Ken Borland

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Normally this season when Danie van Tonder has put pressure on the leader in the final round, things have headed south for the frontrunner, but on Friday it was all different as Luke Jerling held his nerve superbly to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour title as he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at Umhlali Country Club.

Jerling fired a fantastic three-under-par 68 on Friday to finish on 13-under-par, beating Van Tonder, who closed with a 70, by four strokes in the end. But their gripping duel was much more closely fought than the final winning margin suggests, with Van Tonder, who began the day two behind, drawing level on the 13^th hole.

The former SA Open champion is also in great form at the moment, having won twice in August.

“It feels unbelievable to have finally won. There were times when I never thought this day would come and you wonder if you can get over the line,” a delighted Jerling said. “I haven’t been in this position for a while and going toe-to-toe with Danie was something I really enjoyed for the whole day.

“And the contest was a lot closer than four strokes, there were momentum swings all through the day. From the get-go, Danie came out firing, driving through a narrow gap and over the bunkers on the first hole. But I stuck to my game-plan, putted nicely on the tough greens and my iron play was solid. I was not overly aggressive.

“I really enjoyed being in contention with Danie. The other times I’ve been in contention, I didn’t really enjoy the moment, it was more a feeling of not wanting to mess up. So that’s testament to the work I’ve been doing with my coach Neil Cheetham. My swing really held up under the gun today and it felt like my day, momentum just seemed to be on my side,” Jerling said.

It was a tricky day out on the sub-tropical south-east African coast, with a strong wind blowing. That wind helped Jerling on the hole which he believed was the most critical to his triumph – the par-four 14^th.

“I made a really good birdie on 12 to go two ahead. But then on 13 the wind took my ball left into the trees. I chipped out sideways and then I thought I hit a good third, but the wind didn’t hit it and I was left with a tricky chip. I made bogey and Danie made birdie so that was another two-shot swing.

“But in retrospect it was actually good that Danie teed off first on 14 because he hit a really good shot and I had no choice but to be aggressive. It was playing 259m to the front edge and it was straight downwind. But three-wood was too much and I was worried that two-iron wouldn’t cover the water or the bunkers. In the end I threaded a two-iron between the bunkers, it was probably my shot of the day, leaving me with a 12-foot eagle putt, which I made.”

Jerling was suddenly three shots ahead when Van Tonder, who missed some crucial shortish putts in the final round, bogeyed the par-four 15^th. The Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer then parred his way in while Van Tonder, still pushing hard, bogeyed the last two holes.

Pieter Moolman, who has done well on this stretch of coastline before, finished third on eight-under-par, five strokes behind Jerling, after a 70 on Friday, while Heinrich Bruiners (69) had to share fourth place on seven-under with amateur Astin Arthur, who completed his outstanding week with a 71.

KATHU, Northern Cape (22 September 2024) – Yurav Premlall was never certain he would win on the Sunshine Tour, but said he was “over the moon” following his maiden triumph at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sishen event on Sunday.

Premlall has been in tremendous form this season, finishing second twice, racking up two third-place finishes and three other top-15 placings, but the Glendower golfer said he did not feel like a breakthrough win was definitely just around the corner.

When Premlall stood on the first tee in the final round on Sunday, he was four strokes behind leader Deon Germishuys. And that rapidly became five behind as he bogeyed the par-four first hole.

But then his precision golf kicked in and Premlall did not drop another shot, while collecting birdies on the second, fifth, eighth, ninth, 11^th, 14^th and 15^th holes. His six-under-par 66 saw him finish on 11-under-par, good enough for a one-stroke victory over Martin Vorster (70 for 10-under-par).

“I’m over the moon,” Premlall said afterwards. “The win felt like a long time coming, but you can never be certain that you are going to win in this game. So to get over the line for the first time is very special. It’s taken lots of hard work to get this far. My frame of mind today was no different to how it’s been before this season. But sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t.

“The start wasn’t ideal, but I just stayed very patient. I hit a couple of shots close to the hole, I holed a few good putts but I missed a few as well; I guess 26 putts and the result speak differently though. But my iron play was phenomenal, every time I was in-position, even when I had to get up-and-down, the ball was in the right spots. I was very tidy around the green,” Premlall said.

Premlall has now overtaken Danie van Tonder at the top of the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and he says staying at the top of the local circuit will be his main focus for the rest of the year.

“At the start of the year I set myself the goal of really contending in the order of merit and trying to get into the top three by the end of the lucrative Tour Championship. I don’t want to have too many eggs in different baskets and you’ll see me a lot more on our tour for the remainder of the year, that’s my focus,” Premlall said.

Vorster started well, with birdies at the second and third holes putting him in the lead. But one could sense bogeys at the par-four seventh and especially the par-five 11^th holes would prove costly. Even though Vorster birdied the 14^th and 15^th holes, so did Premlall and two bogeys to the winner’s one would prove the difference.

Rookie Simon du Plooy enjoyed his best ever Sunshine Tour performance as he shot a 68 to finish third on nine-under-par. The Krugersdorp golfer put himself right in contention with an eagle on the par-five 15^th, but he then double-bogeyed the par-four 16^th to slip back. He was joined in third place by Lyle Rowe, whose 68 was bogey-free.

Germishuys struggled to a 73 on Sunday that left him on eight-under-par, alongside Matthew Spacey and Heinrich Bruiners, who both posted 69s. Malcolm Mitchell stayed on seven-under-par to finish eighth, while rookie Kyle de Beer shot a 71 to finish tied for ninth on six-under-par with the seasoned trio of Van Tonder (67), MJ Viljoen (68) and Neil Schietekat (71).

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.

EDENVALE, Gauteng – Your first professional win is always a momentous occasion, and even for someone who has achieved as much as Cara Gorlei has, it was a special day at Glendower Golf Club on Friday as she claimed the Jabra Ladies Classic title for her maiden triumph.

In the four years that Gorlei has been a pro, she had racked up 11 top-10 finishes and earned more than R600 000 in prizemoney and has also qualified for the Ladies European Tour, before sealing the deal and getting her hands on the trophy by a stroke at Glendower on Friday.

Gorlei was lying second, two shots behind at the start of the final round, and she kept herself in the conversation throughout, even as Stacy Bregman, Moa Folke, Gabriella Cowley and Lisa Pettersson all made a charge, while overnight leader Maiken Bing Paulsen also stayed in contention.

A bogey at the par-three sixth meant the 28-year-old Gorlei was level-par for her round. But she immediately followed that up with birdies on the seventh and eighth holes. Others faltered as Gorlei reached the turn and the pressure of the situation brought out the best in the Capetonian as she was inspired on the back nine. Three birdies in four holes from the 11^th put her in front and she reached the last hole with a two-shot lead, making her bogey on the 18^th all the more palatable.

She still posted her third successive 68 to finish on 12-under-par, one ahead of Pettersson, who shot an outstanding 67 to finish on 11-under.

“I was trying not to think about the lead, until the 11^th, when I started to get a bit nervous. My first win started to play on my mind a little bit and then on 13 I saw on a leaderboard that Lisa Pettersson was right up there with me,” Gorlei said.

“But it just made me focus harder because I realised it was not done yet. I knew I was playing well enough and I just stuck to my routines. Obviously it’s awesome to get the win done and I am really happy that I stayed level-headed.

“I’ve been in two playoffs and lost them both, so it was nice to get the monkey off my back without having to go to another playoff. I have my first pro win and now I can start going,” Gorlei beamed.

In a sign of her mental maturity, Gorlei realised that she may not have had her A-game with her on Friday, so she settled into a prudent approach.

“I struggled a bit off the tee today, which made it quite tough. My game was not in the right place for me to play aggressively; I enjoy playing that way, I like to chase and sneak in from behind, but today I was pretty conservative.

“Different parts of my game showed up at different times. At times my putting really saved me, down the stretch my irons were pretty solid, but they weren’t on the front nine. So it was a little bit of everything that came together,” Gorlei said.

While Pettersson’s 67 was bogey-free as she charged up the leaderboard from four shots off the pace, the other contenders made costly errors.

Folke reached the turn in four-under and was leading, but three bogeys in a row from the 11^th meant her challenge faded and the Swede finished fourth on nine-under-par after a 69.

Bregman also went through the front nine in 32, but bogeys on the par-four 11^th and par-three 14^th saw her fall four strokes short in a tie for fifth on eight-under.

Paulsen, who led after the first and second rounds, was level-par on Friday through eight holes, but she then dropped four strokes to also finish on eight-under, alongside Bregman and Nina Pegova (69).

Cowley was five-under through 13 holes, but then a bogey at the par-five 15^th saw her end in third place on 10-under-par.