Ken Borland

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Louis Albertse hails from Dundee Golf Club and would have to travel almost exactly due north from there to get to Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate, while Nico Mulder comes from Lydenburg, which is due north of Dullstroom, and together they combined to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Pro-Am in spectacular fashion on Thursday.

Albertse, a three-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, and Mulder blazed their way to 50 points on the second day of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Highland Gate Pro-Am, overtaking first-day leaders Keenan Davidse and former Springbok rugby player Akona Ndungane, to win by two points (90 to 88).

For Mulder, the general manager of the McGee group of companies, it was a maiden pro-am victory and the highlight of his golf career.

“It’s definitely the highlight, just playing with the pros is amazing enough. You see them on TV but it’s only when you’re standing with them on the course and you realise that you’re hitting six-iron and they’re taking wedge, then you know how good they are,” Mulder said.

“Vodacom have been fantastic with the way they have hosted us. It’s been an unbelievable couple of days and they have treated us like royalty. And the friendliness of everyone at Highland Gate, the staff have smiles wherever you look, it’s like being at a resort,” the nine-handicapper said.

While the first day featured such strong winds that Albertse felt like his game and maybe even himself might be blown off one of the spectacular cliffs around the course, Thursday was much calmer at Highland Gate and the winner of more than R4.6 million on the Sunshine Tour flourished, a good omen for him ahead of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series professional event that tees off on Friday.

“Yesterday the wind was really hectic, so today I had to contribute and I felt my game was there, which was nice. It’s also very enjoyable meeting new people and you never know what doors people you meet can open. And they are also the reason we are able to play in these tournaments, I am very respectful and thankful for what they do for us.

“It’s my second time playing here and I love the course, everyone who lives close to Dullstroom wants to come and play here. It’s a very good course and it is in great condition. There are scoring opportunities for sure, but if you’re not straight off the tee then it becomes really tough. You have to try and be patient and plot your way around it,” Albertse said.

Davidse and Ndungane, the runners-up, finished three points ahead of Jason Roets and George Leolo (85pts), while Stefan Wears-Taylor and Toby Mnisi were fourth on 83 points.

Ngwako Ramohlale struck a blow for the ladies as she finished fifth were her professional, Nikhil Rama, also on 83 points.

With the first day having shown that Highland Gate is not for the faint-hearted, Mulder was taking no chances on the second morning and admitted to bolstering his confidence in time-honoured fashion before the tee-off.

“My mate and I had a little Jagermeister before the start and then it was just a matter of keeping my head down and staying humble. But the wind on the first day made all of us humble,” Mulder laughed.

Having dealt with their T20 World Cup disappointment in level-headed fashion, South Africa’s cricketers have shown a mature outlook on their narrow defeat to India in the final at Bridgetown, Barbados, and are excited for the future, according to head coach Rob Walter.

The Proteas looked poised to end their miserable record in world cups in their first appearance in a men’s final as they reached the last five overs needing 30 runs from 30 balls with six wickets in hand. But India were exceptional at the death, Jasprit Bumrah bowling two of those closing overs and conceding just six runs while also taking a wicket, being well-backed by fellow seamers Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh, while Suryakumar Yadav took an incredible boundary catch in the final over as South Africa fell an agonising seven runs short.

“When you lose that way, it always hurts and you think about all those small margins during the game. But you only end up torturing yourself thinking about one run here or there,” Walter told SportsBoom.com upon his return to Johannesburg on Thursday.

“You have to give India credit, Bumrah was incredible in the two overs he had left, he’s a world-class bowler who made a big difference at the end. But I’m also very proud of how we acquitted ourselves, the guys showed a lot of resilience and courage.

“Reaching the final shows that we’ve made great strides as a team and I’m excited for the future. Just look at our attack and the pacemen who didn’t play (Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi & Nandre Burger) – we’ve probably got seven quick bowlers who can make an impact at that level.

“And everyone said India’s spinners would choke us in the middle overs, but look at how our batsmen attacked them, they made a play and we got to parity at the back end. We won a lot of big moments through the tournament and we didn’t do much wrong in the final,” Walter said.

Captain Aiden Markram handled the immediate devastation of defeat with aplomb in the couple of hours after the final. While admitting he was gutted, he spoke mostly about the pride he felt in his team and his confidence that they will fight another day.

Previous Proteas captains have left the world cup looking drained of all inspiration, their faces as glum as someone who has just had a beloved family member pass away.

“Everyone was shattered after the final, but Aiden found a way to put a smile on his face,” Keshav Maharaj said. “That optimism is something we could feed off as a team, it restored our belief and it shows how far we have come as a team. We will bounce back and I’m pretty sure Aiden will be one of the first South Africans holding the world cup. As our leader, he is very much in command and we respect him greatly.”

While South Africa’s part in the great spectacle of a gripping final will go down in cricketing lore, Walter believes the team is steadily building towards winning an ICC trophy. The 48-year-old coach said the low of being 24 for four at the start of the 50-over World Cup semi-final against Australia at Eden Gardens in November last year was the genesis of their new-found belief in the big moments.

“We may have lost the game in the end, but that match was a massive win for us psychologically. From 24 for four, we played outstandingly well and gave ourselves a chance, we did the same with the ball.

“I still believe that semi-final will be the catalyst to us finally winning a world cup, and in the T20 World Cup now we just kept chipping away and clawing our way back, there’s a lot of resilience in this team,” Walter said.

The Boland Rocks surrendered their CSA T20 Challenge title in maudlin fashion on Wednesday night as they bowed out at the semi-final stage, losing by 20 runs to the KZN Dolphins in Potchefstroom.

Having sent the Dolphins in to bat, the excellent Boland bowlers dominated all but the first five overs and the last over of the innings as they bowled KZN out for 146 in the final over.

Openers Grant Roelofsen (26) and Keegan Petersen (25) added 42 off 35 balls up front, but the Dolphins then crashed to 124/8. KZN captain Prenelan Subrayen hit 22 off 11 balls at the death to boost his team to a total that they felt they could defend on a two-paced pitch.

After Eathan Bosch had Leus du Plooy caught behind for a first-ball duck, Janneman Malan gave Boland a good start, scoring 31 off 29 balls to take them to 40/1 in the powerplay. But the arrival of spinners Subrayen and Jon-Jon Smuts began a sorry tale for the Rocks.

Left-arm spinner Smuts struck with his first delivery, beating the dangerous Clyde Fortuin in the flight and bowling him for 7. Malan could only score six runs off the 10 balls he faced from the spinners, before being outdone by off-spinner Subrayen’s arm ball and being neatly stumped by Roelofsen for 37.

Subrayen (4-0-18-3) and Smuts (4-0-17-2) then reduced the Dolphins to 65/6 in the 13^th over.

Farhaan Behardien (31*) and Hardus Viljoen (22 off 18) tried valiantly to rescue the sinking ship, but Boland limped to 126/8 in the end.

The Dolphins now meet the Northerns Titans in Saturday’s final, and they will bring a proper all-round bowling attack to the contest.

Bosch’s control set an excellent tone up front as he finished with 1/22 in his four overs and Ottneil Baartman is also a primary weapon, taking 1/29 in four on Wednesday.

Daryn Dupavillon’s pace makes him a proper threat, and he bowled just one poor over, which cost 16 runs, but bowled well at the death with Baartman to ensure the Dolphins’ dominance was reflected in the final result.

Bamanye Xenxe, a real talent unearthed by this tournament, was the best of the Boland bowlers with 4/34, but he did concede 17 off the last over.

Leg-spinner Shaun von Berg took 3/22 in his four overs, but a couple of his wickets were gifted by the Dolphins hitting long-hops to fielders. His dismissal of Andile Simelane for a duck, beautifully stumped by Fortuin, was a masterful piece of cricket, however.

Ferisco Adams once again showed his T20 skills by taking 1/19 in four overs.

Ockie Strydom had been runner-up 19 times and won just once on the Sunshine Tour, but the 37-year-old did the business in highly impressive fashion on the back nine in the final round to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship by two strokes at Leopard Creek on Sunday.

Remarkably, it was a double-bogey on the par-four ninth that sparked Strydom, as he responded immediately to losing the outright lead with two brilliant approach shots, after crunching drives, to set up back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes.

Strydom short-sided himself on the ninth with his approach to the left of the flag, the ball spinning back into the water.

But he recovered to produce an impeccably solid back nine, with further birdies on the 13th and 14th holes and seldom looking in any danger of dropping a shot.

“It was probably the most solid nine holes I have played,” Strydom said. “After the double, I said to my caddy Jaris [Kruger, his brother-in-law], that it’s fine, we are still in there and we can pull it back.

“And then we did it in the first two holes of the back nine and just kept the foot on the pedal after that. I’ve been in this situation a lot and I know how to manage it. I was just able to go back to the game I know.

“I’ve put in a lot of hard work on my mental toughness and Jaris is a legend who really helped me. We discussed everything and I didn’t play any silly shots,” Strydom said.

Strydom closed with a three-under 69 to finish on 18-under-par, and while the victory was relatively easy in the end – “having a three-shot lead tends to take the nerves away,” Strydom admitted – the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate representative had numerous challengers to worry about through his round.

Scott Jamieson was tied for the lead with Strydom overnight and it was only after eight holes that the experienced Scotsman slipped behind never to return. Jamieson bogeyed the last three holes to post a 76 and finish in a tie for 11th on 11-under, on a final day in which he just never loosened up.

Dean Burmester, two behind at the start of the day, cut the gap to one when he curled in a 27-foot birdie putt on the 10th, but he immediately dropped a shot on the 11th and could only post a level-par 72 to finish on 13-under, tied for seventh with Louis Oosthuizen, who eagled the 11th and also picked up birdies on the 13th and 15th holes to get to 14-under and provide a brief threat. But the 2005 runner-up finished par-par-bogey.

Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, a four-time European Tour winner, produced the only bogey-free round of the day to put Strydom under the most pressure.

Otaegui, beginning the day on 12-under, moved to within a shot of the lead with birdies on the second and third holes, and picked up another shot on the par-four 11th. But crucially, he could not gather any other birdies coming in, until he scored a four at the par-five closing hole.

His 68 left him on 16-under and alone in second place, one shot ahead of Englishman Laurie Canter, whose 64 was the low round of the day. He started with a bogey, but then fired seven birdies and an eagle at the par-four sixth to claim third place.

South Africans Oliver Bekker (71) and Branden Grace (70) at times applied pressure, but both had crucial misses on the back nine as they finished on 14-under, sharing fourth place with Canadian Aaron Cockerill (69).

South African MJ Daffue and Frenchman David Ravetto rounded out the top-10 on 12-under-par, both closing with 69s.

Strydom, the man of the day, however, now has a DP World Tour exemption for two years, when his goals for 2023 were a bit lower – the Challenge Tour.

“It means everything to me, all the South Africans on the Sunshine Tour dream of winning a co-sanctioned event and I always wanted to do it here,” Strydom said.

“I had planned to play a bit on the Challenge Tour, but it has all just changed in the space of a week. I probably need to do some fresh planning.

“My Dad said he would be satisfied if I win one of these co-sanctioned events, I’ve finally done it and to do it at Leopard Creek feels extra good.

“‘Winner of a co-sanctioned event’ has a nice ring to it, but I’m not sure I’m ready for it,” the perennial bridegroom laughed.

Judging by his performance on Sunday afternoon, Strydom looks ready for anything.