Ken Borland

Kiera Floyd, a 19-year-old South African prodigy and Englishwoman Georgia Coughlin, who took to the sport late, are leading alongside Ellen Hutchinson-Kay, a Swede who came through the U.S. College system, after the first round of the Fidelity ADT Ladies Challenge at the Blue Valley Golf Estate on Wednesday.

The trio all started on the 10th tee and posted four-under-par 68s on a sweltering day in Centurion, giving them a one-stroke lead over six golfers on three-under on a congested leaderboard.

Floyd won the Benoni Country Club Ladies Championship aged nine, she finished third in the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Jabra Classic aged 14, and she won the South African Women’s Strokeplay Championship in 2022 before turning professional at the beginning of last year. She has already racked up three more top-10 finishes on tour.

On Wednesday Floyd birdied the 10th, 12th, 17th and 18th holes to go out in 33, and although the front nine proved more challenging, a birdie at the ninth saw her come home in one-under.

Coughlin only took up golf when she was 16 and living in Saudi Arabia, but by the time she was 23 she had a Ladies European Tour card.

The 28-year-old had a dramatic start with three birdies and a bogey in her first four holes, going out in 34 and then making further gains with birdies on the first and fourth holes. Coughlin closed bogey-birdie, as did Hutchinson-Kay and Floyd.

Hutchinson-Kay is a University of Mississippi graduate and she also turned pro last year. The 25-year-old finished just outside the top-10 in the previous Sunshine Ladies Tour event, the SuperSport Ladies Challenge.

On Wednesday, Hutchinson-Key did the bulk of her scoring in a fantastic run of four birdies in five holes from the 14th.

For Floyd, the back nine (her front) was also the time to capitalise.

“Today was a good day, I hit the ball really nicely and gave myself lots of opportunities, which you have to grab when you can. This course definitely suits us big-hitters, it’s always open and you can let go a bit. I was normally hitting seven-iron into the greens,” Floyd said.

“I didn’t give myself as much opportunity on the front nine, but I pulled through in the end, to finish with a tap-in birdie was really nice. I made two silly mistakes that cost me birdies, but that’s okay, you just have to move on. You need to keep level-headed and not get ahead of yourself.”

The Sunshine Ladies Tour golfers showed their talents in impressive fashion on Wednesday at the oblong Blue Valley Golf Estate, despite the heat, with 27 of the 61-strong field finishing under-par. The increased opportunities provided by the tour are clearly paying off, and are attracting strong international competition, and it is thanks to partners like Fidelity ADT.

Wahl Bartmann, the CEO of Fidelity Services Group, said “As Southern Africa’s largest integrated security solutions provider, we are committed to uplifting and supporting women’s professional sport. Our partnership with the Sunshine Ladies Tour allows us to show our support tangibly and help create more opportunities for women in sport.” 

Renier von Zeuner, the Group Sponsorship Manager, added “We have been involved with the SA Open, as well as the Senior Tour, for a number of years, so adding a Sunshine Ladies Tour event to our portfolio is a tremendous privilege. We are honoured to contribute to the work done by the Sunshine Ladies Tour team, and incredibly proud of our group’s commitment to women’s sport.”

A grimly determined Tian Koekemoer batted through most of the opening day of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series match for the KZN Inland Tuskers against the Central Gauteng Lions at the Wanderers on Wednesday, before the home side landed some telling blows late in the day to be the happier of the two teams at stumps.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, KZN Inland closed on 252 for six, but they were 208 for three going into the final hour.

But a fired up Duanne Olivier, operating with the second new ball, had Kagiso Rapulana (24) caught splicing a hook to square-leg, and in his next over, he had Koekemoer caught behind for 90.

You could tell the left-handed Koekemoer, who had produced more than six hours of defiance, was unsettled by the fast bowler switching from over the wicket to around and then back to over again in quick succession, and the 29-year-old just sparred at a delivery that was angled across him and was caught behind. It was a fine innings though by the former Eastern Province player, who faced 265 balls and hit 10 compact boundaries.

With Tshepo Moreki then having Thamsanqa Khumalo caught behind for a duck, the pressure was all on the Tuskers in the closing overs, but Cameron Shekleton (15*) and Malcolm Nofal (11*) collected a couple of boundaries each as they took the visitors to stumps without further loss.

Koekemoer honed his game as part of the highly successful Pretoria University side under Pierre de Bruyn, playing alongside Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi and Theunis de Bruyn. He joined forces on Wednesday with a man from Kimberley who came through the Free State Schools system – Michael Erlank.

The St Andrew’s Bloemfontein product scored a century against North-West in nearby Potchefstroom previously this season, and Erlank looked bound for three figures again as he batted with great tenacity, but with lovely drives through the covers and shots off his legs too, to reach 79. So when he slapped a short-and-wide delivery from Malusi Siboto straight to backward point, he would have tore his hair out if he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

The Lions started well with the ball, reducing the Tuskers to 22 for two in the first hour of play.

Josh Richards should have had the acclamation of a large Wanderers crowd ringing in his ears when he dived full-length in the gully to snap up Yaseen Valli (1) off Olivier’s second over of the day.

Ben Compton (9) then misread the aerodynamics of Moreki’s second delivery of the match and was trapped lbw.

Moreki finished the day with two for 64 in 18 overs, but the pick of the Lions attack was Olivier, who ran in like the wind and claimed three for 39 in 19 tight overs that included seven maidens.

Wessley Madhevere provided a late boost to ensure Zimbabwe got up to 79/5 in their nine overs in their T20 World Cup game against South Africa at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Monday.

The match was reduced to nine overs a side after steady rain delayed the start of play for more than two-and-a-half hours. Zimbabwe had already won the toss and elected to bat first.

Madhevere, who was dropped on 11 by Lungi Ngidi off Keshav Maharaj, was his team’s most effective batsman as he belted 35 not out off just 18 deliveries.

Zimbabwe had come out to bat perhaps a bit too frenetically and very quickly found themselves 19/4, as Wayne Parnell bowled well up front and Ngidi effected a double strike in the third over, removing Regis Chakabva (8) and Sikandar Raza (0).

There was also a run out amidst the chaotic start, David Miller scoring a fine direct hit from cover to remove the experienced Sean Williams (1).

Parnell was the pick of the bowlers, while Anrich Nortje (1/10 in 2 overs) bowled very well at the death. There was a little but of pain though for Kagiso Rabada and Ngidi, as they went for 20 runs in their two overs.

SUN CITY, North-West – Stephen Ferreira held on to top spot on the leaderboard after the third round of the Blue Label Challenge at Gary Player Country Club on Friday, once again not paying for a couple of late bogeys.

Ferreira, who began the penultimate day leading by two points in the modified Stableford event, produced another solid round of golf with a pair of birdies on each nine, taking him to eight points for the day, but then he dropped shots, and points, with bogeys on the last two holes. That left the Zimbabwe resident who plays under the Portuguese flag with six points for his round, taking him to a total of 30 points, still renting out that two-point lead.

Last week’s winner of the Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links, Pieter Moolman, enjoyed a fantastic day with five birdies and an eagle on the par-five fifth giving him 13 points and vaulting him into second place on 28.

Jaco Prinsloo, who is second on the Luno Order of Merit, had an even better day with five birdies and an eagle, and no dropped shots, giving him 15 points for a total of 26 heading into the final round. Jbe’ Kruger, second overnight, had a tough front nine, scoring minus-three, but bounced back after the turn with three birdies to finish with 24 points in total.

The 30-year-old Ferreira hails from Borrowdale Brook Golf Club in Harare and has 10 top-10 finishes from 136 Sunshine Tour events. With more than R1.6 million in prizemoney from those performances, Ferreira will be nearing the R2 million mark if he can hold off what are bound to be stiff challenges from Moolman, Prinsloo and Kruger, and perhaps even youngsters Jayden Schaper and Luca Filippi, who are both on 23 points.