Ken Borland

It was a case of the early birds getting the worms on the first day of the Hornbill Classic Golf Tournament at Kruger Park Lodge Golf Club on Friday, as the Kranspoort four-ball claimed opening-round honours in the two-day event in the Lowveld.

The Kranspoort team, who travelled from the Mpumalanga highveld to participate, teed off early when the wind was not up yet and really hit their straps, especially their lady golfers, as they tallied 89 points in the four-ball alliance format that is being used for the highly popular tournament.

Kirstin Kemp, who plays off a 35 handicap, failed to score on only one hole, while Michelle Higgo, playing off a 29, also played very well. Seventeen-handicapper Theo van Niekerk led the side, using his 15 years of experience on the Gary Player designed course which he describes as his favourite, while Kevin Kemp (23 handicap) also enjoyed a successful day.

Kemp admitted starting early had been a benefit because the wind definitely picked up through the day as there was a foreboding change in weather from the Lowveld’s usual clear blue skies at this time of year to overcast and cooler conditions.

He related how, early in the shotgun start round, he had hit a seven-iron on the 124-metre par-three seventh hole, and when he returned later in the day to attack the same green from the 144-metre 16^th tee he had hit driver in a successful attempt to find the putting surface, such was the impact of the blustering wind.

There was a tie on points for third and second place, with the Fairbridges team counting out Sabie River Sun for second after they both finished on 87 points.

Fairbridges are a team of attorneys who travelled all the way from Cape Town to participate, such is the allure of this tournament. Bok and Max Groeneveld were joined by Conrad Fraser and Sharjah Jonsson, and they readily admitted that one of their pars was recorded when an errant approach was deflected on to the green by a passing Pajero!

Sabie River Sun was the team they counted out into third place and it was clearly a good day for the four-ball of Darren Lane, Brendon Steele, Luke Baumer and Wayne Smith as they said the tremendous hospitality of the Kruger Park Lodge was the highlight of their round.

The Hornbill Classic concludes on Saturday on a Kruger Park Lodge Golf Course that has been universally praised for its superb quality.

SUN CITY – Jacques Blaauw made par at the first playoff hole to win the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City at the Gary Player Country Club on Friday, the 38-year-old breaking an eight-year winning drought and doing it at one of his favourite courses.

It all led to an emotional celebration by Blaauw as he admitted to being “like a madman, going crazy on the phone” with his wife and father shortly after the trophy presentation.

“It’s been a while since my last win – 2016 – but I’ve been playing very well the last two months and I was thinking the win was coming,” Blaauw said, following up his four rounds in the sixties to finish third in the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am a fortnight ago with rounds of 71-71-69 for five-under-par at Gary Player Country Club.

“And I played really well today, besides my finish in regulation play when I bogeyed the 15^th and 18^th holes. But the wind made conditions really tough today and those last holes were playing difficult.

“I’ve been putting very well recently and my approach play today was much closer than I’m used to, which gave me more chances for birdies. A lot of hard work has gone into this, especially with my driving, which I’ve struggled with lately. But I worked on it yesterday and changed my settings.

“This game keeps you humble, there are more ups and downs. It’s funny, but what I consider to be my first professional win came at the Gary Player Country Club, one of the best courses in the country, when I won the Klipdrift Touring Pro-Am back in 2010/11. I’ve waited so long now for this win, so I was like a madman, going crazy on the phone when I spoke to my wife and dad,” Blaauw said.

Blaauw’s two late bogeys left him tied with Tristin Galant, Yurav Premlall and Jonathan Broomhead as that trio finished their rounds.

Premlall and Broomhead both made bogeys at the last hole, but Galant made an excellent par to force the playoff.

Blaauw and Galant then made their way to the par-five ninth, with both laying up. After their approach shots to the green, it was advantage Galant as he was nine feet from the hole after a fantastic shot, with Blaauw hitting a poor shot, by his own admission, to be 35 feet from the flag.

But Blaauw still attacked the birdie putt, hitting it five feet past but showing his composure and previous winning experience by making the par putt coming back. Galant missed his birdie putt and then unfortunately missed a three-footer for par.

Blaauw had been superb for most of his final round, making birdie on the first two holes and then adding an eagle on the par-five 10^th and a birdie on the par-three 12^th.

Two superb hits on the 505m 10^th with a Driver and a four-iron set Blaauw up with a nine-foot eagle putt, and he was even more delighted with his four-iron into the 18^th. Even though he ended up making bogey, the Els Club Copperleaf golfer said “it’s one of the best shots of my career and was crucial to my win”.

Galant shot a 70 on the final day and also suffered late blows with bogeys on the par-five 14^th and par-four 17^th.

Premlall made his fifth birdie of the round on the par-three 12^th to hit eight-under-par, but he then double-bogeyed the par-four 13^th and had two more drops coming in.

Broomhead was on six-under-par overall through 10 holes, but then made two bogeys coming in to sign for a level-par 72.

Overnight leader Werner Deyzel suffered a number of body blows on the brutal course, finishing with a seven-over 79 which included a triple-bogey on the 14^th.

“The future is in our own hands but it is still up to us to put the results on the table,” DP World Lions captain Bjorn Fortuin said as he considered the #PrideOfJozi’s last four matches in the CSA T20 Challenge and the jostle for semi-final places.

The DP World Lions are in action on Sunday again as they host the Auto Investment North-West Dragons and they have dual goals of consolidating second place in the standings, but also closing the gap on the log-leading Warriors.

Following Friday night’s matches, the DP World Lions are nine points behind the Eastern Province team, but three points ahead of the Dolphins with a game in hand, and seven points ahead of fourth-placed Western Province.

Having won their last three matches in a row, our Pride will certainly be taking momentum and confidence into Sunday’s clash at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

“We have no complaints with how things are going at the moment but we must not get ahead of ourselves. I’ve been part of teams that have won five on the bounce and then it was downhill from there,” Fortuin said.

“Our main goal is to catch the Warriors and we also still have a game against them. So our future is in our own hands, but it is still up to us to put the results on the table.

“There have already been a couple of surprise results this season so you can never write anyone off, this format has proven that so many times. Anyone can beat anyone on any day. The Dragons have some seriously dangerous players and they have a lot to play for as a team and individuals have points to prove as well,” Fortuin warned.

But for the DP World Lions it is a case of keep doing what they have been doing so far. They have not relied on a couple of players for their seven wins thus far; the presence of nine different Pride members in the top-20 of the batting and bowling averages indicates how many Lions are chipping in with important contributions.

“We are a seriously talented team and it’s good that we don’t solely rely on one or two players,” Fortuin said. “T20 cricket is quite unpredictable and not every day is going to be yours as a player. But we have always had someone to pick up the slack and that’s what you expect from quality players. We have managed to pull things together.”

A top-class unbeaten half-century by Ryan Rickelton saw the DP World Lions to a crucial weather-shortened win over the Dolphins in their last match, but the Pride have had a tough time with rain-interrupted matches this season.

Fortuin is looking for a more adaptable mindset from his team, but there is also a sense that the DP World Lions are on a steady climb to reach their peak when the knockout stages arrive.

“We won our last game at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, Ryan played an unbelievable innings in tough conditions, but we made it a bit tighter than it should have been. If there are rain delays or odd things happen, hopefully we deal with it much better.

“There are still quite a few games left, so there is time to rectify the couple of things we could have done better in certain situations. We’re not taking anything for granted, but there is a feeling that we are reaching our peak. We’re excited for when it will come, but it can also be frustrating to just inch towards your goal.

“So we have got to be patient. But we know that if we are really on our game, then not many teams can keep up with us,” Fortuin said.

CENTURION, Gauteng – Merrick Bremner is one of the longest hitters on the Sunshine Tour – Denis Hutchinson’s comment that the ball says “Ouch!” whenever he hits it will be long remembered – and his playing partner Martin Rohwer was delighted to be on his team as they surged into the lead in the Bain’s Whisky Ubunye Championship at Blue Valley Golf Estate on Friday.

Rohwer and Bremner dominated the foursomes in the second round of the R1.2 million event, shooting a six-under-par 66, the low round of the day. That left them on 18-under-par overall going into Saturday’s final round, when the format returns to betterball.

The pair of Durbanites are four shots ahead of Danie van Tonder and M.J. Viljoen (67) and Jaco Prinsloo and Clinton Grobler (69) on 14-under, while Luke Brown and Hayden Griffiths, and Luka Filippi and Ryan van Velsen, are on 13-under-par. The seasoned duo of George Coetzee and Darren Fichardt are a further stroke back.

“Merrick is awesome to play with,” Rohwer said after their round of seven birdies and just one bogey, on their penultimate hole, the par-three eighth. “He has a cool head on his shoulders and is very chill.

“He makes it easy for me to relax and play my own game. And of course he hits it miles!

“I can’t remember how many lob-wedges or sand-wedges I had going into the green, but that obviously makes a big difference,” Rohwer said.

The 28-year-old Rohwer said he and Bremner had decided to use the same strategy for the foursomes as they did in the first-round betterball, in which they shot 60 to finish three behind leaders Estiaan Conradie and Fredrick From, who slipped down the leaderboard on Friday with a three-over 75 leaving them with Coetzee and Fichardt on 12-under-par.

And there will be no change of plan for Rohwer and Bremner in Saturday’s final round.

“It was a great day and we both played really well,” Rohwer said. “We took the same mindset we had yesterday [Thursday] into today [Friday] and that was just to try and birdie every single hole.

“Keeping our foot on the gas for the whole round really helped us for shooting 66. On the holes where there is risk-and-reward, it meant the first one off would go for it and if they pulled off the shot, then there was licence for the second shot to be aggressive as well.

“Even though you tend to play a little safer in foursomes because you can end up with only one chance, being pretty aggressive helped us.

“So we’ll have pretty much the same game-plan for the final round. You’ve got to play well whenever you’re in with a shout in the final round, you can’t expect average golf to get the job done.

“So we will stick to the same game-plan as the first day betterball and try and give ourselves as many opportunities as we can, as many looks as we can. If we give ourselves two chances on every hole then anything can happen,” Rohwer said.