Ken Borland

So far Darren Fichardt’s daily gym work during Lockdown has paid off and now the 45-year-old order of merit leader is looking to sharpen up his short game as the Sunshine Tour’s Rise Up Series goes into its penultimate event, the Vodacom Championship Unlocked, at ERPM Golf Club in Boksburg from Wednesday.

Fichardt is on top of the order of merit after the first three tournaments thanks to his great consistency: after winning the Betway Championship at Killarney Country Club, the first tournament after Lockdown, he finished in a tie for sixth in the African Bank Championship at Glendower and then fourth in the Titleist Championship at Pretoria Country Club. That has given him earnings of R148 757.14, just over R2000 more than George Coetzee, who is not playing this week because he is campaigning – with great success – in Europe.

That leaves Danie van Tonder, on R120 650, as his chief challenger to win the Rise Up Series, but the likes of young Tristen Strydom and veterans Adilson da Silva, Ulrich van den Berg and Jaco Ahlers, all of whom have won more than R70 000, cannot be discounted either if they win in Boksburg.

“My golf has been pretty good so far, in the long Lockdown I was able to work on quite a few things I really wanted to, like getting fitter and stronger and that has paid off. Being on top of the order of merit, ahead of all the youngsters is exactly where you want to be, it’s always lekker. It’s also nice to have been able to play at home and sleep in my own bed for more than two weeks.

“It would mean a lot for me to win the order of merit, to win any of those is always awesome. To perform like I am, so consistently, is very satisfying. But I definitely need to sharpen up my putting and chipping, I’ve been working hard on that in this two-week break. I just feel I haven’t made enough putts and there have been soft bogeys when I have just missed the green but have not been able to get up-and-down,” Fichardt told The Citizen on Tuesday.

Although the 117-year-old ERPM Golf Club is one of South Africa’s top courses, Fichardt is yet to compete there as a professional, but he believes the eighth, ninth and 10^th holes will be key to the outcome of the event. A water hazard makes for an intimidating tee-shot on the eighth and the 396-metre ninth features a long carry over the same large body of water for the approach shot, while the 10^th is a short par-four of 342 yards and driveable as long as one is willing to take on the oak tree, as John Bland famously did in 1981 in scoring one of his remarkable 32 career holes-in-one.

“I’ve only played there as an amateur, never as a pro. It’s a pretty short course with really good greens. In the final round, those three holes around the turn could provide a big turnaround when you’re in the thick of things and in contention. But the fun of playing is back now for me and I’m really looking forward to teeing it up again,” Fichardt said.

The Sharks have been the form team in South African rugby this year but following six months of Lockdown their daily focus has just been on returning to basics and trying to get sharper every day, according to star flyhalf Curwin Bosch.

How quickly the Sharks can regain the brilliance and momentum that took them to the top of the Super Rugby standings will be put to the test on Saturday when they take on a revamped Bulls side on SuperFan Saturday at Loftus Versfeld. Bosch was also the form flyhalf in South Africa before Lockdown and, with Handre Pollard out of rugby for the rest of the year, there will be plenty of focus on his own form with the Springbok No.10 jersey in mind.

“It will be tough for all of us to get that momentum back and it’s all about starting back at the basics once again. Saturday is the perfect opportunity for us to sharpen up our game and try out a couple of things we have been working on. We’re not looking too far ahead, we’re just going to take it game-by-game and hopefully we will improve every week.

“It’s great to be back and these are exciting times, but our bodies are still adjusting to contact and it’s going to be different with no crowds. Our approach this week is a bit different because we are preparing for the SuperRugby/Currie Cup competition that is coming up. But why change what we have been doing when obviously we have been doing something right?” Bosch said in a virtual interview on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old with two Test caps says the Sharks’ game-plan will once again revolve around playing a high-tempo game. Being at the fulcrum of that can only help Bosch’s chances of Springbok selection and he is surely closing the gap between himself and Elton Jantjies, who has been the spearhead of the Lions’ energetic style of play for so many years.

“We want to play with speed and tempo, so it’s going to be an interesting clash with the Bulls, because if you look along the lines of who they have signed, we expect a very physical game from their massive pack. I think the Bulls are going to try and slow us down, have a lot of set-pieces, while we will try to speed things up. We’re not looking to change much, just fine-tune what we’ve been trying to do.

“Personally, I’ve had a different approach this year with my main focus being on the Sharks and trying to help the team succeed. If I do that then Springbok selection will take care of itself. But I do see a bit of an opportunity to play number 10. It’s always my dream to play for the Springboks, that’s why I decided to stay at the Sharks. It was easy because we have become a special team in the last year,” Bosch says.

Loose forward Arno Botha is excited about the chance to earn his Springbok place back, but the 28-year-old knows that the only way that is going to happen is through performing exceptionally well for the Bulls, starting with Saturday’s SuperHero SuperFan match against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld.

Botha played his two Tests for South Africa back in 2013 and much water has passed under the bridge since then, including Jacques Nienaber becoming the fourth Springbok coach in that time, three knee surgeries and a move to Europe in 2018 which saw him play for London Irish and, with great success, for Munster. But now he is back with a Bulls side that he represented brilliantly for 82 games in all competitions between 2011 and 2017.

“It’s awesome to be back, the Bulls have always been a part of my life. The best thing is the system Jake White has going now, the way we are training, I’m really enjoying it. It’s always been my dream to play for South Africa again and there’s no better chance of doing that than this one. If I can show why Jake has backed me, which is an honour for me, then I give myself a chance.

“I’m here to play for the Springboks, that’s something I’m working towards and it would be the cherry on the cake, the ultimate, that’s my dream. What makes it even more exciting is that there are probably 20 loosies who all want to play for South Africa, and that gives me energy. But my focus is on now and what’s the plan tomorrow for me to get better, to get fitter and stronger,” Botha said in a virtual media interview on Monday.

It may be SuperHero SuperFan day on Saturday, but Botha says one should not expect him to figuratively don a cape and tear the Sharks to shreds singlehandedly; neither should one expect anything startlingly new from the Bulls, even though White’s appointment as director of rugby has brought so many changes in personnel.

“Rugby stays the same, the tackles and carries stay the same, you might just do a bit more of one or the other depending on what position you’re playing. It looks like I’ll be playing number seven, with Duane Vermeulen at eight, but I’ve even had a run at number four lock. It’s not going to feel any different to when I played my last match for Munster in March.

“Nothing changes about Bulls rugby, it will all be exactly the same,” Botha said with a hint of sarcasm probably aimed at their perennial critics in the Cape. “But Jake has brought a very good mentality. I haven’t played at Loftus for a while, so it’s a new start anyway for me and we just want to play good rugby. We have trained enough to say we’re ready and another week or two of contact won’t make a difference. Jake has handled things well and we have the perfect plan.”

Ken Payet’s face creased into a frown as the tournament director of the Nedbank Golf Challenge and Sun City’s Operations Manager for Sport and Recreation considered the impact cancelling this year’s event would have on the local community around the resort.

The 2020 Nedbank Golf Challenge, which was meant to be the 40^th anniversary of the event that began life as the Million Dollar, was cancelled at the end of last month due to all the uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic, and while Payet said the decision was made in time to avoid any serious financial losses for the tournament, his heart went out to the local economy which relies on one of the most lucrative events in world golf for much-needed income.

“Action was taken in time because deadlines were set for certain decisions to be made and only small costs were incurred, but really next to no money was lost. But if we had given the green light then and started with the infrastructure build for the event, millions of rand would have been wasted if the tournament did not then go ahead. The ability to travel was unknown and we still don’t know for sure about quarantine times both here and in Dubai where the Race to Dubai World Tour Championship Final is played the following week.

“But the impact will really be felt by the local community and you’ve got to feel for them because the tournament employs about 5000 people. So in future the Nedbank Golf Challenge will be looking to contribute to them through charities that raise funds, like Golf for Good on the European Tour. We will see what we can do to give back to them, make a difference in people’s lives, and we are already in talks about that,” Payet said at Sun City at the weekend.

While the uncertainty over travel restrictions – international travel will only resume on October 1 – obviously played a big role in the decision to cancel the event this year, it also just made business sense because crowds would not have been allowed to attend.

“Playing behind closed doors was not really an option because this is the biggest social event and is all about networking. For the sponsors to get a return on their investment, they want to entertain existing clients and network with possible clients. For them it’s not just about branding and our sponsors are an integral part of the Sun City family.

“Our sponsors have also had a lot of retrenchments, so spending a whole lot of money sponsoring a golf tournament would not have sent a good message. There’s such uncertainty, even now we could still go back to Lockdown Level III and there is still a reluctance to travel. The infection rate just has to rise and all that money spent is thrown down the drain. We just would not have been able to put on the event we know and love,” Payet said.