Ken Borland

Our DP World Lions ensured that winning trophies is not just a once-off occurrence as #ThePrideOfJozi claimed their third successive title when they won the CSA T20 Challenge final in commanding fashion on Sunday, hammering the Momentum Multiply Titans by eight wickets with 29 balls to spare.

It ensured our Pride hung on to the CSA T20 Challenge trophy they won in April, which came after the CSA 4-Day Series triumph in February, making it three successive tournaments won by head coach Russell Domingo and his charges.

It was also the second convincing victory over the Titans at the DP World Wanderers Stadium in the space of a week, making up for the heavy defeat the Pride suffered against their Gauteng neighbours in the opening match of the campaign.

On Sunday the Titans once again elected to bat first and once the DP World Lions new-ball bowlers had bowled superbly in the powerplay to reduce the visitors to 34 for three in the first six overs, there was no stopping #ThePrideOfJozi.

Delano Potgieter and the freakish young talent that is Kwena Maphaka both struck once with the new ball and then Lutho Sipamla produced the spell of a lifetime.

The paceman produced an astonishing burst of four for seven in his first three overs, including the massive wickets of the Titans’ two most dangerous batsmen, Heinrich Klaasen and Donovan Ferreira.

Sipamla’s brilliantly consistent lengths proved the undoing of a Titans batting line-up that went hard on a pitch that certainly provided a bit of nibble for the bowlers.

Sibonelo Makhanya (4) was the first to try and hit Sipamla off his length and fail, hitting the ball to a straight midwicket. Rivaldo Moonsamy was then caught behind in Sipamla’s next over and, with the following delivery, the Proteas representative bowled Ferreira for a duck, snaking a delivery back into the flatfooted batsman.

Klaasen had just hit a six and was an obvious threat as he reached 13 not out off 12 balls, but Sipamla produced a fantastic delivery that just nipped away to find the edge and the T20 superstar was also caught behind by Connor Esterhuizen.

Sipamla finished with four for 12 in his four overs, the best ever figures in a CSA T20 Challenge final.

“It’s very special and I’m very grateful to God after a tough time with injuries last year. It’s nice to see my hard work getting results. I don’t try to think too much beyond my processes and being my best whether at practice or in the game,” Sipamla said after the impressive triumph.

“The top of off-stump is always very effective and [bowling coach] Allan Donald always pushes for that. Hitting the top of off is probably your best ball, especially on pitches like that and it’s all about execution. I just try to be in the moment and the rest will take care of itself,” Sipamla said.

Maphaka finished with two for 15 in another hugely impressive four-over stint, while captain Bjorn Fortuin took two for 10 in three overs as the Titans were bundled out for just 119.

The DP World Lions were in some early bother in their reply, slipping to 26 for two in five overs, but they were much more in tune with the conditions and batted with calculated precision to chase down their target in 15.1 overs.

In Rassie van der Dussen they had the perfect man to steer them home as he scored 44 not out off 31 deliveries with seven fours and a six. He showed his class and composure after coming to the wicket in the third over.

Esterhuizen, who has made his home superbly well batting in the middle-order, played some great strikes through the covers, collecting six fours and a six, but also gathering the important ones and twos to keep the scoreboard moving. Esterhuizen finished the match in style by pulling fast bowler Gerald Coetzee for a massive six, out of the ground and into the flats beyond the eastern stand.

The 23-year-old finished on 48 not out off 36 balls, putting on an unbeaten 98 for the third wicket with Van der Dussen, off 68 deliveries.

EDENVALE, Gauteng – Your first professional win is always a momentous occasion, and even for someone who has achieved as much as Cara Gorlei has, it was a special day at Glendower Golf Club on Friday as she claimed the Jabra Ladies Classic title for her maiden triumph.

In the four years that Gorlei has been a pro, she had racked up 11 top-10 finishes and earned more than R600 000 in prizemoney and has also qualified for the Ladies European Tour, before sealing the deal and getting her hands on the trophy by a stroke at Glendower on Friday.

Gorlei was lying second, two shots behind at the start of the final round, and she kept herself in the conversation throughout, even as Stacy Bregman, Moa Folke, Gabriella Cowley and Lisa Pettersson all made a charge, while overnight leader Maiken Bing Paulsen also stayed in contention.

A bogey at the par-three sixth meant the 28-year-old Gorlei was level-par for her round. But she immediately followed that up with birdies on the seventh and eighth holes. Others faltered as Gorlei reached the turn and the pressure of the situation brought out the best in the Capetonian as she was inspired on the back nine. Three birdies in four holes from the 11^th put her in front and she reached the last hole with a two-shot lead, making her bogey on the 18^th all the more palatable.

She still posted her third successive 68 to finish on 12-under-par, one ahead of Pettersson, who shot an outstanding 67 to finish on 11-under.

“I was trying not to think about the lead, until the 11^th, when I started to get a bit nervous. My first win started to play on my mind a little bit and then on 13 I saw on a leaderboard that Lisa Pettersson was right up there with me,” Gorlei said.

“But it just made me focus harder because I realised it was not done yet. I knew I was playing well enough and I just stuck to my routines. Obviously it’s awesome to get the win done and I am really happy that I stayed level-headed.

“I’ve been in two playoffs and lost them both, so it was nice to get the monkey off my back without having to go to another playoff. I have my first pro win and now I can start going,” Gorlei beamed.

In a sign of her mental maturity, Gorlei realised that she may not have had her A-game with her on Friday, so she settled into a prudent approach.

“I struggled a bit off the tee today, which made it quite tough. My game was not in the right place for me to play aggressively; I enjoy playing that way, I like to chase and sneak in from behind, but today I was pretty conservative.

“Different parts of my game showed up at different times. At times my putting really saved me, down the stretch my irons were pretty solid, but they weren’t on the front nine. So it was a little bit of everything that came together,” Gorlei said.

While Pettersson’s 67 was bogey-free as she charged up the leaderboard from four shots off the pace, the other contenders made costly errors.

Folke reached the turn in four-under and was leading, but three bogeys in a row from the 11^th meant her challenge faded and the Swede finished fourth on nine-under-par after a 69.

Bregman also went through the front nine in 32, but bogeys on the par-four 11^th and par-three 14^th saw her fall four strokes short in a tie for fifth on eight-under.

Paulsen, who led after the first and second rounds, was level-par on Friday through eight holes, but she then dropped four strokes to also finish on eight-under, alongside Bregman and Nina Pegova (69).

Cowley was five-under through 13 holes, but then a bogey at the par-five 15^th saw her end in third place on 10-under-par.

SUN CITY, North-West – India’s Tvesa Malik claimed her first professional title on foreign soil as she kept the ball on the fairways and putted well to win the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International by three strokes at the Lost City Golf Club on Friday.

Malik began the final round as co-leader with 2022 SuperSport Ladies Challenge champion Paula Reto, and the 28-year-old produced the sort of controlled golf required on the last day to clinch titles. Malik made just two bogeys, one on each nine, but collected three birdies to post a one-under-par 71 and finish on nine-under overall.

It was a round that none of the other contenders could better.

“I was very consistent off the tee which was vital because the fairways are tight and really firm. The greens are big so hitting from good positions on the fairways is fine and my putting is what I was most pleased with. I gave myself several opportunities and I hit so many good putts that just did not go in. But then 10-foot birdies on the 11^th and 16^th holes were really important,” Malik said.

“I just wanted to focus today and not get too wrapped up in every shot being do-or-die. I just tried to stay stable mentally and not stress too much about making birdies. I am thrilled and relieved to have my first pro win outside India.”

First-round leader Lauren Taylor drew level with Malik as she collected two birdies on a faultless front nine, but the Englishwoman saw her chances go up in smoke when she came home in 41 shots with three bogeys and a double drop on the par-four 16^th.

Reto found herself on a sinking ship on the front nine, as she double-bogeyed both the second and sixth holes to go out in 40. The South African fought back on the back nine to come home in 35 shots and finished third on five-under-par.

Young Gabrielle Venter once again showed that her game has the equipment to be a title contender on the Sunshine Ladies Tour as she claimed second place on six-under-par with a 71, moving up to third on the official order of merit.

Lee-Anne Pace is second in the overall standings after charging up the leaderboard in the last two rounds of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, finishing in a tie for fourth at Lost City on four-under after a 71 on Friday. England’s Amy Taylor vaulted up to four-under as well after posting a 68, the joint best round of the day. Germany’s Helen Kreuzer (71) was the other golfer tied for fourth.

Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am winner Kylie Henry is still top of the order of merit, despite finishing tied for 32^nd, on six-over-par, at Lost City.

SUN CITY, North-West – United States-based South African Paula Reto may have looked a bit like a fish out of water when she bogeyed the second and third holes on the second day of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International on Thursday, but the rest of her round at the Lost City Golf Club then went swimmingly as she claimed a share of the lead.

Reto went on a run of five birdies in six holes from the fifth hole, and then added back-to-back birdies on the 13^th and 14^th holes, before returning from a lightning break with another gain on the 17^th. Her superb six-under-par 66 lifted her to eight-under overall and she will go into the final round tied for the lead with India’s Tvesa Malik, who fired a stunning 65.

The 33-year-old Reto won this tournament in 2022, but it was then played at the Gary Player Country Club. But after a tough 2023 campaign on the LPGA Tour, Reto is in a good frame of mind back in her home country, and it showed in her ability to bounce back from two early setbacks on Thursday.

“I don’t know what happened really, I hit a bad tee-shot on the second and suddenly I’d gone bogey-bogey. I just said to myself that I must give myself opportunities and fortunately I then managed to get the ball close to the hole a few times, and chipped in on the eighth, which is always nice for your momentum,” Reto said.

“Lost City is completely different to the GPCC, you have to strategise more off the tees, it’s a course that requires more thinking. To be able to bounce back after those two bogeys felt really good and I was very happy that I kept to the plan. I was able to stay on plan and not let the bogeys get to me.

“Last year was tough because I struggled with my swing a bit and I couldn’t string four good rounds together. It starts to take a toll on your confidence and you start to try and change so much all at once.

“So at the start of this year I just tried to hone in on a few things, make sure I do those basics well. I’m happy with where my game is heading and I just love coming back here to South Africa, being with my family and feeling a bit like I’m on vacation,” Reto said.

Getting married on December 29 to fellow Indian professional golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu certainly seems to have bear fruit for Malik as she produced an outstanding, bogey-free round with four birdies on the back nine and then three on the front.

First-round leader Lauren Taylor shot a 70 on Thursday to move to six-under-par, two off the lead, while exciting South African youngster Gabrielle Venter shot 68 on Thursday to move to five-under.