Ken Borland

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.

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Having pioneered women playing in a series of Sunshine Tour events, Vodacom have now increased their effort to promote gender equality in golf by giving the ladies playing in the Origins of Golf tournaments a golden opportunity to play in the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series.

Last year’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Series saw women compete with the men in the same tournament for the same R2 million prizemoney for the first time on the Sunshine Tour. This year, starting at the Highland Gate event which begins on Friday, new incentives have been introduced in order to encourage more women to take part in the series.

The response has been immediate, with nine female golfers, more than for any of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series tournaments last year, having entered.

The incentives are based around a new mini order of merit for the ladies who play in at least two of the three regular Vodacom Origins of Golf Series events and the final. The winner of that leaderboard will receive a cash prize, automatic entrance into the 2025 Joburg Ladies Open, co-sanctioned by the LET, and three tournament invites for the Access Series.

The Access Series is the LET’s official development tour and is based in Europe. The top six on the order of merit get cards for the LET, while positions seven to 20 go straight to the final stage of qualifying school.

While the promising Brittney-Fay Berger was able to sparkle in the last two events of the 2023 Vodacom Origins of Golf Series, it was generally tough going for the women with Cara Gorlei, Tara Griebenouw and Zethu Myeki making one cut each.

But to their credit, Vodacom have listened to the concerns of the Sunshine Ladies Tour players and have taken cognisance of the fact that they are breaking new ground and their bold move will take a while to bear fruit.

“We started last year with our effort to bring more women into the game because they don’t get enough tournament opportunities to showcase their talents,” Dr Ntombi Mhangwani, the executive head of Vodacom Business Marketing, says. “But with the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series going to four different regions, it gives our ladies more playing time and more exposure.

“We must remember though that they have not played with the guys before and so we have constant discussions with our partners, the Sunshine Tour and Flooid, about how we can make this initiative better. We are always talking about what worked well and what didn’t, what can we fix?

“The women are not yet competing on an equal footing so we have asked the Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals questions like ‘what courses work for them? How can we partner with you to get you where you want to be in your golf career? The Sunshine Tour has played a central role in pulling all the sponsors together, the whole ecosystem must work together to make this succeed,” Mhangwani says.

Gabrielle Venter, a new star on the Sunshine Ladies Tour having won the Standard Bank Ladies Open, after finishing fifth in the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am and runner-up in the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, admits to being a convert to the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series and the 20-year-old will tee it up with the men at Highland Gate this weekend.

“The incentives definitely made up my mind, getting an Access Series invitation is a big thing because it gives you a chance to play in Europe and get experience over there. And the Joburg Open is a Ladies European Tour event so there are a lot of world ranking points on offer there.

“I was waiting to see how the other ladies did last year in the Vodacom Origins of Golf, and they did pretty well. If you’re going to play but just never make the cut then it’s not worth the R15 000 a week you’ll be paying to compete, what with accommodation and everything,” Venter said.

The Bloemfontein Golf Club representative said Highland Gate was a good venue for the women to play because even though they are not given much advantage in terms of forward tees, it is a course on which most times you have to lay up anyway on the par-fives, so driving distance does not really matter as much.

To lay up and play it safe or to take on the shallow, sloping 18^th green is always the question golfers face at the end of their round at Leopard Creek, and on Sunday young Ryan van Velzen made the wrong choice and paid the price as he let the Alfred Dunhill Championship title slip from his grasp.

Shaun Norris, who was six shots back at the start of the final round, was the beneficiary in Van Velzen’s mental implosion, claiming arguably the most prestigious title of his career, as his tremendous five-under-par 67 took him to 13-under-par for the tournament.

Van Velzen was on 13-under as he reached the final hole, a maiden DP World Tour title in sight in just his third tournament as a fully exempt card-holder on the European circuit. A fantastic drive saw him split the fairway and take advantage of the downhill slope. But then the 23-year-old decided to go for the green with his second shot, and his ball bounced off the firm surface and over the back into the water surrounding the famous island green.

Needing a birdie to win the championship, the sensible play for Van Velzen was surely to lay up down the left of the fairway, opening up a comfortable wedge with lots of green to work with towards the back right pin-location. But instead of having a 15-footer to win, with par enough to put him in a playoff, Van Velzen was left with a high-pressure 15-footer for par just to stay alive in the tournament.

Unfortunately for one of South Africa’s great young talents, the putt slid past the hole and he was left in a tie for second place with John Parry (69) and overnight leader Marcus Kinholt on 12-under-par. Van Velzen shot level-par 72 on Sunday, going out in 34 as he birdied the third, fourth and sixth holes, but also dropped shots on the par-five second and par-three seventh. On the back nine, his error of judgement on the last hole was his second bogey, while the only birdie he could gather as the pressure mounted was on the par-four 14^th.

Norris, meanwhile, was intent on making a charge. The 42-year-old South African eagled the par-five second to immediately climb up the leaderboard. He picked up further birdies on the sixth and eighth holes, but they sandwiched a double-bogey on the par-three seventh, when he landed in the water.

Norris was inspired, however, on the back nine as he birdied the 11^th,13^th and 15^th holes, and then parred his way home in a bogey-free finish. He then had to wait more than an hour to see if his clubhouse lead of -13 would be overtaken.

“I tried to stay calm, just asking my wife how the kids are and what are our dinner plans. I had a target of 14 or 15-under in mind, thinking if I can post that early, then the leaders will have to chase that and the last four or five holes at Leopard Creek are very tricky. But I didn’t think 13-under would be strong enough,” Norris said after winning his second DP World Tour title and his fourth in South Africa.

“Words can’t describe the unbelievable feelings that are going through me. Thanks to God, my wife and my family because this last year has been very tough, with lots of ups and downs, it’s been all over the place. I’m over the moon.

“I stuck to my own thing, I focused on every shot and doing what I needed to do. The good start was massive, it puts you into a nice rhythm and I was very happy with the eagle. But then I made a blunder on seven, but I told myself not to worry about it, just let it happen,” an obviously emotional Norris said.

Angel Ayora, just 20 years old and playing his first season on the DP World Tour, raced to 14-under-par with four birdies in his first five holes. But a bogey on the par-four eighth would portend a troubled back nine. The Spaniard still reached the final hole on 12-under-par though, but was another to choose badly and fall victim to the folly of youth as he too went for the green in two from far back in the fairway, also landing in the water and finishing with a bogey.

That left him in a tie for fifth place with Darius van Driel on 11-under-par. South Africa’s Keenan Davidse produced one of the best rounds of the day, a 68, to finish on 10-under-par, in a tie for seventh with Andy Sullivan (70), Dale Whitnell (71) and Martin Couvra (71).

Helen Kreuzer was able to make the 10ft putt for birdie on the first playoff hole that she had missed shortly before in regulation play on the par-five 18^th, giving the German her first professional title as she won the Fidelity ADT Ladies Challenge at the Blue Valley Golf Estate on Friday.

Kreuzer reached the 72^nd hole on 12-under-par, back-to-back threes on the par-four 16^th and 17^th holes seeing her catch up with Tina Mazarino at the top of the leaderboard. But while the missed putt forced her to settle for par and a playoff with the Norwegian, Kreuzer was then able to take advantage of the wide fairways at the Gary Player design, and went for the green in two after a great drive, which would have pleased him.

“I hit a really good drive on the first playoff hole on 18 and decided to go for it with a three-wood. I was just off the green and I managed to get up-and-down, sinking the putt I missed for birdie during my round,” Kreuzer explained afterwards.

“It’s my first professional win so I feel amazing, the only other thing that comes close is maybe winning the national championship at college with Lynn University.”

With Mazarino producing a brilliant round of 65 to overtake those who had set the pace after the first two rounds, Kreuzer had to play at her best to catch the 23-year-old.

Kreuzer was superb on the front nine, playing in the final group with leader Ellen Hutchinson-Kay, going out in just 30 strokes. She began her round birdie-par-eagle and further birdies on the fifth, eighth and ninth holes saw her grab the lead.

But she then suffered a double setback when she bogeyed the par-four 10^th and 11^th holes.

“I was really on top of my game, hitting the ball close and my putter was hot. Ellen also played really well on the front nine, and it was good to be in the final group with her because that kept me going and I always felt I needed a few more birdies to get ahead of her.

“But then on 10 there was a very tough pin, I hit my approach a little long and bogey was not the end of the world there. And then on 11 a three-foot par putt just lipped out. You then have to tell yourself to stay in the moment and keep playing,” Kreuzer said.

The 25-year-old from Frankfurt certainly showed her mettle with that late pair of birdies.

“I was really excited about playing in the final group and keen to see what the day would bring. It was a great group, we had a lot of fun and all enjoyed ourselves, just taking it shot-by-shot. I was very pleased to pull through for the win. It was a big achievement, and now being able to play in the two Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned events on the Sunshine Tour is what I came for,” Kreuzer said.

While Hutchinson-Kay reached the turn on 11-under, she struggled on the back nine with bogeys on the 11^th and 14^th holes leaving her in third place.

Another German, Verena Gimmy, made a late charge up the leaderboard with a scintillating 64 to finish in a tie for fourth on eight-under-par with compatriot Carolin Kauffmann (69) and leading South African Kiera Floyd (68).

Pretoria Country Club’s Danielle du Toit also had an excellent final day, shooting a 66 to share seventh place on seven-under with Romy Meekers (69) and Ariane Klotz (72), who was second going into the last round.