Innehållsförteckning för June 2021 från Compleat Golfer

8 Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary Player Country Club When we talk about golf tournaments in South Africa there’s one that sits in a category all on its own – ‘Africa’s Major’. Still known by some as the Million Dollar, the Nedbank is the biggest golfing event on our shores, and by some margin. Over the past few years, since the event became part of the European Tour, the total prize fund has been in excess of $7-million. That’s more than the entire Sunshine Tour schedule combined, which is frightening. The tournament has attracted golf’s elite over the past four decades. From Tiger Woods to Seve Ballesteros, they’ve all walked the iconic fairways at Gary Player Country Club. As a kid, the Nedbank was my favourite week. My dad used to…

They say patience is a virtue, which may be true in many areas of life and golf. But when it comes to waiting for a putt to drop in the hole, unfortunately the Rules of Golf allow for only 10 seconds of patience. At the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage in April, Si Woo Kim had a fairly long putt on the 3rd hole from just off the green. The putt was left hanging just on the edge of the hole. He and his playing partners were convinced the ball would eventually drop, and after what seemed about 60 seconds in video reviews later, it did in fact drop into the hole. Unfortunately for Kim, Rule 13.3 states that you are allowed only a reasonable time to reach the hole and…

This is a classic beauty. According to Andrico Steyn, the golf director, its elegance disguises the danger that lurks beyond. It’s a hole that has caused many a good round to become undone. At 368m, the 12th can be an absolute beast into the wind and the challenge lies in the tee shot and approach. An elevated tee box means more exposure to the wind from one of the most open parts of the course. Although wide, the slinging right-to-left fairway can prove elusive as it slides down and then back up to the green. Thick bush runs along the left side of the fairway so the odd push to the right off the tee can be expected. According to Steyn, this is not a bad play as it opens…

In December, Yurav Premlall walked off the 18th green at Gary Player Country Club having missed the cut at the South African Open by some distance. Less than six months later, the 17-year-old tapped in for par to secure victory at the inaugural Nedbank Junior Challenge with a score of three-under 213. The Golf RSA National Squad member led from start to finish at the new event on the junior calendar and his victory, by two strokes over Christiaan Maas and Jordan Duminy, means he not only got to take home the replica of the famous Nedbank Golf Challenge trophy, but he also landed a behind-the-scenes experience at the next Nedbank Golf Challenge. ‘I can’t wait to experience Africa’s Major from the other side of the ropes,’ said the young…

You probably don’t know this about me, but I have a gluten intolerance – it’s called coeliac disease – and I’m allergic to wheat and soy, so when it comes to food and diet, the annual trip to Asia isn’t one of my most enjoyable. The food options diminish quite a bit for me in that part of the world, so I do lose my sense of humour from time to time, The strict Covid-19 protocols added to my grumpiness this year. We were Covid-19 tested three times a week, and we were only allowed to go from the hotel to the golf course and back due to the ’bubble procedures. I was also not allowed to share a room with my husband David as he also caddies for another…

Now, more than ever, this rings true. But I would like to look beyond the ‘social-distancing’ innuendo and ask a serious question. Have you ever had that lightbulb moment of inspiration which you never acted upon and now look back wondering, ‘What if? Golf clubs have long suffered from the old adage that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ when it comes to critical decisions being made by non-industry professionals From starry-eyed greens committees, to ‘deadwood’ board members and middle management who have been idle for so long that their feet might as well be glued to the floorboards ol their air-conditioned offices. Momentum swinging your way in this game is critical. but there’s the rigmarole of a series of sub-committee meetings before being brought back into committee meetings. Thankfully…

The US Open is not for sissies. Tradition dictates that the USGA sets up the courses to test the physical and mental limits of a golfer during US Open week, and often they cut the par rating to 70, which also accounts for the high scores during the week. Torrey Pines, in San Diego, will host the US Open for only the second time in its decorated history. It is a regular fixture on the PGA Tour’s annual calendar, with the Farmers Insurance Open taking place there early in the season. It is also a home from home for Tiger Woods, who dominated events there since his amateur days. He won the Farmers seven times and his total of eight PGA Tour wins is his record for the most at…

When Garrick Higgo won the Canary Islands Championship, for his second European Tour title in three events, he moved up to a career-high S1 in the World Ranking. A few days after his win Higgo turned 22 It’s fair to say that the South African, now a three-time European Tour winner as are Tim Clark. Brandon Stone. Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Hennie Otto and Thomas Aiken is on a one-way ticket to fame and fortune. Higgo is also a left-hander, and when he won in the Canary Islands he moved past two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson in the world rankings of the ‘lefties’ Ahead of him lie only Phil Mickelson, at No 32 after his stunning PGA Championship victory and American Brian Harman, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, at No…

MEN OPEN 1 (2) Martin Vorster (Pinnacle Point GC) 2 (1) Christiaan Maas (Pretoria CC) 3 (3) Casey Jarvis (State Mines CC) 4 (4) Kieron van Wyk (Ruimsig CC) 5 (6) Kyle de Beer (Port Elizabeth GC) 6 (5) Yurav Premlall (Glendower GC) 7 (8) Samuel Simpson (Royal Cape GC) 8 (7) Jordan Duminy (Pinnacle Point GC) 9 (9) Christiaan Burke (Potchefstroom GC) 10 (14) Ethan Smith (Paarl GC) 11 (10) Werner Deyzel (Woodhill CC) 12 (16) Jonothan Broomhead (Durban CC) 13 (11) Francois van der Walt (Centurion CC) 14 (12) Dawid Opperman (Pretoria CC) 15 (-) Sean Cronje (Durbanville GC) 16 (19) Slade Pickering (Pecanwood Golf & CC) 17 (18) Adam Breen (CC Johannesburg) 18 (17) Jordan Burnand (Ebotse GC) 19 (15) Altin van der Merwe (Humewood GC) 20…

The Olympics are drawing nearer with the golf competition taking place from the end of July. The Olympic field is restricted to 60 players in each of the men’s and women’s competitions. The International Golf Federation [IGF] will use the Official World Golf Ranking as a method of determining participation. The top-15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from any one country. Beyond the top 15, players will be eligible based on the World Ranking, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15. Men’s world No 1 Dustin Johnson has declared himself unavailable. South Africa’s two men’s golfers leading selections are Louis Oosthuizen and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, while…

Sometimes those little fantasy questions you see in potted profiles of people reveal more about them than you would think. Take for instance, when you ask Hennie du Plessis which Major championship he would most like to play in, if he were to play in only one. Quick as a flash comes the answer: ‘Any Major championship is fine with me.’ Most golfers would have a single favourite and would be able to say why they would like to play it. Du Plessis has a sense that opportunities are there to be grabbed, that they provide an occasion to suck the marrow out of life, that experience is the raw material for success. There’s also the old chestnut about how you can tell the character of a man from the…

Long ago, in a smoky bar in Wales, this writer had been covering the British Amateur Championship and was enjoying a couple of beers after the sun had gone down. One of the locals wasn’t much interested in golf. He wanted to talk rugby These were the days when South Africa was in international isolation. ‘I can’t wait for the Springboks to play internationally again,’ he growled, ‘because they’re the best in the world and we want to watch the best and play against the best.’ When I asked him what made the Boks the best, given they hadn’t played internationally for years – although they had seen off the rebel New Zealand Cavaliers quite convincingly in 1986 – he took a long sip of his lager, had a puff…

IN SOUTH AFRICA THE HEIGHT OF GOLF You might expect the highest golf course in the country to be in the Drakensberg, but you’d need to go further north to reach the top of this list. Highland Gate (above), located in Dullstroom, sits above all other courses at 2150m (7 054 feet) above sea level. It’s no wonder the Ernie Els-designed layout stretches to over 6 700m from the tips, considering how far you hit the ball at this altitude. FEAST IN THE EAST The search for the most easterly course in the land takes us, predictably, to the east coast of the country and up into northern KwaZulu-Natal. There is a cluster of golf courses around Richards Bay, including Richards Bay Country Club, Amatikulu, Kwambonambi, Eshowe, Empangeni and Mtunzini,…

I find myself writing this column with a tremendous amount of pleasure. As you know, I managed to punch my ticket back into the winner’s circle at the Limpopo Championship, marking my first win since 2018. While this is something I’m very proud of, it only makes up around 13% of my overall level of pride. In April and May South African professional golfers achieved something incredible. We managed to capture eight European and Challenge Tour victories in only six weeks. I want to give my reaction to all those victories and hopefully help shed some light on how impressive they truly are. We open with Justin Harding’s win at the Kenya Open, effectively starting this string of South African dominance. Justin’s story has been well documented over the past…

The threats loomed everywhere at Kiawah Island for Phil Mickelson. Playing partner Brooks Koepka struck early in the final round, taking the outright lead at the 1st hole. Every time Mickelson heard a roar or groan from the crowds he’d look up at the leaderboard and see that Louis Oosthuizen was in this for the long haul. The South African had five previous runner-up spots at Majors and knew what it felt like to be like in the mix on the back nine of a championship Sunday. But Mickelson’s greatest opponent wasn’t standing on the tee boxes next to him in the final twoball. Nor was it the man with the golden swing in the group directly ahead of him. Instead, Mickelson’s greatest opponent was Rather Time. Eight years ago…

As they say in the classic movie, ‘third time’s the charm’ – and this was very much the case for the iconic layout of East London Golf Club. Records of the early history of the course are sketchy and conflicting when it comes to the dates and locations of the early layouts. However, what is certain is that its present position was the third time it moved location. The designer was none other than celebrated golf course architect Colonel Stafford Vere Hotchkin, who completed this seaside gem in 1923, some 30 years after the club was formed in what was then known as Fort Buffalo. If the 1920s and ‘30s were some of the most influential in the golf architecture industry in South Africa, then Hotchkin, who was also heavily…

2020 revisited: American Bryson DeChambeau produced a wonderful final-round display to win the US Open by six shots and claim the first Major title of his career. The 27-year-old was the only player to break par at the notoriously difficult Winged Foot, in New York. Renowned for his big-hitting approach, the world No 9 showed maturity and composure to card an impressive three-under 67 to win on six under par. Matthew Wolff faded on the back nine, shooting 75 to finish second at level par. South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, who finished third at two over, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy were the only non-Americans to place inside the top 10. World No 4 McIlroy ended joint eighth at six over after a final-day 75 that included two double-bogeys, while England’s…

Garth Mulroy sank an 80-footer for birdie on the par-three 16th to ensure he had a relatively smooth ride to victory at the €l-million Alfred Dunhill Championship. He finished at a championship-record 19-under-par 269 over the 6 665m Leopard Creek to take the title by two strokes from Scotland’s George Murray. In taking the tournament, which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour, Mulroy won the 100th title by a South African on the European Tour, and put himself in pole position to win the 2011 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. This victory beat his previous best European Tour performances of second at the 2011 Joburg Open and tie-second at the 2008 Joburg Open. But it nearly unravelled tor the 33-year-old who campaigned out of North Carolina…

If you’ve ever been a reasonably low-handicap golfer – or have played alongside one – you’ll know that anyone with a singlefigure handicap is fairly handy at the game. Given that the average Handicap Index in South Africa is 14.6, just getting to single figures puts you in the top 20% of golfers across the country. By the time you reach a HI of S or better, you’re ranked in the top 7%. Go even lower and you start to reach the cream of the crop – the 1% of players who are scratch golfers or better. What’s scary is that while these guys may be seriously good golfers, they are still a rung below the country’s elite amateurs and Sunshine Tour professionals. To give you some perspective. South Africa’s…

Random Connections I have been a Douglas Adams fan since I first heard The Hitchhiker’s Gu ide to the Galaxy on the radio in 1978. In his book Life, the Universe and Everything Adams created a character called Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged. Wowbagger became immortal after an accident with a few rubber bands, a liquid lunch and a particle accelerator After a period of total boredom, especially on Sunday afternoons he decided to insult everyone in the entire universe in alphabetical order I was reminded of Wowbagger during my last round of golf Here’s how it happened. A friend I hadn’t seen in several years managed, at short notice and by calling in a few favours, to arrange a time on a Saturday morning at Gowrie. the ninehole course in…