Ken Borland

PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Jonathan Broomhead was able to daub his scorecard with red numbers for birdie as he charged up the leaderboard in the final round to secure himself a place in the playoff, which he subsequently won to claim the Vodacom Origins of Golf Wild Coast title at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on Sunday.

Broomhead shot a tremendous seven-under-par 63 on Sunday, which included nine birdies, as he posted the clubhouse lead at 11-under-par. Two hours later, it was only Luke Brown, who fired a brilliant 66, who managed to match that score.

Brown and Broomhead then both parred the 348m, par-four 18^th twice before Broomhead nailed a 20-foot putt for birdie on the third playoff hole, to secure his second Sunshine Tour title.

The Durban Country Club golfer began the final round seven strokes behind leader Pieter Moolman, and did not start well, making a bogey on the par-four first hole. But thereafter he played with tremendous freedom going out in 32 strokes. Another dropped shot, at the par-three 11^th, sandwiched birdies at the start of the back nine, and Broomhead finished in fabulous fashion with birdies at the last three holes to get to top spot.

“I definitely didn’t think about winning at the beginning of the day, but conditions were all in our favour and I just tried to make as many birdies as I could. I teed off two hours before the leaders and there was no pressure on me. I played really well and just attacked everything,” Broomhead, whose previous victory came in the prestigious Tour Championship at the end of last season, said.

“I definitely thought the leaders would make a few birdies on the back nine because the wind was down, and I thought my score was okay, but not where it ended up. I wasn’t under pressure to make pars, I was always in play and just played very solidly, plus I made some good putts.

“Winning once is nice, but you can start doubting if you can do it again. I’ve played nicely since Tour Champs and had quite a few chances to win. So I thought another chance would come and today was my day. I just always felt in control and my swing was really good,” Broomhead said.

Brown played with unfailing determination and focus as he also reached 11-under-par, but he just failed to pip Broomhead because he could only par the last three holes, including the 18^th, which he then parred three times in the playoff.

Keenan Davidse also piled on the pressure as he shot a marvellous 65 to finish on 10-under-par, just one stroke off the playoff.

Otto van Buynder (65), Simon du Plooy (65) and Ruan de Smidt (68) shared fourth place on nine-under-par.

Overnight leader Moolman slipped to a 74 on Sunday, finishing tied-12^th on seven-under-par.

PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – The second round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Wild Coast event saw much movement on the leaderboard but no change at the top as defending champion Pieter Moolman, drawing on all his happy memories of the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, backed up his 63 on the first day with a 66 on Saturday to extend his lead.

Moolman will go into the final round with a three-stroke lead over Ruan Korb, having weathered a testing back nine into the wind, after collecting four birdies on the front nine.

The 33-year-old Moolman shot a 62 in his last tournament at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, his fantastic final-round effort lifting him to tied-fifth in the SunBet Challenge event here in July. And last year Moolman shot a 64 in the final round to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf event here in a playoff, while he was also the runner-up in the 2022 SunBet Challenge tournament on the Wild Coast.

The Benoni Lake golfer backed up his tremendous front nine as he was able to make eagle on the 441m par-five 12^th.

“I had a lucky break on 12 because I didn’t hit a great tee-shot but I got a good bounce out of the car park. I then hit a lob-wedge to three feet,” a restrained Moolman said. “We always play golf to win and to pull it through tomorrow would make me really happy. But I will have to stick to the same game-plan tomorrow, just me playing the golf course the best I can.

“Obviously I’m happy with the position I’m in, especially since the wind was tougher today and it was more different. But Jacques Blaauw also shot 66 in our three-ball today and it helped to be able to feed off his momentum. I just tried to keep giving myself chances,” Moolman said.

Moolman did slip up after his eagle on the 12^th with bogeys at the next two holes, when he misjudged the switching wind, but the hour’s golf that followed was practically faultless, apart from a couple of missed birdie opportunities.

Silver Lakes Country Club golfer Korb also struggled on the back nine, copying Moolman with an eagle on 12 but also dropping two shots. Korb also had a wonderful front nine though, going out in 31, as he also posted a 66 to finish on eight-under-par, three behind Moolman.

Five golfers were tied for third on seven-under-par – Craig Ross (68), Ruan de Smidt (67), Keelan van Wyk (67), Fredrik From (67) and Luke Brown (67).

Ricky Hendler, who was second just one stroke behind Moolman after the first round, could only shoot level-par 70 on Saturday and slipped into the tie for eighth place on six-under-par, five strokes behind Moolman, with Jaco van Zyl (67), Samuel Simpson (65), Jean-Paul Strydom (67) and Ruan Conradie (67).

PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Defending champion Pieter Moolman continued his phenomenal hot streak at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on Friday, shooting an excellent seven-under-par 63 to claim the lead after the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Wild Coast event.

Moolman leads by one stroke over Ricky Hendler, with the Benoni golfer overcoming a slow start after beginning his round on the 10^th, being one-over after six holes. But Moolman then birdied 16, 17 and 18, before a remarkable front nine in which he collected five birdies – at the second, third, fifth, seventh and eighth holes.

The 33-year-old Moolman shot a 62 in his last tournament at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, his fantastic final-round effort lifting him to tied-fifth in the SunBet Challenge event here in July. And last year Moolman shot a 64 in the final round to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf event in a playoff, while he was also the runner-up in the 2022 SunBet Challenge tournament held here.

“I can’t exactly explain it, but I’m just happy here,” Moolman said. “It feels like home. I really enjoy the layout and I just seem to know what to hit on whatever hole and whatever the wind. I just think I’m comfortable here no matter which way the wind blows, and you always play a little better when you like being somewhere.

“I hit some good shots coming in on my front nine after I started a bit slow. Starting on the 10^th was a bit tough because we were into the wind and it was blowing hard. I didn’t play badly, but I just missed a couple of up-and-downs on 11 [bogey 4] and 12 [par 5].

“I just tried to keep giving myself opportunities and this course is really about whoever makes the putts, and that was a bonus today. I was then really steady on my back nine, my tee-shots weren’t bad and I hit some good irons. It’s all about giving yourself the best chance when you are out of position, it’s more about where you miss than hitting perfect golf shots. On the weekend, I will just keep doing what I always do around here,” Moolman said.

A trio of golfers who also live far away from the coast also excelled on Friday, as did an overseas golfer.

Hendler, from Dainfern in Johannesburg, posted a 64, his lowest ever score on the Sunshine Tour. He also started on the 10^th but was out of the blocks straight away with birdies on his first two holes. In a wonderful round of bogey-free golf, Hendler collected further birdies on the 16^th, 18^th, first and ninth holes.

Veteran Trevor Fisher Jnr from Modderfontein had bogeys on the par-four second and par-five 12^th holes, but gathered five birdies and an eagle on the 492m par-five 16^th, to post a 65 and finish in the tie for third.

Gerhard Pepler of Mogol Golf Club in Limpopo dropped just one shot, on the 168m par-three 13^th, but also eagled 16 and made four other birdies to also shoot 65.

The other golfer to shoot 65 was Scotsman Craig Ross, who was also bogey-free.

Brittney-Fay Berger was the leading women’s golfer with a 71.

T20 cricket is renown for spectacular catches, but our DP World Lions men’s team were nevertheless exceptional in the field, taking some truly hectic grabs, during their 47-run win over the Free State Knights in their CSA T20 Challenge match in Bloemfontein in midweek.

Electing to bat first, our DP World Lions cobbled together 142 for seven, thanks to an all-round batting effort led by Wandile Makwetu (40 off 34 balls) and captain Mitchell van Buuren (32 off 22). It was a decent score in the conditions, but not an unbeatable one.

The Knights had taken some superb catches in the field, but #ThePrideOfJozi raised the bar even higher as the fielders backed up a clinical bowling effort with some magnificent takes.

There were three stunning catches inside the powerplay as our DP World Lions reduced the Knights to 24 for five after six overs.

Dangerman Rilee Rossouw was removed for just 6 as Connor Esterhuizen dived full length at cover to intercept a fierce blow off Tshepo Moreki in spectacular fashion. Delano Potgieter then took a brilliant running catch at third man to dismiss Garnett Tarr for a duck off Evan Jones, who three balls later snaffled an outstanding return catch, lunging forward and to his left, to get rid of Dian Forrester, also for a duck.

Former Protea Gihahn Cloete was digging in for the Knights, but Josh Richards rushed in from point and scored a direct hit from side-on to run him out for 17. Jones also effected an impressive run out with a massive throw from deep cover, athletically taken by wicketkeeper Makwetu, to remove Free State captain Dane Piedt (2).

It was Makwetu who then capped the outstanding fielding display and wrapped up the innings with a marvellous low, one-handed catch diving to his left to dismiss Malusi Siboto (1) off Liutho Sipamla, the home side being bundled out for 95 inside 18 overs, earning the DP World Lions a bonus point win.

“It was really cool to see that standard of fielding,” head coach Russell Domingo said. “Jimmy Kgamadi has worked really hard on the team’s fielding and he deserves a lot of the credit. His coaching is showing rewards because the guys have bought into the intensity. There’s been a big improvement because fielding was not our strength last season.

“The players understand how fortunate they are to have this opportunity to play with our big players away, and it’s a really good environment in the squad at the moment. They’re really embracing our mantra of enthusiasm and intensity,” Domingo said.

While the coaching staff are loving the efforts of the replacement players – they have steered #ThePrideOfJozi to second on the log, just one point behind the Northerns Titans – some of those big names are now returning from Proteas duty and should see action when the DP World Lions take on Boland in Paarl on Saturday.

Given the venue for their fifth match of the campaign, Domingo is particularly pleased that spinners Bjorn Fortuin and Nqaba Peter are making a timely return to the Pride.

“Paarl is generally a low-scoring venue and spin comes into play, there’s never much pace down there. So it will be great to have Nqaba and Bjorn back available.

“But Junaid Dawood has done a fantastic job as our frontline spinner. He was very good last season when he had a couple of opportunities to play and I’m very pleased for him because he has put in a lot of effort and stayed patient for his chance,” Domingo said.

The 28-year-old leg-spinner is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the competition with 10.