Ken Borland

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – Christiaan Basson has won before in the strong winds of the Eastern Cape in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series, claiming the St Francis Links title in 2015, and the 39-year-old is hoping this week’s event at Humewood Golf Club will be the one in which he “makes it count” and finally throws off the momentum-stopping effects of the Covid pandemic on his career.

Basson had enjoyed his best finish since 2011 on the Sunshine Tour order of merit, inside the top-20 in 2019/20 before Covid hit, and he hasn’t quite been able to recapture the same consistency in the last two seasons. He finished 38^th in 2020/21 and is currently 43^rd in the standings for this season.

The arrival of twins for Basson and his wife last year lessened the blow of his career being disrupted, but he is now itching to get back into contention and try and claim his fifth Sunshine Tour title.

“Yes, Covid definitely disrupted my golf, but it came at a good time for me to help my wife because we had twins just before the virus arrived. So they were in nappies through Covid and it was nice to have that family time together. But in terms of golf it put a bit of a stop on my progress and I haven’t really done well after Covid.

“I was sort of on a high when it hit and since then I haven’t had much opportunity, there haven’t been many big events with all the postponements. I’m positive about my game, it’s trending in the right direction, but I’m also keen to make one or two tournaments really count now,” Basson said.

Born in Strand, raised in Cape Town and now living there as a member of Metropolitan Golf Club, Basson is obviously at home in the strong winds that are expected to buffet the Humewood seaside links with increasing ferocity when the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series tees off on Thursday. But on Tuesday he said even he needed some time to adapt.

“The way I’ve played lately, I wouldn’t say I’m going in full of a lot of confidence, but I’m happy with these conditions and I think it suits my game. It’s been a while since I’ve played in such a strong wind though. You know how to do things in conditions like this, but you still need to get sharp beforehand. You can’t really practise for wind when there is no wind.

“But I like the conditions and the challenge. You’ve just got to be solid around here and keep the big mistakes off your card. You have to accept that you’re going to make one or two bogeys, especially into the wind, and mentally I’ll even swap the par-fours and par-fives around if the long hole is downwind and the par-four is into the wind. You can hardly get there in two sometimes when the par-four is into the wind,” Basson said.

It is a problem though that Basson is well-equipped to solve. He has the knowledge of winning at the St Francis Bay Links 100km west of Humewood and, now in his 15^th season on the Sunshine Tour, he has plenty of experience of coastal conditions.

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal – For the second day in a row, Louis Albertse found himself at the top of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series leaderboard alongside Adilson da Silva as they go into the final round of the Mount Edgecombe event.

Albertse teed off in the afternoon on Friday and the 25-year-old from Dundee once again matched the veteran Brazilian all the way after Da Silva had come home in two-under 35 in the morning. The pair both shot one-under-par 69s in blustery conditions to go to five-under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Ockie Strydom.

Although the rain that was an irritation on the first day had disappeared, there were gusty winds and rather fresh temperatures to contend with on Friday.

But Albertse, who is now in his fourth season on tour, felt at home, not only in the tricky weather but also being right in the mix at the top of the leaderboard.

“Conditions were not easy but I felt I handled them very well. In these conditions there are always going to be mistakes, but I’m happy that I’ve ended the day in a good position. There was no rain this afternoon, but the wind was definitely a factor. In my last six or seven holes it really picked up and it was a bit cold as well.

“At times the wind meant a difference of three or four clubs, and at this place when that happens then anything under par is good. I will approach the final round exactly the same, I’m playing nicely and there’s no need to change anything. Both my bogeys today were putting errors on the par-fives, which was really surprising because I’ve been putting well. I’ve played with Adilson before and he’s a really nice guy,” Albertse said.

With finishes of T10th, third (a career-best finish at the SunBet Time Square Challenge at Wingate Park), T42nd and T12th since the beginning of August, Albertse has risen to 21^st on the order of merit. He is certainly playing with more consistency now, which he puts down to the work he has done with strength and conditioning coach Jacques Swarts.

“I think my recent success is a factor of a lot of things coming right at a similar time. But with Jacques Swarts I’ve been working really hard in the gym for the last couple of years and since that I’ve become a lot more consistent because my body feels good throughout a tournament. It’s small things added together which have led to more consistency,” Albertse said.

Strydom, a winner of the Sishen Vodacom Origins of Golf Series leg in 2019, closed to within a shot of the leaders with his two-under-par 68 on Friday, which featured a double-bogey six on the 11^th hole and two other dropped shots, which were nullified by three birdies on each loop.

CJ du Plessis made a strong move into the tie for fourth on three-under-par with his 67, with experienced golfers Lyle Rowe, Anton Haig, Trevor Fisher Jnr and Hennie Otto lurking with intent on two-under-par with several other golfers.

Scores – https://sunshinetour.com/tournament-information/?tourn=VOWC&season=221S&report=tmentry~season=221S~alphaorder~#/profile

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal  – Brazilian Adilson da Silva has been dogged lately by an inconsistent putter and a struggle to maintain focus on the course, but he put it all together in fine style on Thursday as he claimed a share of the lead after the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event at Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate.

Da Silva opened the third leg of this season’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Series with a polished four-under-par 66, sharing the lead with Dundee Golf Club’s Louis Albertse.

The 49-year-old Da Silva started at the 10^th on Mount Edgecombe’s The Woods course and moved to two-under with back-to-back birdies on the par-three 12^th and par-four 13^th.

There was a bit of a wobble though when he bogeyed the 18^th and second holes, sandwiching a birdie on the par-four first, but Da Silva said his efforts to stay mentally focused have started paying off as he picked up three more birdies, returning to the clubhouse in 32 strokes.

Playing in the wet, it was easy to get frustrated and allow a promising round to fritter away, but the experienced Da Silva regrouped brilliantly.

“With all the breaks between tournaments due to Covid, I was really struggling to concentrate on the course, but playing events now every couple of weeks has helped a lot. I’ve pushed myself to focus my mind on the target and not worry so much about my swing. Otherwise it’s a strange feeling of not really being there. So I’m trying to visualise, put more emphasis on the shot, keep my mind focused on the present.

“I missed a couple of putts and then made silly bogeys on 18 and two, you’re getting wet and it’s easy to get frustrated. But I just told myself to hang in there, I hit most of the fairways and greens after that and made some key putts.

“My putting has been on and off lately, which is so frustrating when you’re hitting the ball well but you feel like you’re not playing well because you can’t make a score. But today was better – 28 putts and I can feel something building,” Da Silva said.

The 13-time Sunshine Tour winner also shared the lead after the first round of his previous event, the Sunshine Tour Invitational at Centurion Country Club two weeks ago, before finishing in a tie for 12^th after closing with a pair of 71s. This time, with his putter playing along, Da Silva is hoping to maintain his first-round momentum. But he warns “You can’t just run after it here, this is a course that gives you nothing.”

Chasing Da Silva and Albertse, who coincidentally also finished in a tie for 12^th at Centurion, are Siyanda Mwandla and Riekus Nortje, who shot 67s on Thursday.

Eleven golfers are two shots back on two-under-par, including Alex Haindl, winner of the second leg of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series at Sishen at the end of last month, Ockie Strydom, Lyle Rowe, Trevor Fisher Jnr and Anton Haig.

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal – A golfer who has missed a few cuts never sleeps easy before a tournament, but Merrick Bremner is determined to ensure he enjoys himself when he tees it up in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Mount Edgecombe event from Thursday.

Bremner, a seven-time winner on the Sunshine Tour and a stalwart of the circuit since 2006/7, is currently 83^rd on the order of merit after a fairly wretched winter has seen him miss the last three cuts. So the pressure is on, but the 35-year-old is adamant that his fortunes will only turn if he is having fun out on course and not pushing and grinding too hard.

“I’m hoping to have a lot of fun. Coming from the high pace, quick living of Gauteng, to a very laid-back place like Mount Edgecombe is what I’m looking for. I know it’s not as easy as just saying ‘I’m going to have fun’ and then you play well otherwise I would have a lot more good performances.

“But if you’re not enjoying yourself then you definitely won’t be able to perform at your best, so that’s my focus – just go out there and have some fun. I just remember that life could be worse, I could have a 9-to-5 job, so I am extremely blessed to be playing golf for a living. The key to anyone’s success is that they are enjoying what they do,” Bremner said on Wednesday.

Bremner was born in Durban and feels at home on the North Coast, even though he grew up on the Highveld.

“It’s excellent to be back down here, I’ve always liked the coastal courses and I’ve had a bit of success at Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate. I like the layout, I love the people and it just feels lekker here – it’s a bit warmer, everything is greener and there’s more grass on the fairways than up in Gauteng right now. So maybe somewhere in there it does feel a bit like home,” Bremner said.

Known as one of the biggest hitters on our, the other excellent news for Bremner is that, judging by his third-place finish in the Pro-Am, the hard work he has been putting into his putting is starting to pay off.

“All aspects of your game need to fire around here, but I have been putting in some proper putting work and I seem to be making some good progress. So I am really looking forward to this tournament,” Bremner said.