Ken Borland

PENNINGTON, KwaZulu-Natal – First-round leader Brooklin Bailey spoke about feeling comfortable on the Bermuda Grass of the Selborne Park Golf Club and feeling right at home was also the author of Jaco van Zyl’s success on Friday as he claimed the lead after the second round of the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge.

Van Zyl fired a tremendous seven-under-par 65 on Friday to go into the final round on 11-under-par, one stroke ahead of another multiple Sunshine Tour winner in Hennie Otto.

The 43-year-old Van Zyl has played the short, but challenging Selborne course many times, having previously lived further down the South Coast in Port Shepstone.

“I lived in Port Shepstone for five years after school and I won provincial tournaments here, so I have good memories. It’s a great golf course and it suits me down to the ground.

“You don’t need to bomb the ball 350 metres here, you just keep it in position and manage your way around,” Van Zyl said.

The Pretoria-born golfer, who shot 68 in the first round to trail Bailey by four strokes, made the ideal start to his second round as he birdied the first three holes. He parred his way to the turn and then went right back on to script with three birdies in four holes from the 10^th. A three-putt on the sloping par-three 15^th green cost him a bogey, but Van Zyl finished strong by birdieing the 16^th and 18^th holes.

“You need to capitalise on the first few holes here, fortunately I did that and then I knew that there was a low score out there.

“On 15 there was just a very tough flag right on the slope, and even though I hit the ball pin-high and made what I thought was a good putt, the ball still went six feet down the hill and I missed that one coming back,” Van Zyl said.

The Benoni resident made a bungle of his last two Sunshine Tour events, missing the cut at the SunBet Challenge Time Square and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate, but he made a strong start to the season with three top-20 finishes before that.

Van Zyl has been through a tough time over the last couple of years, but he felt that Friday’s 65 was the first time in a while that his score has reflected how well he has been hitting the ball.

“I’ve been struggling for the last couple of years with injuries and some personal issues, but now it all seems to be falling into place. My game has been there, but my scores just haven’t reflected it.

“But that’s what makes this game so challenging: You think you’re heading in the right direction but then you find yourself on a dirt road for a couple of weeks.

“So it was nice to be back on the tar today, and hopefully that will become a double-lane road and then a four-lane highway soon,” Van Zyl chuckled.

Otto started his round on the 10^th, and an eagle-two on the par-four 18^th hole saw him go out in 32, but the veteran dropped three shots on the front nine to finish with a 68. But he is right in the mix on 10-under-par, as are Pieter Moolman (69) and the in-form Albert Venter (70) on nine-under.

Bailey also started on the 10^th and birdied the par-three 11^th hole, before back-to-back bogeys on 12 and 13 set him back. The American would go on to drop five more shots, including a double-bogey on the par-four eighth, but he also collected six more birdies to finish with a 72 and share fifth place on eight-under, just three strokes back, with Sean Bradley (71).

PENNINGTON, KwaZulu-Natal – American Brooklin Bailey shattered the peace at the Selborne Park Golf Club on Thursday with a thunderous start as he cruised to a 64 and the first-round lead in the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge.

Bailey eagled the par-five first hole on the course adjoining the Indian Ocean and then picked up birdies on the next two holes for a phenomenal four-under start through three holes, and although his run was ended by a bogey at the par-three fourth, he parred his way through to the turn.

The 28-year-old then cruised through the back nine in five-under 31 to post an eight-under-par 64, finishing the first day one shot ahead of the South African trio of Ruan Korb, Sean Bradley and Albert Venter.

The dropped shot on the fourth hole was Bailey’s only blemish as he collected seven birdies and an eagle to post his lowest round since joining the Sunshine Tour last year.

The Texan seems to have found some form after his maiden top-10 finish in the Sunshine Tour’s previous event – the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate tournament at the end of August.

Bailey worked his magic after Korb and Bradley, playing in the same three-ball, had already posted their 65s, so he did well to go under their marks.

Bailey said after his round that he just felt right at home from the get-go in the R1.2 million event.

“It’s the Bermuda Grass for me, we play on it in Texas and I just love it, my confidence just gets higher when I’m on it. Playing in the wind is also something we do a lot of in Texas, so all-in-all it was helpful for me,” Bailey said.

“You need to be patient on the Selborne course and I like that as well, but I also like being able to give it a go when you can. I like to know you can push it when you want to as well.

“I’ve just fallen in love with the Sunshine Tour, I think there are great opportunities here. The tour does a fantastic job of providing opportunities to advance our careers. Everyone here just wants to see you thrive and it’s healthy competition.”

The tournament is a tribute to the late wife of South Africa’s greatest golfer and the continuation of Gary and Vivienne Player’s legacy through the work of their foundation.

Bailey feels a connection to the nine-time Major champion and recognises the lustre of the event bearing the Player name.

“I actually watched Gary, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer play the Par-Three Tournament at Augusta for the last time together, so to be in contention in this event, attached to a golfer like Gary, is amazing.

“It makes me really want to sketch my own name in golfing history as well,” Bailey said.

Korb’s round caught alight after he began with three straights pars – despite both the first and third holes being par-fives – as the 28-year-old fired off four birdies on the trot from the fourth hole, and then also birdied nine and 10 for good measure. After his only bogey of the day, on the par-three 15^th, he finished birdie-birdie for his joint-best round of the season.

Bradley started his round birdie-birdie and picked up another shot at the par-four ninth hole, and also completed his round birdie-birdie after gaining successive shots on the 12^th and 13^th holes. It was the Royal Cape golfer’s best round of the season.

The in-form Venter, who is second on the Luno Order of Merit after his victory at the SunBet Challenge at Time Square last month, also reached seven-under-par as he blazed home in five-under 31.

Five players, including veteran Hennie Otto and amateur Kyle de Beer, shot six-under-par 66s.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout was named on Tuesday as the only South African in compatriot Trevor Immelman’s team for the Presidents Cup, and the 28-year-old debutant believes he has a game tailormade for the tough Quail Hollow layout on which they will take on the United States from September 22-25.

Bezuidenhout joins K.H. Lee, Sebastian Munoz, Taylor Pendrith, Si Woo Kim and Cameron Davis as a captain’s pick for the International Team on a dangerous course, especially down the stretch. Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Corey Connors, Mito Pereira and Adam Scott were automatic qualifiers.

Bezuidenhout has won three times on the European Tour and finished 51^st on his just-completed first full year on the U.S. PGA Tour. That will be crucial experience.

“Most golf courses in the States are a lot longer than what we usually play and it’s a completely different style of golf to what we’re used to in Europe and internationally,” Bezuidenhout said on Tuesday. “They are set up tougher, they are narrower, with higher rough. So you need a good scrambling game and I feel I am a really good putter, one of the best on tour [ranked sixth last season].

“Off the tee I’m pretty straight, I hit a lot of fairways and my scramble around the greens is pretty good.

“We had a two-day training camp in Charlotte and practised a bit on Quail Hollow. It was the first time I’d seen it, but it was a lovely couple of days,” Bezuidenhout said.

While some international golfers may have been torn between playing in the Presidents Cup or defecting to LIV Golf – and Immelman lost the services of ‘rebels’ like Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Abraham Ancer – Bezuidenhout has had his sights set on the tournament for a while. He will be one of the golfers Immelman described as being really hungry to beat the Americans.

“It’s a massive honour for me to be selected because the Presidents Cup has been a definite goal for me for quite a few years,” Bezuidenhout said. “The International team was so close to victory in Melbourne in 2019, which was really exciting.

“I played really hard to make the team three years ago, but just missed out. Now I can look back at all the other South Africans who have played in the past, and it’s a big honour for me to make my debut.

“My first memory of the tournament was in 2003 when I was nine years old and I remember Ernie Els and Tiger Woods in the playoff. I always watch it on TV, I’ve followed the event closely.

“We are definite underdogs, but there is a great vibe in the team, it’s a great bunch of guys and everyone is so supportive. The team spirit is high and everyone’s excited,” Bezuidenhout said.

DULLSTROOM, Mpumalanga – When Tandi McCallum tore through the front nine at Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate on her way to a seven-point victory in the Sunshine Ladies Tour section of the Vodacom Origins of Golf ProAm, one could not help but cast one’s mind back to the evening before the first round and her comments as she spoke about how sports performance coach and mental wellness therapist Joanne Mountford has helped her regain peak form.

Mountford, who has been working with the South African women’s hockey team for their World Cup and Commonwealth Games campaigns, is also the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s coach and therapist for the player wellness programme sponsored by BetWay. Because Vodacom firmly believe that Health is Wealth, Mountford was invited as the keynote speaker for the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series ProAm at Highland Gate.

McCallum was on hand to back up Mountford’s methods, and her ProAm victory in the Dullstroom mountains was her third in a row, testament to the success of the player wellness programme.

“It’s crucial to understand what makes you tick, and Jo’s programme makes it very apparent what functions best in your game. If you’re always working on what you’re not good at, then you kind of end up chasing your tail,” McCallum said.

“It’s about consistency and how I manage myself and what I’m good at. It’s about keeping on track and staying in the flow with myself. She has given me techniques I can tap into that lead to better results.

“It had been a while since I had won and I felt like a bridesmaid for three years, getting into contention several times but then just not pushing through. You always find that there are one or two shots down the stretch that make the difference.

“As golfers, we know the value of each and every shot, but you also don’t want to put yourself under pressure. So when your thoughts start running away with you, that’s when I use Jo’s breathing techniques,” McCallum said.

As all golfers know, it can be the most frustrating of hobbies for those who play it socially, but imagine the pressures when it is your livelihood.

“It’s actually very difficult to just play one shot at a time, you can’t help but think about how winning might change your life, extend your playing privileges, get you into certain tournaments etc,” McCallum said.

“So it’s about staying in control of your thoughts and emotions for 18 holes. When I won again, I was leading by three and I was thinking ‘it’s great to be here’, but I was very nervous.

“You need reassurance that what you are doing is working and something as simple as controlling your breathing can get you over the line,” McCallum said before putting it all into practice and sweeping to another victory.

“I try and give the golfers actionable goals so they can stay focused in the moment,” Mountford explained. “I try and help them get rid of anything that hinders, like even perfectionism, which can be great, especially in a golf swing, but there can be a point where you need to let go, otherwise the mind can be very destructive.

“Pressure leads to anxiety, which feeds your sympathetic nervous system which activates fight or flight. So I work with their breathing so they activate their parasympathetic nervous system, which brings their heart and breathing rates down,” Mountford said.