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Ken Borland



Allure of playing SA Open at Gary Player CC brings the best out of Schietekat 0

Posted on January 07, 2022 by Ken

It may no longer be a co-sanctioned event, but the allure of playing the SA Open at Gary Player Country Club and having a shot at hoisting that famous and imposing multi-tiered trophy certainly brought out the best of Neil Schietekat on the first day at Sun City on Thursday.

Schietekat fired a marvellous seven-under-par 65 to join Oliver Bekker at the top of the leaderboard and afterwards pronounced his love for the famous Gary Player-designed course, where he won the SunBet Challenge in 2018.

“In my opinion this is the best course in the country and it helps that I’ve won here before,” Schietekat said after collecting six birdies and an eagle. “Obviously I’m going to lean towards this course, but I do love it and I played it today the same way as when I won in 2018.

“When they moved the SA Open here last year, I thought that maybe gave me a better chance of winning it. There’s still a long way to go, but I hit some good shots today on a course that was quite soft.

“It no longer being co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour is another story, but everyone here still wants to win it. It’s still our national open and it’s still the same trophy that you’ll hoist if you do win,” Schietekat said.

Bekker went out early on Thursday morning and made a fast start from the 10th hole with three successive birdies. The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was out in 32 and then eagled the first as he came home in 33. Schietekat admitted he felt a bit of pressure chasing the score set by Bekker.

“The scores were pretty good in the morning and I was one-over through four holes, so you put a bit of pressure on yourself,” the 37-year-old from Harrismith said.

But he finally caught him with a run of three successive birdies from the fourth hole, having eagled the par-five first as he spun a pitch-shot back into the hole despite “cursing” himself for finding the fairway bunker from the tee.

Having enjoyed a fine season which includes eight top-10 finishes in 16 events, Schietekat looks well-equipped to win again at the Gary Player Country Club.

But European Tour campaigner Bryce Easton and the experienced Lyle Rowe are just one shot behind on six-under, while there is a group of four golfers tied in fifth place on five-under – Hennie du Plessis, Albert Venter, Heinrich Bruiners and Hennie O’Kennedy.

Former world top 50 golfer Justin Harding is three strokes off the lead after a 68, while the other favourites – Shaun Norris (69), Danie van Tonder (69), defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout (70), Dylan Frittelli (70), Dean Burmester (71) and Brandon Stone (72) – have some catching up to do but are decently placed.

Madsen makes an early move in Tshwane Open 0

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Ken

Morten Orum Madsen has already triumphed in Johannesburg, winning the SA Open at Glendower in 2013, and the Dane made an early move to the top of the leaderboard in the Tshwane Open on Thursday, posting a seven-under-par 63 in the first round at Pretoria Country Club.

Madsen, who started his round on the 10th hole, will claim all the headlines after he aced the par-three eighth and then eagled the ninth for a spectacular finish to his round, but he was joined on seven-under later in the day by Englishman David Horsey.

While two international golfers are in the lead, South Africans performed strongly on a beautiful day at Pretoria Country Club, with Wallie Coetsee a shot behind in a tie for third with Australian Brett Rumford, while Dean Burmester, Keith Horne and Merrick Bremner all shot 65s and Chris Swanepoel, Oliver Bekker, Trevor Fisher Junior, Justin Walters, Ockie Strydom and Erik van Rooyen are all on four-under.

Horsey started his round on the first hole and, after five successive pars, he motored to three-under at the turn with birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth holes. He showed that a tactical, safety-first approach is the way to go on this parklands course as he then added four more birdies on the back nine, including shots picked up on the testing 16th and 17th holes, and completed a bogey-free round.

“It’s always nice to play a round with no bogeys, around here one loose tee-shot can easily lead to bogey or worse. I hit a lot of two and three-irons off the tee, just trying to be in the right place.

“Unlike Copperleaf [where the Tshwane Open was previously held], the bombers don’t have an advantage here, it’s a positional course. It’s very tactical, you have to hit the right spots and be sensible about when you attack the flags. I was able to pick my shots and sometimes you hit a three-iron off the tee and take a two-iron into the green!” Horsey said.

Madsen showed that his iron-play is in great nick as he followed up rounds of 64 and 66 to end last weekend’s Africa Open with his 63.

“It was fantastic. I’ve found something in my game that’s working and I’ve been pretty consistent. I’ve put it in the fairway a lot more recently. I’m giving myself a lot more looks at birdie and that makes everything easier. It takes the stress off the putter a bit and it’s easier to relax,” Madsen said.

Holes-in-one normally come at the most unexpected times, but Madsen said he had an inkling that one was around the corner for him.

“For the last couple of weeks I’ve been hitting some shots that were really close and I said to my caddie that a hole-in-one was on the cards pretty soon. Luckily for me it came today. I hit a fantastic shot, I couldn’t hit it better, and it spun back into the hole. That was only my second hole-in-one and it’s really special to have one in competition on the European Tour.

“I had 123 metres with a 54-degree wedge. The wind was a little bit off the right. I hit a really solid shot and struck it so well that it flew past the pin and then spun right back in,” Madsen said.

The 26-year-old was not finished yet, though, as he then proceeded to eagle the 490-metre par-five ninth.

“When you stand on the next tee after a hole-in-one you’re pretty pumped and confident. I succeeded in gathering my thoughts and hit a really nice drive and then a great second shot. I played a three-iron to 12 feet and then sank it, which was a fantastic way to finish. It was the kind of thing you dream about, but don’t expect,” Madsen said.

Coetsee was not able to finish the deal in the Joburg Open, leading at the start of the final round but being overtaken by Andy Sullivan, and he finished in a tie for 45th at the Africa Open, but the 42-year-old was impressive on Thursday in collecting five birdies and an eagle, and dropping just one shot, on his way to a 64.

Coetsee said he is taking a lot of irons off the tees and, even when he does hit driver, he’s not giving it 100% effort.

Rumford joined the Jeffrey’s Bay resident on six-under with a round that featured no dropped shots and three birdies on each nine.

While Raphael Jacquelin’s finish was nothing like Madsen’s, the Frenchman nevertheless surged up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth on five-under as he birdied holes seven to nine, having also started his round on the 10th.

Local hero George Coetzee’s round was nothing if not eventful as he started with two birdies, bogeyed the fourth and then birdied seven and nine to go out in 32. But he then bogeyed the 10th and 14th holes, before completing a 67 with birdies at the 15th and 16th holes.

http://citizen.co.za/343100/tshwane-open-first-round/

Stenson banishes the nagging doubts 0

Posted on January 03, 2013 by Ken

 

Henrik Stenson answered the nagging doubts eating away at him over whether he would ever win again, in emphatic fashion at Serengeti Golf Estate on Sunday, winning the South African Open by three strokes.

The Swede’s previous victory in South Africa came in 2008 when he soared to a nine-stroke victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City. It ushered in a golden period for Stenson as he moved to fourth in the world rankings and won The Players Championship (often called the fifth major) at Sawgrass in Florida in May 2009.

His ball-striking was superb and it seemed he would become one of the world’s dominant golfers. Instead, his fortunes went the other way and he did not win again until Sunday’s gripping final day on a hot, stormy East Rand afternoon.

“It’s been three-and-a-half years since my last win. That’s so long you begin to think ‘is there ever going to be another one?’ But you need to put a lot in to get decent results out,” Stenson said after his drought-ending victory.

The 36-year-old struggled with a pneumonia virus in 2010 and just poor form in 2011, but he has also heaped more pressure on himself by playing on both sides of the Atlantic in a daunting playing schedule.

But he looked a true champion on Sunday as he sealed victory in the closing stages of the final round.

He and George Coetzee were neck-and-neck on 14-under-par as they made the turn, Stenson having double-bogeyed the par-three ninth after hooking his tee-shot into the water hazard.

But the world number 113 birdied the 10th to make the perfect start to the back nine and two more birdies, at the 16th and 17th holes, were the coup de gráce.

Coetzee had birdied the 11th to restore parity, but he bogeyed the par-three 15th after his tee shot went just over the green. He chipped to seven feet but missed his putt for par.

The South African had more problems on the par-five 16th as his drive faded away to finish a good 50m behind Stenson’s. Coetzee could not go for the green in two over the water and had to lay up, while Stenson’s second was healthily positioned just short of the green to the right, from where he chipped to three feet and made birdie.

Coetzee could only make par and Stenson then birdied the short par-four 17th, chipping well from the bunker in front of the green, to allow himself a victory parade down the 18th. Stenson’s one-under-par 71 left him with an overall score of 17-under-par 271, while Coetzee finished on 14-under 274.

“I knew it would not be easy because we had a pretty firm breeze out there and I had a couple of guys on my tail. George started well, then had a couple of bogeys, but I then threw two shots away on the ninth so we were all square at the turn. But I was not panicking, I knew I had to just keep on playing my own game and keep creating chances. It was all very open on the back nine, but I managed to get a grip from 15 to 18,” Stenson said.

“We all have our ups and downs as golfers, I also had a big slump between 2001 and 2003, and the hardest thing is not to get frustrated. Sometimes it’s things outside golf – your health or your family – which make it difficult to get your practise and playing schedule organised because things are pulling you in various directions. But you just have to bounce back and learn from your mistakes,” Stenson said.

Charl Schwartzel had begun the final round 10 shots behind Stenson, but a brilliant front nine of 32, followed by another two birdies at the 11th and 12thholes, saw him surge into contention just two shots behind the leaders. But his charge was cut short by bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes and Schwartzel had to settle for fifth place on 11-under-par.

Another Swede, Magnus Carlsson, had begun the final day tied with Coetzee three behind Stenson, but he slipped down the leaderboard with a birdie-less 76.

Thomas Aiken and Germany’s Martin Kaymer produced top-class final rounds of 67 to finish in a tie for third on 13-under-par, while defending champion Hennie Otto secured a top-10 place with a magnificent 10-under-par 62, a course record that was bogey-free and included eight birdies and an eagle.

It was a phenomenal comeback from Otto after a 75 in the third round, the fiery South African playing the last 12 holes without a putter after he ditched the offending short stick into the water surrounding the 15th green, having begun his round on the 10th. Otto had to putt thereafter with a wedge.

Branden Grace endured a catastrophic weekend, shooting 78-77 to finish second-from-last on eight-over-par, while 2008 champion Richard Sterne shot a 70 on Sunday for a solid top-20 finish.

There was a lot of pressure on the young Coetzee, who has finished in the top 10 on seven occasions this year but is yet to win on the European Tour. Sadly for the 26-year-old, the monkey is still on his back, but Coetzee did not play badly on the final day, shooting a 71.

Stenson’s ball-striking was just too good and the suave Swede had some words of comfort for his vanquished foe.

“I’m sure George is disappointed, but he played well and he will get that win in time. You have to put in a lot of effort to win, keep positioning yourself to win… and then sometimes you win three very quickly,” was Stenson’s verbal hand on Coetzee’s shoulder.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-19-stenson-strikes-it-hot-at-sa-open

Stenson sitting pretty in high-stakes SA Open 0

Posted on January 03, 2013 by Ken

Henrik Stenson has a lot riding on this weekend’s SA Open, the Swede needing to be extremely protective of his 59thposition on the Race to Dubai European Tour order of merit. That’s because only the top 60 qualify for the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai next weekend, which has a prize fund of $8 million.

And so far, Stenson is doing exactly what he set out to do as he fired a seven-under-par 65 at the Serengeti Golf Estate on Friday to soar to 13-under-par overall and top spot on the leaderboard.

Fellow Swede Magnus A. Carlsson, who went out just 20 minutes later in the early-morning stillness, shot a 67 to move into second place on nine-under, while overnight leader Merrick Bremner was one-under-par through 14 holes to join him, before Serengeti showed her capricious side and thunderstorms stopped play for the day.

Stenson has his eyes firmly set on a top-three finish at the co-sanctioned event and the 7096-metre Kempton Park course certainly seems to suit his length off the tee and his precision with his irons.

“Hopefully I’ll have a good result here to secure my spot for the Race to Dubai final. It’s hard to say what I need to do to get in, but I just knew that I had to play this week if I wanted to have a chance. It’s very tight and obviously with guys playing in Hong Kong at the same time, it’s like a bit of a hornet’s nest.

“So there’s no point sitting here trying to calculate what others do. It’s better to focus on your own game and a top three here will definitely take care of that,” Stenson said.

“I think it’s a great layout and it suits my eye and my game. That’s obviously a great combination when you come to a new course.

“I’ve hit a lot of good drives and it’s nice to get the feel back with the driver and get a bit of confidence back. I’m happy with the way things are going and I’m looking forward to the weekend,” the 2008 Nedbank Golf Challenge champion added.

South Africa’s Thomas Aiken was another to shine on Friday, playing in the same three-ball as Stenson and shooting a 66 to move into contention on five-under-par overall.

Aiken was another to impress off the tee and he hit all 18 greens in regulation, but he has struggled with his putter and took 34 putts in the first round and 31 on Friday.

“I’ve been hitting the ball great and I can’t complain about the ball-striking. But I can’t buy a putt and I missed a few short ones, and if I can just get the ball rolling a bit better on the greens then anything can happen on the weekend,” Aiken said.

The best rounds were recorded in the morning at Serengeti. With thunderclouds building up by noon, she unleashed a gusting, changeable wind on the afternoon golfers and the likes of Bremner (-9), Matthew Carvell (-7), Darren Fichardt (-6), Charl Schwartzel (-6) and up-and-coming Norwegian Espen Kofstad (-5) will be glad they will get to complete their second rounds early on Saturday morning when conditions should be more placid.

Bremner is still well-placed to threaten for the title even though he is unlikely to regain the lead, trailing Stenson by four shots with just four holes to play.

Then again, the South African did birdie the last three holes of the front nine in the first round and, as Stenson showed with his spectacular eagle on Friday, the par-five eighth is reachable in two for the long-hitters, and Bremner most certainly is one of those.

Schwartzel is also in a good position heading into the weekend. He may be seven shots back, but he will resume on the 15th on Saturday morning and the closing stretch at Serengeti has proven fruitful for all the leaders.

Martin Kaymer and Branden Grace will be less pleased with their positions and both will be looking for birdies when they complete their second rounds.

Kaymer, the highest ranked player in the field, shot 70 in the first round and is two-under through 14 in the second, trailing Stenson by nine.

Grace struggled to a level-par 72 on Thursday but has improved to three-under-par through 13 holes in the second round, although he will not be amused that he bogeyed the last hole he completed before play was suspended.

The cut is currently on par and 2011 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Garth Mulroy faces an anxious night as he will resume on one-over-par with five holes to play on Saturday, while Warren Abery and Dawie van der Walt resume on level-par.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-17-sweden-sour-stensons-high-stakes-in-the-sa-open

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