Ken Borland

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).

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Darkness fell over Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate at a terrible time for the leaders in the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, with Louis Albertse, Kyle de Beer and Louis de Jager all being within two shots of each other with three holes left when play was suspended on Friday.

The start of play was delayed on Friday morning due to frost on the greens, and although the weather soon improved into a lovely, warm sunny day, the backlog meant the last dozen three-balls were not able to finish their opening rounds.

But Albertse played some awesome golf in the 15 holes he did get in, storming to nine-under-par with seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth hole. The three-time Sunshine Tour winner, who played some fine golf in winning the pro-am that preceded the R2 million professional event, was taking an awful toll on the back nine before the sun set on his charge. Albertse birdied four of the first five holes after the turn.

De Beer, currently leading the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings, was on eight-under-par. The 26-year-old started his round on the 10^th and made a hat-trick of birdies from the 11^th hole, before bogeying the par-five 14^th. But De Beer bounced back superbly with an eagle on the par-five 18^th and further birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth holes.

The experienced De Jager birdied four of his first five holes, with a bogey on the par-three third, and had just collected his second birdie of the back nine, on the 15^th, to go to seven-under-par when play was called off for the day.

Another seasoned campaigner, Jacques Blaauw, had a marvellous start to his round, going four-under after six holes. He could only collect two more birdies thereafter, but a six-under 66 was still enough for a share of the clubhouse lead and continues his stunning season thus far as he is top of the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Nikhil Rama also shot a splendid 66, while it was also a good day for a quartet of up-and-coming stars in Kyle McClatchie, Englishman Joe Long, Luke Brown and Martin Rohwer, who all completed their rounds on five-under-par.

Three of the nine Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals who are competing in this Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event are in line to make the cut. Young Gabrielle Venter led the way for the women on Friday with a one-under-par 71, while Lora Assad was one-over and Danielle du Toit shot two-over 74.

The completion of the first round and the start of the second round will take place concurrently on Saturday, with the action resuming at 7.10am.

DURBAN (July 13, 2024) – Victorious Ireland coach Andy Farrell said he did not care apropros the debate around which team is the best in the world following his side’s dramatic 25-24 win over world champions South Africa in the second Test at Kings Park on Saturday.

Farrell instead highlighted the character of his team after replacement flyhalf Ciaran Frawley kicked two long-range drop goals in the last 10 minutes, including one on the final hooter, to snatch a series-levelling win. It was just the second time Ireland have won a Test in South Africa.

Ireland led 16-6 at halftime after a superb first-half display in which they dominated the Springboks with great physicality and high-intensity rugby. The home team came back strongly in the second half and flyhalf Handre Pollard kicked six penalties to put them 24-19 ahead after 65 minutes.

But Ireland then fought back at the death to end their season on a high.

“As far as drama goes and with the pressure we put on ourselves because we were not happy with last week’s performance, this result is right up there because it came against a magnificent team,” Farrell said. “We had to come out and perform and the character of the team came through. That’s what sport is all about.

“It’s been a 13-month season for these lads but you wouldn’t think it after tonight, and when you play for Ireland, there are no excuses. Our tussles with South Africa have been immense and we had to show guts, bravery and composure tonight. Our first half was outstanding, as good as it gets, but in the second half we made enough mistakes to last us three games. It was a complete role-reversal from last week.

“I honestly don’t care who the best team in the world is. You would not want to separate these two teams and there are probably three or four other countries who come into the conversation. World rugby is in a good state when we have this sort of competition,” Farrell said.

Having won the first Test in Pretoria 27-20 last weekend, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was humble in defeat on Saturday, praising Ireland as a quality side who deserved their victory.

“It was a very well executed drop goal that made the difference, but I’m not surprised because that’s what Ireland do, it’s why they are such a consistent team. The best team won on the day and I thought the referee [Karl Dickson] was good tonight as well.

“We fought back from a long way, but Ireland were better than us at the end when it mattered. But if that drop goal had missed then we would have been sitting here with big smiles and talking about what a good comeback to win the series 2-0,” Erasmus said.

While South Africa scored three tries in the first Test, all their points on Saturday came via eight penalties by Pollard, and Erasmus said their attack missed the direction and authority of experienced fullback Willie le Roux, who was concussed in the second minute.

“Our attack functions better with Willie there, with his vision and feel for the game and the way he links the two centres and wings very well. We lost one specific player and a lot of attacking ability with that because we build our attack around him. So our game became very stop-start,” Erasmus said.

HARARE – Jaco Ahlers has admitted to some frustration over how his 2024 has gone so far, but the 41-year-old put all that aside on Thursday as he roared around the Royal Harare Golf Club in seven-under-par to seize the lead after the first round of the FBC Zim Open.

Ahlers began the year with three missed cuts in his first four events spread between the Sunshine and Asian tours, but a runners-up finish in March in the Stella Artois Championship, finishing just a stroke behind winner Heinrich Bruiners at Dainfern, marked a change in fortunes. Since then he finished tied-10^th at the Saudi Open and was tied-13^th in the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions powered by Attacq last weekend at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington’s East Course.

On Thursday, Ahlers was in sublime form as he started his 2024/25 Sunshine Tour campaign in rampant fashion on the 10^th hole and reeled off three straight birdies to get his brilliant round of 65 going. He picked up another shot on the par-four 17^th and then eagled the par-five third hole. Although the world number 354 then bogeyed the fourth, he sealed a one-stroke lead with birdies on the seventh and eighth holes.

“It’s always nice to start that way, especially on the back nine here at Royal Harare, which is tougher, especially the greens, which are all raised,” Ahlers said.

“It’s difficult playing in this mid-year period because I play on the Asian Tour as well and that runs from January to December. This year has not been as good as I would have liked, but you just need to go on from there and today was a step in the right direction.

“Royal Harare suits me, it’s an old colonial course with big trees and dog-legs. The only way to play it is to be patient and not too aggressive,” Ahlers, who was tied-second in last year’s FBC Zim Open and fourth in 2022, said.

The highlight of Ahlers’ round was when he capitalised on a good drive on the 475m third hole and sent a searing six-iron to within six feet of the hole and sank the putt for eagle.

Michael Hollick is alone in second place on six-under-par after a 66 on Thursday. The Mount Edgecombe golfer reached the turn in one-under, but scorched through the back nine in just 31 strokes, with three successive birdies from the 11^th hole, and further gains on the 16^th and 18^th holes.

There is a strong chasing pack of five golfers on five-under-par, comprising seasoned winners Jacques Blaauw and Darren Fichardt, Zimbabwe’s own Scott Vincent, the experienced Anthony Michael and former University of North Texas college golfer Jason Roets.