FANCOURT (Western Cape), 14 February 2024 – “It’s nice to see the overseas support of the Sunshine Ladies Tour, it has grown a lot, but we are now finding it harder to win at home,” the prolific Lee-Anne Pace said with a chuckle on the eve of the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am that kicks off the new season at Fancourt from Thursday.

Played on the great Montague and Outeniqua courses at Fancourt, the tournament has a R2.5 million prize fund which 44 professionals are fighting over. It is the second year in which the ladies will play alongside the men’s event being held at the same time, on the same courses.

Of the 44-strong field, 28 are from overseas, highlighting the strength of the nine-event Sunshine Ladies Tour and the value it offers women professionals.

“There’s a really strong overseas contingent coming to play and the fields on the Sunshine Ladies Tour seem to get stronger every week,” Pace, a 14-tme winner, said.

“It’s a really good field this week and I think the scores are going to be quite a lot lower than last year. The courses are quite a bit softer than usual, and on the shorter side, so we can attack a little bit more. I think there are going to be a lot of birdies and as always, it’s going to come down to putting.”

There is an important pro-am aspect to the event, with 44 amateurs each playing with a pro in the team event. Pace, who won the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge at nearby George Golf Club in 2014, said the format will provide a fun side for the professionals.

“Nowadays we are so used to playing in pro-ams with all the Aramco events on the Ladies European Tour. So it will be quite a lot of fun to get to know some of the top women in business. I’ve made some really good friends from playing in pro-ams.”

Even though it is the start of the South African season, Pace is one of the players to bring some form into the event, having finished in a tie for 11^th at last weekend’s Kenya Ladies Open, the first event of the new Ladies European Tour season. The 42-year-old shot a brilliant 68 in the final round to ensure she comes to Fancourt with some confidence.

“I felt really good on the last day and played really nicely. That’s after feeling really sick on the first day. So I feel I do have a bit of form on my side,” Pace said.

Compatriot Cara Gorlei also finished in the tie for 11^th, and was leading the tournament before a 77 in the third round pushed her down the leaderboard.

France’s Anne-Lise Caudal, a two-time LET winner, is among the stronger foreign contenders, along with Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann, who finished fifth in last year’s Dimension Data Pro-Am and Englishwoman Lauren Taylor, who has two top-10 finishes in this event.

Former champions from South Africa in Stacey Bregman and Lejan Lewthwaite are also in the field.

Jose-Maria Olazabal enjoyed the milder weather at Fancourt on Friday as he fired a five-under-par 68 to move into contention after the second round of the Volvo Golf Champions at the Links.

Olazabal moved to seven-under overall, five shots off the scorching pace set by Branden Grace, who was on 12-under with two holes to play.

“Today was a little better, the last two days have been very hot and humid and I struggled a bit. There was a bit more wind today, but overall the conditions were pretty benign,” a happy Olazabal said after his round.

The Spaniard made the elite 35-man field thanks to his 22 career wins on the European Tour, but a bad recent run has seen him slip to number 596 on the world rankings, so Friday’s round provided a welcome return to form.

“The bar wasn’t very high to begin with, so improving on my recent form wasn’t difficult! The last couple of years, I’ve been playing very poorly and I need to improve my driving. I hit lovely shots on the range, but it’s harder to take those on to the course. But there are at least some signs on the range that it’s coming right, so that makes it easier,” Olazabal said.

Of course, Olazabal doesn’t just have his own testing times to worry about on the golf course these days – as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, he also has to study the form of his potential players. The two-time Masters champion said it was important for him to focus on keeping his own play up to scratch as the team captain.

“I made it very clear in September that there is no way I will play in the team, but I would still love to be competitive because then I get to play with my boys and see how they’re doing in this important year,” Olazabal said.

The 45-year-old is playing at Fancourt for the first time and is clearly impressed with the course and estate.

“The practice facilities are fantastic and the whole setting is really beautiful. The set-up of the course is also great and done in a way that you get reward for good shots. And if you miss a shot, you’ll be in trouble, which is fair.

“It’s a great test and we’ve been playing off the forward tees. I can’t imagine how tough it must be off the back tees! But it’s a great course and I would recommend it to anyone,” Olazabal said.

Thomas Aiken shot a fantastic five-under-par 68 in the opening round of the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt on Thursday, but was more eager to discuss an issue that should be of importance for all of us proud South Africans.

Aiken appeared at his post-round press conference wearing a “Rhino Revolution” cap and was only too happy to give an explanation.

“I haven’t got a sponsor and I wanted to promote something worthwhile and what could be more worthwhile than saving rhinos? It’s disgusting what’s happening to them, they’re part of the Big Five and it’s a matter of national heritage for all of us, far more important than this golf tournament,” Aiken said.

“I started the Thomas Aiken Rhino Fund and I’ve done my homework about where the money goes. Trevor Jordan of Jordan Properties in Hoedspruit does a fantastic job with Rhino Revolution and I’ve heard people saying about other rhino organisations that you don’t really see where the money goes.”

The Johannesburger pointed out that organisations trying to protect rhinos are struggling to afford the sort of weaponry the poachers are utilising.

“It’s a war and either rhino survive or they go extinct. The poachers get a million dollars a horn so we have a serious financial problem: they have a lot of money and we don’t. We need to fight cleverly – we’re using the money raised for trackers on the ground, roadblocks on the two roads leading out of Hoedspruit and we have help from the air force and their radar station because the poachers are now shooting from helicopters,” Aiken explained.

Rhino Revolution are also hoping to dehorn as many rhino as they can – which Aiken admitted can be controversial.

“We’re trying to dehorn rhino, which is very controversial, but we have fantastic vets doing it and having done over 500 rhino, we haven’t had a single fatality. The horn is like a fingernail, it grows back in about five years and the only problem with dehorning is if one of the rhino gets into a territorial fight with a rhino that still has its horn.”

But Rhino Revolution’s most controversial plan is to legalise the sale of rhino horn and then flood the market to remove the demand.

“We’re trying to legalise the trade and flood the market, so that it brings the price down. We will pump the proceeds back into conservation. At the current rate of poaching, rhino will be extinct in six years, so we have a serious time frame, there’s no time to ‘um and ah’. We’re sticking to our guns and it’s working,” Aiken said.

Colin Montgomerie has made some famously furious appearances in front of the press during his long and superb career, but he was all smiles and good wishes at Fancourt on Wednesday ahead of the Volvo Golf Champions.

“It’s the start of the year and my first time in this part of the world and it’s fantastic, we’re all saying the same thing. I’m looking forward to a new start with a new bag of Callaway clubs, I’m excited about this week, I feel like a rookie again. It’s a fresh start and a new year,” Montgomerie enthused.

The 48-year-old Scot has a top-class record of 31 European Tour wins and a particular affinity for links courses, having designed his own at Carton House in Ireland. Which makes Montgomerie a voice to be heard when it comes to rating the Fancourt Links after his two practice rounds on the par-73 layout.

“It’s an exceptional course, I believe it’s ranked number one in South Africa and therefore number one in Africa. And deservedly so, having played it twice now. I haven’t experienced the tournament pins yet, they’ve been in areas where we’re not going to hit to in the tournament and I’m looking forward to a stiffer challenge.

“It’s a great design, an exceptional challenge and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s in a similar style to Carton House – the bunkers are very severe, it’s a half-shot penalty if you land in them with their riveted faces. There’s a lot of sand and it’s soft, which is more difficult than if it was firm. The run-offs are also similar … all credit to Gary Player and the design team,” Montgomerie said.

The Ryder Cup legend dominated European golf in the 1990s, winning seven successive Orders of Merit, but he admitted the advent of technologically-boosted big-hitters has had a devastating effect on his winning chances these days.

“To compete with the longer hitters, I’ve got to putt very well because they have a huge advantage. Nicolas Colsaerts [in the Fancourt field] is probably the longest in the world and I’m giving away 60 yards to him. Where he, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen can go in with a five-iron, for me it’s a three-wood on to firm greens. So it’s a huge advantage for them – if they hit it straight and can find their ball off the tee,” Montgomerie said.

“But I hit the ball well today from tee to green, my irons were good enough and I drove safely. But I’ve never won anything without putting well, so I’ve got to hole out from inside 10 feet.”

Adding to the advantage of the longer hitters at Fancourt is the fact that there are five par-fives and only four par-threes and, with the blazing sun on Wednesday drying out the course, there should be more and more run on the fairways.

Montgomerie has been paired with young Tom Lewis, who is not the longest hitter off the tees, for Thursday’s first round and is looking forward to the experience.

Colsaerts will be playing with Holland’s Joost Luiten and Montgomerie is relieved he won’t have to experience what happened to him the last time he partnered the Belgian.

“I was asked to do a drug test and both Nicolas and Stephen Gallacher just burst out laughing. They said it was for performance-enhancing drugs and I said it was a complete waste of time and I wanted my money back if that was the case. I’m hitting the ball 280 metres and they’re hitting it 340,” Montgomerie laughed.