Ken Borland

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Luke Jerling rates Umhlali Country Club as being one of his favourite courses and he continued to show how comfortable he is on the 5943m Peter Matkovich design as he fired a second consecutive 66 on Thursday to claim a two-shot lead after the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya.

The 32-year-old Jerling had eight birdies but three bogeys on the first day, but he played much more controlled golf on Thursday, dropping just the one shot, on the tough par-four 15^th hole. A hot putter allowed him to collect six birdies as he goes into Saturday’s final round on 10-under-par.

“I really enjoy this golf course, I finished third here in this event last year and just missed out on a playoff,” Jerling said. “I’m not the longest hitter and this is not a bomber’s paradise. There are quite a few fiddly tee-shots and good par-threes.

“Fortunately my short game is my strength and I also made a few putts after struggling for a while with the putter. It was nice to see a few roll in and my iron-play was also very solid,” Jerling said.

Danie van Tonder is poised for another final-round charge as he lies second on eight-under-par, following a 67 on Thursday that included an eagle on the 489m par-five 10^th hole.

Pieter Moolman (66) and Astin Arthur (69), the amateur from nearby Mount Edgecombe who has won five events this year, are tied for third on seven-under-par.

Overnight leader Jacob Oakley endured a disappointing day as he shot a 75 to finish on four-under-par, still inside the top-10 though. There are a host of Sunshine Tour winners in the top-10, including the in-form Malcolm Mitchell, who is ninth on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Jerling has come close before to winning his maiden Sunshine Tour title, finishing third three times and being the runner-up in the 2022 Manguang Open. Although he is now based at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, Jerling is with the coastal players who are hoping for the wind to get up in the final round.

“The wind might pick up more and I won’t mind at all coming originally from Port Elizabeth, where you have to shape the ball a bit. It’s the sort of course where my game-plan will be the same whether I’m chasing the cut or enjoying a five-shot lead, I’ll hit the same shots.

“So I’m not going to think too much about the final round, although it would be lovely to get over the line. It’s actually a bonus being in contention because I’ve been doing some good work with my coach Neil Cheetham and we made a breakthrough last week with my driver and my transition of weight, getting a better turn off the ball with more width. I can see the improvement, which is exciting,” Jerling said.

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Jacob Oakley improved on his best ever round on the Sunshine Tour for the second tournament in a row as the Englishman fired an excellent eight-under-par 63 on Wednesday to lead the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya after the first round at Umhlali Country Club.

Oakley shot a wonderful 65 on the first day of the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Sishen Golf Club on September 20, and even though he then posted rounds of 75 and 74, his finish of tied-18^th was still his best ever on the Sunshine Tour.

That 65 gave him a one-shot lead after the first round, but on Wednesday his 63 saw him open up a two-stroke gap on the well-travelled duo of Trevor Fisher Jnr and Alex Haindl.

The 26-year-old Oakley was also the first to tee-off on the first hole at Umhlali on Wednesday and no-one was able to better his haul of eight birdies. He started slowly with three pars, before three birdies in four holes led him to three-under at the turn. Oakley collected back-to-back birdies on the 12^th and 13^th holes, and then finished brilliantly with three successive birdies, making threes on the 16^th and 17^th holes and then a two on the 182m closing hole.

Having claimed the last of his five Sunshine Tour victories in August 2021 at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sishen event, Haindl may have wondered when his next appearance at the top of a leaderboard would happen, finishing 93^rd and 160^th on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy since then. He has not made a cut in five events this season.

But the Schoeman Park golfer was inspired on Wednesday, collecting seven birdies by the 16^th hole, but then dropping his only shot on the 18^th.

Fisher Jnr began his round on the 10^th and reached the turn on three-under. He then birdied the first hole but dropped a shot at the par-four second. But an eagle on the par-five fifth was followed by a birdie on his last hole, the par-four ninth, as he joined Haindl in the tie for second.

Astin Arthur, the winner of the Western Province, Indian Ocean and Southern Cape amateur opens this year and the runner-up in the South African Strokeplay Championship, was another surprise packet on Wednesday as he shot a five-under-par 66 to be in the tie for fourth place on four-under-par.

Luke Jerling, who made eight birdies but also three bogeys, and Malcolm Mitchell also shot 66s.

KATHU, Northern Cape (21 September 2024) – Deon Germishuys had the luxury of returning to the Sunshine Tour at a venue where he has previously won – the Sishen Golf Club – and on Saturday he fired a brilliant five-under-par 67 to go to nine-under-par overall and in the lead heading into the final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Northern Cape event.

Germishuys is a regular campaigner on the DP World Tour these days, and his last appearance on the Sunshine Tour was back in May at the Waterfall City Tour Championship. But Sishen Golf Club has happy memories for the 24-year-old as he claimed his maiden Sunshine Tour title there in the Sishen Classic back in May 2022.

The Serengeti Estates golfer started his round on the 10^th hole and reached the turn in one-under thanks to a birdie on the par-four 18^th, having earlier cancelled out birdies on the 10^th and 14^th holes with bogeys on the 12^th and 15^th.

But Germishuys really caught fire in the closing stages of the front nine. Following a birdie on the par-five second, he finished with four birdies in the last five holes. A bogey on the par-three eighth limited his lead to just one stroke however.

“It’s nice to be back playing here at Sishen again, I really enjoy the golf course and it just fell into my schedule perfectly,” Germishuys said. “I felt everything clicked towards the end of the front nine, I was hitting decent irons and rolling in putts. But it’s not as if I was playing awful golf on the back nine.

“I feel like my game is at a good stage at the moment, I’ve made a lot of improvements and I’ve done decently in Europe. I have nothing to really complain about and I’ll just stick to what I’ve been doing in the final round,” Germishuys said.

Martin Vorster, continuing his comeback from injury, also played wonderful golf on Saturday. Three birdies in the first six holes of the back nine left him on four-under for his round and one stroke off the lead. But he just could not gain that pivotal extra shot in the closing three holes and will go into the final round in second place, one behind Germishuys on eight-under-par.

Malcolm Mitchell posted a one-under 71 on Saturday to sit third on seven-under-par, while nine golfers are in the tie for fourth on five-under-par.

First-round leader Jacob Oakley went the other way in the second round, shooting a 75 to finish on four-under-par.

Gabrielle Venter fired a fantastic 69 on Saturday to make the cut and she is the leading women’s golfer, on one-over-par.

Kathu (Northern Cape) – Englishman Jacob Oakley enjoyed a welcome respite from the tough maiden Sunshine Tour campaign he is enduring as he fired a wonderful seven-under-par 65 on Friday to lead after the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sishen event.

The 26-year-old from Cheshire has missed the cut in six of the seven Sunshine Tour events he has played in this season, but he did finish tied-53^rd in the SunBet Challenge Times Square Casino tournament at the end of last month.

Oakley started on the 10^th hole at Sishen Golf Club with three straight pars, but then caught fire with a birdie on the par-three 13^th and an eagle on the par-five 15^th to go out in three-under. The product of Styal Golf Club, where he was mentored by four-time DP World Tour winner David Horsey, was superb on the front nine, picking up further birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and eighth holes to claim a one-stroke lead over Malcolm Mitchell after the first day out in the Kalahari.

Mitchell continued his good recent form as he shot a 66 which included just one bogey, on the par-four 12^th. The 29-year-old, coming off top-10 finishes in his last two Sunshine Tour events, was faultless on a front nine in which he claimed three birdies. Remarkably, he made fours at all four of the par-fives on the highly-rated 6554m course.

“I drove the ball well today and I was able to take advantage of the par-fives, hitting all of them in two. And I also didn’t make any basic errors, like three-putting,” Mitchell said when asked how his success came about.

“The wind was all over the show, it had a mind of its own, so it was quite difficult out there. Luckily I’m a Durban boy though and I was able to figure it out. It’s just great that the hard work is starting to show and I’m just focusing on myself more than anything else. The mind controls everything, so I’m just trying to keep positive and stay in the present,” Mitchell said.

Kyle de Beer, who has already won nearly R600 000 in his rookie season, is tied for third on five-under-par with Simon du Plooy and Albert Venter.

Pietermaritzburg’s Neil Schietekat is among the group tied for sixth place on four-under-par.

Martin Vorster also finished with a 68, having been six-under-par with four holes left to play. But the closing holes of the front nine proved to be a bit of a mountain to climb for the 22-year-old making his way back from injury and he dropped two shots coming home.