Ken Borland

EDENVALE (Gauteng) – Other than an approaching thunderstorm, defending champion Robin Williams had little to worry about in the final round of the Fortress Invitational at Glendower Golf Club on Sunday, cruising to a three-stroke victory as he shot a five-under 67 to finish on 22-under-par.

Williams showed great focus and composure as he sealed his second Sunshine Tour title with a classy round which was faultless until the last hole, when a sudden gust of wind just before the storm broke led to a bogey five. The 23-year-old had all but ensured victory, however, with his fifth birdie by the par-five 11^th hole, and he added a sixth on the next par-five, the 17^th. The big-hitting Williams once again took advantage of the par-fives, birdieing all four of them on Sunday.

“It means everything to defend such an unbelievable tournament. I just tried to focus on what worked last year and I didn’t think too much about the leaderboard. I set a target in my head and I knew if I got to 22-under then I would be difficult to catch. If someone did overtake me, then fair play to them,” Williams said.

“So I tried to get there as quickly as possible and then just hold on. I was a nervous wreck at the start, but I just kept telling myself that I was in the exact same position as last year and I just tried to build on those memories. I just had to grind and limit the bogeys, and I’m very proud I managed it even though it got very windy.

“It’s been an incredible year, I’m still trying to piece together what happened and my game is completely different to last year, I have improved so much. Hopefully I keep improving and can carry that through to a full schedule in Europe next year,” Williams said.

There was an air of inevitability about Williams’ triumph, even though Daniel van Tonder, who has twice come from behind to win this season, shot a 67 as well, birdieing the last two holes to finish on 19-under-par.

Yurav Premlall (68) and Keenan Davidse (70) shared third place on 15-under-par, while Jonathan Broomhead (68), Jovan Rebula (72) and Kyle Barker (72) were fifth on 13-under. Herman Loubser soared up the leaderboard into a share of eighth with his seven-under 65, joining Werner Deyzel (69) and Altin van der Merwe (74) on 12-under-par.

Rookie Van der Merwe was tied for second at the start of the final round, as was Kyle de Beer, whose challenge was ended by three successive bogeys from the third hole, as he shot a 75 to finish on 11-under-par.

KATHU, Northern Cape (21 September 2024) – Deon Germishuys had the luxury of returning to the Sunshine Tour at a venue where he has previously won – the Sishen Golf Club – and on Saturday he fired a brilliant five-under-par 67 to go to nine-under-par overall and in the lead heading into the final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Northern Cape event.

Germishuys is a regular campaigner on the DP World Tour these days, and his last appearance on the Sunshine Tour was back in May at the Waterfall City Tour Championship. But Sishen Golf Club has happy memories for the 24-year-old as he claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour title there in the Sishen Classic back in May 2022.

The Serengeti Estates golfer started his round on the 10^th hole and reached the turn in one-under thanks to a birdie on the par-four 18^th, having earlier cancelled out birdies on the 10^th and 14^th holes with bogeys on the 12^th and 15^th.

But Germishuys really caught fire in the closing stages of the front nine. Following a birdie on the par-five second, he finished with four birdies in the last five holes. A bogey on the par-three eighth limited his lead to just one stroke however.

“It’s nice to be back playing here at Sishen again, I really enjoy the golf course and it just fell into my schedule perfectly,” Germishuys said. “I felt everything clicked towards the end of the front nine, I was hitting decent irons and rolling in putts. But it’s not as if I was playing awful golf on the back nine.

“I feel like my game is at a good stage at the moment, I’ve made a lot of improvements and I’ve done decently in Europe. I have nothing to really complain about and I’ll just stick to what I’ve been doing in the final round,” Germishuys said.

Martin Vorster, continuing his comeback from injury, also played wonderful golf on Saturday. Three birdies in the first six holes of the back nine left him on four-under for his round and one stroke off the lead. But he just could not gain that pivotal extra shot in the closing three holes and will go into the final round in second place, one behind Germishuys on eight-under-par.

Malcolm Mitchell posted a one-under 71 on Saturday to sit third on seven-under-par, while nine golfers are in the tie for fourth on five-under-par.

First-round leader Jacob Oakley went the other way in the second round, shooting a 75 to finish on four-under-par.

Gabrielle Venter fired a fantastic 69 on Saturday to make the cut and she is the leading women’s golfer, on one-over-par.

PRETORIA – It was not as inspired a round as his 62 on the opening day, but Thriston Lawrence was still delighted with his five-under-par 67 on Thursday in the second round of the SunBet Challenge Times Square Casino tournament at Wingate Park Country Club, giving him a three-shot lead going into the final day.

Lawrence is sitting pretty on 15-under-par, having finished strong on Thursday as he birdied the par-five 18^th to come home in four-under. The 27-year-old has pulled ahead of Jacques Blaauw, who followed his 62 with a two-under-par 70 in the second round. Yurav Premlall joined Blaauw on 12-under-par with a brilliant 66.

“In the afternoon the course firms up a bit and putting gets difficult, I didn’t make as many putts today,” Lawrence said. “But my front nine was not as good today to be honest; yesterday I was four-under through four holes, today I was level.

“So that slowed things down, but I stayed in it and was patient. I knew there were three par-fives to come on the back nine [he birdied them all], and I was very happy with five-under today. It was always going to be tough to follow a 10-under round and there were some testing flags out there, if you missed on the wrong side you were a bit screwed,” Lawrence said.

While Blaauw, co-leader after the first day, had a banal round in which his putter just could not gather him much momentum, collecting just four birdies, there were noteworthy performances from those lower down the leaderboard.

The 21-year-old Premlall went bogey-free on Thursday to give himself another chance at his maiden Sunshine Tour title after his runner-up finish earlier this month in the FNB Eswatini Challenge.

Neil Schietekat also did not drop a shot in his superb eight-under 64, lifting him into fourth place on 11-under-par, while Dylan Naidoo matched that faultless performance to move to 10-under.

Michael Hollick also had a fine day, his 66 propelling him to nine-under-par, alongside George Coetzee (71) and Werner Deyzel (68).

But Lawrence has won eight times in his professional career and he is not looking to do anything unusual to finish the job in the final round and claim a title in his first tournament since injuring his back while finishing fourth in the Open Championship last month.

“Sometimes it’s better to have less expectation, but I’m still here to try and win this tournament. Hopefully the wind doesn’t come up, but when the course is firm like this then I can be aggressive off the tee because I hit my driver pretty straight.

“Knowing you can win does help, but it’s a new round and everyone within say eight shots is still in it, someone could shoot 59. I’m just going to go out and try and enjoy it, stick to my game-plan,” Lawrence said.

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.