Ken Borland

SUN CITY, North-West – Rourke van der Spuy kept the door firmly closed on multiple Sunshine Tour winners Hennie Otto and Louis de Jager as another inspired putting display saw him shoot 69 in the final round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City to claim a three-stroke victory in the first event of the SunBet Series.

De Jager, who has won five times on tour, and Otto, who has a whopping 13 Sunshine Tour titles plus three on the European Tour, were Van der Spuy’s company in the final three-ball, breathing down his neck just one stroke behind the 32-year-old.

But Van der Spuy was unfazed, leading from start-to-finish in the final round. He made an early statement with birdies on the second and third holes, and even back-to-back bogeys on six and seven did not derail him. Birdies on the 10^th and 11^th holes put him back in command, and he sealed the deal with a fine approach into the middle of the 17^th green and a 25-foot birdie putt.

“It was just about spot-on in terms of our planning. My coach and I said we would go for a score in the 60s, on a tough course like this that felt like it would be good enough,” a delighted Van der Spuy said.

“Something under-par was our target and I’m very proud to have broken 70. I had control of my game, even when Louis went on a good run on the back nine. That birdie on 17 was my most clutch putt of the day.

“I’ve been very good on the greens all week and my only slip-up was a three-putt on seven, but that was a very long putt.

“I’ve always thought, why not lead and be the frontrunner, even one shot counts at the end of the day,” Van der Spuy said.

It’s been four years between celebrations for the Durban Country Club golfer, whose previous Sunshine Tour wins were at the Mopani Redpath Zambia Open in 2018 and the Fish River Sun Challenge in 2015.

Making the occasion even more special was to be able to beat Otto, who finished in a tie for third, four shots back, after a level-par 72 on Friday.

“Playing with Hennie was a wonderful feeling because growing up, and when I started at the bottom of the Sunshine Tour, I looked up to him as a mentor. He is such an accomplished and successful golfer, and Louis as well. Today I realised some childhood dreams,” Van der Spuy said.

Ockie Strydom fired a 68, the low round of the day, to finish in a tie for fifth on three-under-par with JJ Senekal (71) and the in-form Louis Albertse (72).

De Jager finished in second place on his own, on five-under-par, after making 71 in the final round. But he did give Van der Spuy some cause for concern on the back nine as he collected three birdies.

But not even that could distract Van der Spuy from his goal.

HARARE, Zimbabwe – An excellent day with the putter saw Albert Venter to a superb final-round 66 and a playoff for the FBC Zimbabwe Open at Royal Harare Golf Club, with the 26-year-old then sinking a 16-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title on Sunday.

Venter had to hold off Stefan Wears-Taylor, who also shot 66 in the final round, and Louis Albertse (67) in the playoff after the trio all finished the R2 million tournament on 10-under-par.

They all parred the 18^th in the first playoff hole, but on their next attempt, Venter spun a sand-wedge from the fairway back to 16 feet from the pin and then nailed the birdie putt, with Albertse and Wears-Taylor unable to make their shorter putts.

Venter’s success with the putter was unexpected because the Silver Lakes golfer struggled with the short stick in the third round.

“I knew I needed to just keep grinding today, follow my processes, and my goal was to just get in contention on the back nine,” Venter, who began the final round five shots off the lead, said.

“I was playing with the American, Dan Erickson, and he was off to a flyer – six-under after seven holes. So he was the guy to catch and I just tried to stay in touching distance of him.

“Then I caught fire on the back nine and I just kept following my processes, just keeping the ball in play, hit the greens and make the putts.

“Yesterday [Saturday] was a really bad putting day – 31 putts – so last night I spent an hour or two on the green and I found something. The putter paid off today with the prize,” Venter said.

Venter finished runner-up (his best finish on tour) in last September’s Sunshine Tour Invitational at Centurion Country Club, but two missed cuts in October probably cost him a top-50 finish in the final 2021/22 order of merit.

His victory on Sunday means none of that matters now and he said his big breakthrough felt surreal.

“At the moment, it’s still kind of surreal. To get to this professional level is hard enough, but then to win is a whole another level.

“It’s about belief and I can only thank my supporters, my coaching staff and family, who felt I was good enough. I would not be in this position without them,” Venter said.

Erickson was still in the lead when he birdied the par-three 15^th, which Venter bogeyed, but the American was knocked out of contention by a bogey-bogey finish.

Wears-Taylor birdied 16 and 17 to claim the outright lead, but then bogeyed the last to force him into a playoff, with Albertse staying alive as he birdied 18.

Venter’s round was built around three successive birdies from the seventh hole, and he then burnt up the back nine with a run of four straight birdies from the 11^th hole. Despite dropping a shot at 15, he stuck around to the bitter end.

Overnight leader Luca Filippi faded into seventh position after shooting a 75, while Louis de Jager and Jaco Ahlers joined Erickson in fourth place, two shots behind, after they both made 70s on Sunday.

HARARE, Zimbabwe – The third round of the FBC Zimbabwe Open at Royal Harare Golf Club will not be fondly recalled by Luca Filippi, but the good news for the 23-year-old is that he still leads going into Sunday’s final round despite his 74 on Saturday.

That lead is a tenuous one, however, with Wynand Dingle firing an excellent four-under-par 68 to climb within one shot of Filippi, who is on nine-under-par overall.

Things looked to be progressing smoothly for Filippi, who took a five-shot lead into the weekend, as he birdied three successive holes in the middle of the front nine. But a bogey at the par-four eighth started the trouble and a double-bogey six at the 10^th hole was a bitter blow.

The Milnerton Golf Club representative did manage to collect a couple of birdies on the back nine, but a bogey, double-bogey finish put the seal on a tough afternoon at the office.

“It felt like a very long day and it was tough going out at 12.30pm in the swirling wind,” Filippi admitted. “So three-under through six holes was a great start.

“But then the double on 10 set me back, and I unfortunately had two bad holes to end too. But I thought I hung in nicely on the back nine.

“It was a nice start in conditions that were not easy and I thought I was building a nice lead, but golf thought otherwise and instead I just have a one-shot lead,” Filippi said philosophically.

It is only a one-shot lead thanks to Dingle, who is also seeking his first Sunshine Tour win, finishing birdie-birdie. And it is not only the 37-year-old that Filippi has to worry about, with the vastly-experienced Jaco Ahlers (71) and Louis de Jager (72) both on six-under, while the in-form Louis Albertse (72) and Zambia’s Madalitso Muthiya (72) are both one further stroke back.

But Filippi has a good head on his young shoulders and it’s not only about winning his maiden Sunshine Tour title in the final round for him; whatever happens, he sees it as another learning experience in an exciting professional career that was only launched a couple of years ago.

“The FBC Zimbabwe Open is a massive event, one of the bigger tournaments on the Sunshine Tour, and I’ve never had a one-shot lead going into the final day of a four-round event before.

“But regardless of the outcome, I would have learnt a lot after tomorrow’s round and I look forward to see what the day has in store for me,” Filippi said.

Mitchell van Buuren could have followed in the footsteps of his older cousin Graeme and become an émigré to the United Kingdom, but the 24-year-old batsman has decided to stick it out in South Africa and on Friday he was the saviour of the Central Gauteng Lions side in their crucial final round 4-Day Domestic Series fixture against the Northerns Titans in Centurion.

The Lions, frontrunners in the four-day competition for so long, are trying to hold off strong late challenges from Northerns as well as the Eastern Province Warriors, and they were in early trouble at SuperSport Park as they slumped to 79/4.

That was when Van Buuren came to the crease and he showed impressive discipline and composure even as the Lions slid further into the mire on 118/6. Sisanda Magala then joined him and the burly Proteas white-ball player was able to show his value with the bat as he fought hard for nearly two-and-a-half hours, playing some lovely strokes in his 61 and adding a vital 130 for the seventh wicket with Van Buuren.

With off-spinner Simon Harmer (31-7-84-3) wrapping up the tail, the Lions were bowled out for 270 on the stroke of stumps, with Van Buuren finishing unbeaten on a highly-responsible 103, which included 10 fours and three sixes.

Seamer Aya Gqamane was the pick of the Northerns bowlers, taking 3/45 in 16 overs, his victims being the star trio of Josh Richards (33), Ryan Rickelton (24) and Magala. Lizaad Williams was also slippery, taking 2/42 in 22 overs.

The Warriors, meanwhile, were in firm control of their match against the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein until the hosts were lifted to a tolerable 198/7 by a marvellous 107 not out by Patrick Botha.

The EP pacemen, Tiaan van Vuuren (14-4-32-3), Akhona Mnyaka (12-1-49-2) and Mthiwekhaya Nabe (11-1-35-2) quickly ripped through the Knights top-order, with only Raynard van Tonder (34) showing much resistance.

Coming in at 39/4, Botha shared successive partnerships of 54 with Van Tonder and 72 with Migael Pretorious (17). It lifted the mood in a Knights camp that is missing several key players and has been further rocked by the resignation of Allan Donald as coach. The Proteas great is taking up a role as bowling coach of Bangladesh.

Scores in brief for other games

Western Province 332/4 (Jonathan Bird 128, Yaseen Vallie 44, Gavin Kaplan 73, Daniel Smith 46*; Delano Potgieter 2/56) v North-West.

KZN Dolphins 272/5 (Grant Roelofsen 49, Keegan Petersen 115*, Andile Phehlukwayo 69*; Shaun von Berg 3/81) v Boland Rocks.