even in these times, if this win can provide a sliver of hope to people, and inspire more kids, or even just one kid to want to try and play golf in the future, that makes me extremely happy… This just makes me want to work even harder and do even better, and I thank you all for your continued support. I will work hard to win a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics.”
• America’s Number 1 ranked golf course Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey voted last week to remove all gender specific language from their by-laws and will have lady members of the club before the end of the year. They have also opened up tee off times. Previously women were only allowed to play on Sunday afternoons but they will now be able to play at any time. The golf course is consistently voted by American publications as the best golf course in the World. It is a fantastic golf course but whether it’s the best in the world, who knows – not in my book.
Who's up this week?
(Please note that this is the entry list as of Monday and is subject to change)
• PGA TOUR – Wells Fargo Championship – Charl Schwartzel; Erik van Rooyen
• EUROPEAN TOUR – Tenerife Championship – Dean Burmester; Zander Lombard; Justin Walters; Justin Harding; Garrick Higgo; Louis de Jager.
• LPGA – Honda LPGA Thailand – Ashleigh Buhai
• SUNSHINE TOUR – Dimension Data Pro Am – Brandon Stone; Jaco Prinsloo; Daniel van Tonder; Bryce Easton (to name a few).
• SUNSHINE LADIES – Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am – Monique Smit; Lee-Anne Pace; Nobuhle Dlamini; Stacy Bregman (to name a few).
There were so many great wins this month it was hard to choose a few.
• Thai Rookie Patty Tavatanakit had a wire-to-wire win for her first LPGA victory at the first major of the year the ANA Inspiration (1st to 4th Apr) at Mission Hills: - "It still hasn't really sunk in yet the fact that I just turned 21 six months ago and now I'm a major champion in my rookie year. Just crazy."
• Jordan Spieth’s return to the winners circle at the Valero Texas Open (1st to 4th Apr) at TPC San Antonio was a hugely popular win: - "There's peaks and valleys in this sport, but I never expected to go this long. Back then, in between wins, maybe I took things more for granted than I should have. It's very difficult to win out here and I'll certainly enjoy this one as much as I have any other. This is a monumental win for me. It's been a long road. There were a lot of times that I didn't know I would be here."
• The Masters (8th to 11th Apr) continued its magic giving Japan its first major winner in Hideki Matsuyama: - "Hopefully, I'll be a pioneer and many other Japanese will follow. Playing in the Masters made me want to come back every year, and in order to do that I knew I had to practice more. All my practice sessions had that one goal in mind.”
• Caitlyn MacNab became the first amateur winner on the South African women’s professional golf circuit since Ashleigh Buhai in 2007 when she won the Jabra Ladies Classic (14th to 16th Apr) at Glendower: “It’s awesome; it’s such a great feeling. There is a lot more pressure when you play against the pros, and last week in Cape Town I didn’t really know what to expect heading into the final day with a share of the lead. This week I felt a lot more comfortable, and playing here at Glendower was great. It’s such a great course.”
• After a three-year drought Lydia Ko returned to the winners circle at the LOTTE Championship (14th to 17th Apr) in Hawaii in style, winning by seven shots: "When it doesn't happen you do doubt. If I said I didn't doubt myself at all it would be a lie. I wondered if I'd ever be back in the winner’s circle, but obviously I'm grateful for all that's happened in my career so far. It's been a fun week in Hawaii and to be back in this position is obviously super cool."
• Stewart Cink, at 47 years of age, won his second title of the season at the RBC Heritage (15th to 18th Apr). His son was on his bag and his family were all in attendance at the Harbour Town Golf Links: “I really felt I had the kind of stuff that was going to be very hard to beat...I don't even know if I have the words. To have a posse like that waiting at the end to celebrate with, it's just an experience you don't get to have in your life that often.”
• Garrick Higgo won his second European Tour title at the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open (22nd to 25th Apr) at the Meloneras Golf Club: "I spoke to Gary (Player) last night actually and he just said there is no such thing as a lead and you should play like you're two behind. That was nice from him. He's said it to me so many times but I've never really had a lead so I've never had to worry about that."
• Dean Burmester won for the first time in four years at the Tenerife Open (29th Apr to 2nd May): - "I'd obviously love to get in that top 100 in the world, it's quite lucrative, a lot of things happen when you get into that top 100 so if I can get back there I'll be very excited. Hopefully I can go from strength to strength now and that’ll be my plan, I won’t stop working hard and trying to get better"
The Klikrake is taking the world by storm
All golfers have had to make adjustments due to the COVID-19 Rules. The two biggest are putting with the flag in, and not having rakes next to the bunkers.
I was recently shown the perfect option for all golfers to solve the bunker raking issue. It’s called the Klikrake. It’s light, folds and can also be used as a ball retriever. It’s reasonably priced and comes in a handy little bag. For more information go to www.klikrake.com or check it out here.
Now you can ensure that all the golfers playing behind you can have a smooth bunker, plus you will lose fewer balls. Sounds good to me!
Take a look at all the upcoming Tour events around the world.
The rare hole-in-one, the perfect fluke ever – it’s the best feeling in golf.
Celebrate – get the certificate and have bragging rights forever! For further information and to join, contact Margaret on (012) 654-1144 or Click Here to send an email.
Handicaps
“An allocation of strokes on one or more holes that permits two golfers of very different ability to do equally poorly on the same course.”
– Henry Beard
Contact Joanita Verster for more information on 083-277-6526 / mentor@golfmanagementcampus.co.za or visit www.golfmanagementcampus.co.za.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | | | This mail was sent to {{contact.contact_email}} by Dale Hayes and is provided as a service for the members and guests of GOLF CHAT and has been supported and sponsored by advertisers in this email and our partner suppliers. For any queries contact us on 012 654 1144.
Sent on behalf of GOLF CHAT by
RetailTribe: Unit 8 | Blaauwklip Office Park | Stellenbosch | 7600 | 021 880 2693 | | |
