Ken Borland

Danie van Tonder says it feels marvellous to be based back in South Africa again, but the challenge of making it on an overseas tour still appeals to him, and the 33-year-old is thinking about perhaps having a go at the Asian Tour and hopefully the LIV.

But what about a return to the DP World Tour and playing in Europe, the usual route to the top for South African golfers?

“Never again,” Van Tonder says emphatically.

The 2021 South African Open champion enjoyed a successful first full season on the DP World Tour that year, winning the Kenya Savannah Classic and finishing 75th on the Race to Dubai with more than €340 000 in prizemoney for the season. Having also made the cut in both the PGA and Open Championships of 2021 and won five Sunshine Tour tournaments in the previous eight months, it seemed his career was heading to great heights.

But 2022 and 2023 were years of struggle for Van Tonder as he finished 125^th and 117^th respectively on the order of merit, losing his DP World Tour card. For the self-taught golfer from Boksburg, the slog of campaigning in Europe was not for him.

That realisation was confirmed in August when he won the FNB Eswatini Challenge at Nkonyeni Lodge and Golf Estate, his first victory since his massive SA Open triumph at the Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, in December 2021. Van Tonder’s two-stroke victory in Eswatini came after he had taken a long break from competitive action.

“It was great to win again, my previous title was the SA Open and that was like three years ago. So there was a bit of a drought, but I went through some big changes, I was on the road for so long. It becomes a grind and you’re just not able to fix things in your game,” Van Tonder says.

“I had six weeks at home before playing in Eswatini and that really helped. I felt great coming into the tournament and I’m finally seeing the results of the work I’ve been able to put into my game.

“Playing week-after-week on the DP World Tour, you begin to get into bad habits and you try and fix them, but you don’t really have the time to make the changes you need to or to improve your game. I won’t be doing that again, I need to take breaks.”

The lucrative LIV Tour is obviously still the subject of much chat in Sunshine Tour locker rooms, especially since the Asian Tour sanctions the International Series, made up of 10 events which provides a route to Greg Norman’s breakaway league. South Africans such as Jbe’ Kruger, Jaco Ahlers, Neil Schietekat and Yurav Premlall have already tried their hand at these enhanced events that offer a minimum purse of $2 million.

Van Tonder is forthright in admitting that the LIV Tour, with its unique, non-traditional format, megastar signings and emphasis on fast-paced, more entertaining play, has caught his eye.

“I like to take driver and hit it long and far and straight. That’s why if I do play overseas, I would prefer to be on the Asian Tour because I love the thought of playing LIV. I think they would enjoy me on that tour, the way I play and my personality. I’m always aiming for a lot of birdies,” the winner of more than R17 million on the Sunshine Tour says.

Playing LIV, which only has 14 events a year, would also allow Van Tonder to take those breaks from golf that he needs to keep himself fresh. Plus each event is only played over three rounds and there’s a more relaxed dress code in which shorts are allowed.

The Serengeti Estate golfer is more of a traditionalist though when it comes to equipment and he says he is looking forward to the golf ball rollback that will come into force in 2028.

“I use the Titleist Pro V1 23X which everyone plays with. To use the older one would be a disadvantage because it goes shorter, but I will go back to it when the rollback happens because those are the distances we’ll be going back to. I’m looking forward to the change,” Van Tonder says.

“I still have my old Titleist 620 CB irons and I waited eight months for my old putter to be refurbished. It kinda works so I stick with it.”

Which is typical of a golfer who may be idiosyncratic, but he is his own man and his record speaks for itself.

SIDEBARS

Danie’s favourite courses

Carnoustie

Leopard Creek

Gary Player Country Club, Sun City

Glendower

Serengeti

(“Nkonyeni is very close to the top 5 because that was fun to play,” he says.)

What’s in Danie’s bag?

Titleist TSR3 Driver

Titleist TSi 3-Wood

Titleist GT 5-Wood

Titleist CB irons 3-9

Titleist Vokey SM10 wedge, gap wedge & lob wedge

Scotty Cameron Futura MB putter

How does Danie prepare before a round?

“Every day is different: sometimes I will do weights to get loose, on other days I will listen to music. I really enjoy David Crowder’s music, pump up music or just a whole mix of everything.”

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Young Jonathan Broomhead lit up the Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate on Sunday with his 65, but it was veteran Jean Hugo who stayed calm and made the vital putts to emerge victorious by one stroke in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event.

The 48-year-old Hugo birdied the par-five 18^th hole, thanks to a brilliant chip-shot, for a two-under-par 70 that left him on 13-under-par for the tournament. Broomhead’s fantastic round, which included nine birdies but a costly double-bogey on the par-four sixth hole, had lifted him to 12-under-par.

Overnight leader Louis de Jager was also on 12-under as he teed off with Hugo on the final hole, but he ended up making bogey on 18 to finish in a tie for third on 11-under.

Hugo clinched an astonishing 12^th victory on the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series, and his 20^th Sunshine Tour title overall, his third shot on 18 being a superb chip to a foot of the hole from the right of the green.

“Fortunately I hit a good drive and I was in two minds whether to lay up or go for the green with 216 metres to the flag. I took a chance and went over the water, hitting it on the other side of the sluit down the right with a gripped-down four-iron. I then hit a brilliant chip,” Hugo said.

“My best putt of the day was on 16 though, where we all struggled. Louis lost his ball and I had to hack out of the cabbage a couple of times, we were on the clock as well, and I sank a putt for bogey from more than 15 feet. And on 17 I made another clutch putt for par.

“We made it tough for ourselves with those stumbles and there was a bit of pressure. But I’ve been playing well lately, if I could just putt well then my scores would be even better. I used to be the best putter on tour, but now anything under 30 putts for a round is good. I was bogey-free the first two rounds and my first bogey today was on the ninth, so I was hitting the ball very well,” Hugo, who only had 27 putts on Sunday, said.

De Jager was in hot form on the front nine, going out in three-under, but he bogeyed the par-five 11^th and dropped two shots on the 16^th, before closing with another bogey, having hit his drive into the left rough.

Between 2006 and 2015, Hugo was probably the hottest golfer on the Sunshine Tour with 16 victories. But Sunday’s triumph was his first since 2019.

“To have 12 Origins of Golf titles and 20 overall on the Sunshine Tour is what I’m most proud of. I got to 17 quite quickly, but then only won again in 2019 and then there was Covid and in 2020 I had a massive ankle operation.

“But I’ve been working hard and it’s nice to see the results. I can now aim to hit a certain shot and pull it off, it’s about technique and trust way more than just relying on talent. I’ve come close to winning these last few years, but I’m just delighted that I didn’t give it away today. As long as you fight out there, you can be happy,” Hugo said.

Luke Brown (70) and Kyle de Beer (71) shared third place with De Jager, while 20-year-old Gabrielle Venter shot an outstanding five-under-par 67 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 16^th on six-under-par, leading the way for the Sunshine Ladies Tour players. Danielle du Toit (70) finished tied-29^th and Lora Assad (71) was in a share of 44^th place.

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – The experienced Louis de Jager has fired rounds of 65 and 67 for 12-under-par in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, but he has no more than a one-shot lead after the second round on Saturday.

That’s because fellow veteran Jean Hugo, who has played in more than 450 Sunshine Tour events, has gone 66-67 for a score of 11-under-par heading into the final round.

Kyle de Beer, the leading rookie on tour this season, is one stroke further back on 10-under after shooting a 70 on Saturday, contending strongly in just his 25^th Sunshine Tour event.

De Jager started his round on the 10^th and took a while to really find his range, but birdies on the par-four 16^th and par-five 18^th gave him a boost. His front nine was even better, even though he bogeyed the par-four first hole.

The 37-year-old birdied the par-three third hole and also picked up birdie threes on the sixth and ninth holes, but perhaps his best hole was the par-five fifth, which is more than 600 yards long and plays into the wind, but De Jager eagled it on Saturday.

It will not be an easy night’s sleep though for De Jager going into the final round of the R2 million event because there is a surfeit of quality within four shots of the lead.

Apart from Hugo and De Beer, Luke Brown is enjoying a very solid tournament and is on nine-under-par after rounds of 67 and 68. Jacques Blaauw is enjoying a top-class season, leading the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and is tied for fifth on eight-under after notching a two-under-par 70 on Saturday.

Martin Rohwer, a three-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, and Nikhil Rama, a GolfRSA product who is a rising star in the senior ranks, are also on eight-under.

A trio of Sunshine Ladies Tour golfers made the cut, with Danielle du Toit (69) and Gabrielle Venter (72) tied for 35^th on one-under-par, and Lora Assad tied for 47^th on level-par.

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Darkness fell over Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate at a terrible time for the leaders in the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, with Louis Albertse, Kyle de Beer and Louis de Jager all being within two shots of each other with three holes left when play was suspended on Friday.

The start of play was delayed on Friday morning due to frost on the greens, and although the weather soon improved into a lovely, warm sunny day, the backlog meant the last dozen three-balls were not able to finish their opening rounds.

But Albertse played some awesome golf in the 15 holes he did get in, storming to nine-under-par with seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth hole. The three-time Sunshine Tour winner, who played some fine golf in winning the pro-am that preceded the R2 million professional event, was taking an awful toll on the back nine before the sun set on his charge. Albertse birdied four of the first five holes after the turn.

De Beer, currently leading the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings, was on eight-under-par. The 26-year-old started his round on the 10^th and made a hat-trick of birdies from the 11^th hole, before bogeying the par-five 14^th. But De Beer bounced back superbly with an eagle on the par-five 18^th and further birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth holes.

The experienced De Jager birdied four of his first five holes, with a bogey on the par-three third, and had just collected his second birdie of the back nine, on the 15^th, to go to seven-under-par when play was called off for the day.

Another seasoned campaigner, Jacques Blaauw, had a marvellous start to his round, going four-under after six holes. He could only collect two more birdies thereafter, but a six-under 66 was still enough for a share of the clubhouse lead and continues his stunning season thus far as he is top of the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Nikhil Rama also shot a splendid 66, while it was also a good day for a quartet of up-and-coming stars in Kyle McClatchie, Englishman Joe Long, Luke Brown and Martin Rohwer, who all completed their rounds on five-under-par.

Three of the nine Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals who are competing in this Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event are in line to make the cut. Young Gabrielle Venter led the way for the women on Friday with a one-under-par 71, while Lora Assad was one-over and Danielle du Toit shot two-over 74.

The completion of the first round and the start of the second round will take place concurrently on Saturday, with the action resuming at 7.10am.