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Ken Borland



Hollick avoids prices you pay for inaccuracy with his precise game 0

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Ken

HARARE – The prices you pay for inaccuracy at the Royal Harare Golf Club are steep, but Michael Hollick continues to largely avoid that problem with his precise game taking him to the top of the leaderboard after the third and penultimate round of the FBC Zim Open on Saturday.

Hollick followed up his first two rounds of 66 and 67 with an impressive 68 in the third round, leaving him on 15-under-par and enjoying a one-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round.

The one-time Sunshine Tour winner made a slow start on Saturday, with a bogey on the par-three second meaning he was one-over after four holes. But he then birdied the fifth and sixth holes, and began the back nine birdie-birdie. Hollick followed up a bogey on the par-three 15th with an eagle on the 16th, and then birdied 17 before dropping a shot on the last hole to halve his lead.

“This golf course is very demanding, there’s not a lot of room for error. You have to be accurate, it’s like a game of chess out there,” Hollick said. “The greens are super-quick, probably the fastest we play on all year and they are very firm now after three days.

“They’re also all elevated with run-offs and narrow entrances to the greens, so if you don’t hit your target then you’re unlikely to get up-and-down. But I’m definitely feeling good, the last few months have been good for me and success breeds confidence. My swing and my short game are good and I’m just sticking to my guns,” Hollick said.

While other golfers have found the back nine at Royal Harare Golf Club especially testing, Hollick’s cool and calm approach saw him prosper there on Saturday as he came home in 33 shots, one or two strokes less than anyone else in the top four.

“Of late, I’ve been making a bogey at the start of my round, but I’ve always been able to recover. I’m quite relaxed, so I just carry on, knowing a birdie is probably around the corner.

“On the back nine today, I hit all the fairways, except for 18, and hit some nice irons, which makes it much easier to get those birdies,” Hollick said.

The evergreen Darren Fichardt is the chief challenger to Hollick, his 69 on Saturday lifting him to 14-under-par. The 48-year-old had four birdies and three bogeys, but an eagle at the par-five sixth made all the difference.

Kieran Vincent is the chief home hope on 11-under-par after a 67, leaving him tied for third with Anthony Michael (71). But two more Zimbabweans, Benjamin Follett-Smith and Kieran’s older brother Scott are one shot further back, alongside MJ Viljoen (66).

Follett-Smith fired the low round of the day, a seven-under-par 65, and was five-under at the turn.

Settlers Park Nature Reserve 0

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Ken

 

Settler's Park Nature Reserve - view from the main parking lot.

Settler’s Park Nature Reserve – view from the main parking lot.

The Settlers Park Nature Reserve is situated in the Baakens River Valley in Port Elizabeth and while there are steep cliffs on the northern side of the river, the opposite side provides the opportunity to climb a path into the Eastern Cape Fynbos.

I was making my way up one of the steeper sections when I heard a strident kek kek kek kek repeatedly coming from nearby, which I presumed to be the alarm call of a francolin. So of course, once I had stealthily approached the area the call was coming from, I began looking on the ground, amongst the grasses and shrubs.

And yet I could not spot any francolin … so I began casting my eyes higher up and there, in a low tree, sat the most unexpected source of the ongoing call, continuing to badger me for daring to invade its space.

A Peregrine Falcon which had possibly flown across from the cliffs on the other side of the river on a hunting foray and was now complaining at me in persistent fashion, perhaps because it had not been a successful trip. After some minutes the magnificent, endangered predator gave me one last glare with its large, ruthless eyes and then took off to head back towards the cliffs.

The Peregrine Falcon is often seen along the valley but it was still a very pleasant surprise to see one perched and being so vocal.

Plenty of other birds frequent the pools, reeds and bush around the Baakens River and, upon descending from the main car park there was lots of activity around one of the drifts across the river. Cape Wagtail and Streakyheaded Canary were bathing and then flew into the protection of a tree next to the water, while Malachite Kingfisher disappeared down the river in a flash of ultramarine blue.

Southern Red Bishop and Southern Masked Weaver were busy in the reeds, while Levaillant’s Cisticola was more secretive but present in good numbers. Bronze Mannikin were also attracted to the water, while the deeper pools boasted Reed Cormorant, Egyptian Goose, Grey and Blackheaded Heron.

Being the Eastern Cape, there is obviously valley bushveld around and these thickets held Olive Thrush, with a juvenile deeply concealed, Speckled Mousebird, Blackeyed Bulbul, Barthroated Apalis, Knysna Lourie and Sombre Bulbul.

The more open areas on the hilltops feature clumps of bush and Fiscal Flycatcher, Fiscal Shrike and Pintailed Whydah can be seen here, while Kelp Gull and Cape Crow fly overhead.

A Small Grey Mongoose was seen darting across one of the paths on the hillside and, on the return back up the hill to the main car park, just waiting quietly brought a Forest Canary at close quarters.

Where is Settlers Park Nature Reserve?

Sightings list

Olive Thrush

Reed Cormorant

Laughing Dove

Forktailed Drongo

Southern Red Bishop

Southern Masked Weaver

Cape Wagtail

Streakyheaded Canary

Malachite Kingfisher

Fiscal Flycatcher

Peregrine Falcon

Kelp Gull

Fiscal Shrike

Cape Crow

Speckled Mousebird

Blackeyed Bulbul

Levaillant’s Cisticola

Barthroated Apalis

Small Grey Mongoose

Knysna Lourie

Egyptian Goose

Grey Heron

Bronze Mannikin

Sombre Bulbul

Blackheaded Heron

Pintailed Whydah

Forest Canary

 

Amla shining like a diamond in the gloom 0

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Ken

Hashim Amla’s skill was shining like a diamond in the Centurion gloom as his unbeaten half-century gave South Africa a solid platform on a SuperSport Park pitch on which steep bounce made batting hard in the fifth Momentum One-Day International against the West Indies on Wednesday.

Amla had moved to 54 not out off 52 balls, taking South Africa to 114 for two after 21 overs, midway through their innings in a match reduced to 42 overs a side due to rain.

The West Indies had won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bowl first after bad weather wiped out two-and-a-half hours of play, and their pacemen were able to extract awkward bounce, some of it inconsistent, to trouble the South African top-order.

Cross-batted leg-side shots cost both Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis their wickets, while Rilee Rossouw was enjoying a few lives as he battled to 24 not out off 40 deliveries with just one boundary.

De Kock, playing his first game for the Proteas since doing his ankle ligaments at the same ground in mid-December, had just one scoring stroke, a lofted square-drive for four off Sheldon Cottrell, before Jason Holder removed him with his third delivery of the match.

De Kock tried to pull a shortish delivery away on the leg-side but could only splice the ball, sending a simple catch looping on the off-side.

Du Plessis hung around for 27 balls, hitting two fours, as he and Amla added a run-a-ball 53 for the second wicket, before Andre Russell banged one in head-high, a top-edged hook landing in fine leg’s hands. South Africa’s T20 captain was out for 16.

Rossouw, the ultimate in feast or famine batting it seems, came to the crease in the 11th over in the number four position, the return of De Kock having shifted him out of the opening berth.

The left-hander was not always fluent at the crease, but he enjoyed some of the luck which has previously not been with him in the 13 other innings of his ODI career.

Seamer Carlos Brathwaite was the best of the West Indian bowlers, joining the attack in the ninth over and immediately dropping the run-rate with a tight line on the off stump, just 18 runs coming from the 26-year-old’s six-over spell.

 http://citizen.co.za/316612/amla-shines-centurion/

De Villiers comfortable with all that’s asked of him 0

Posted on November 03, 2014 by Ken

As coach Gary Kirsten pointed out, the South African cricket team asks a lot of AB de Villiers: captain, wicketkeeper and number four batsman. But as De Villiers steered South Africa to a series win over Pakistan at Willowmoore Park in Benoni with a tremendous 95 not out off 111 balls on a difficult pitch with variable bounce, much of it steep and disconcerting, it became increasingly clear that he is comfortable with all the responsibility.

De Villiers’ knock on Sunday was his third half-century of the five-match series, to go with his superb century last weekend at the Wanderers, taking his tally for the series to a staggering 367 runs. It made him the obvious choice as man of the series and, having won the same accolade after the Tests, it’s fair to say De Villiers has never batted better, despite the increased burdens.

“I’m enjoying my batting. I’m just trying to keep it simple; I have a straightforward game plan – good intensity and good energy at the crease – and I’m just focusing on keeping still and really watching the ball,” De Villiers said with typical modesty.

While it’s easy to mock South Africa’s past record at ICC events, there is no doubt they will once again be amongst the favourites at the Champions Trophy in England in June.

They will clearly rely hugely, once again, on De Villiers as their greatest ODI match-winner, but they should also be a stronger outfit than the team that was not entirely convincing in edging Pakistan 3-2 on home soil. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will all play key, bigger roles than they did against Pakistan.

Kirsten confirmed that he had been leaning on Kallis to make himself available and he is confident the great all-rounder will be having another go at getting his large hands on an ICC trophy.

“Jacques is not going to play ODI cricket for us anymore, but we reserve the right to use him as a wildcard in big tournaments, and the Champions Trophy is the last ICC event before the next World Cup. So I sidled up to Jacques at a good moment and asked him if he’d be interested in playing, and he said he probably was,” Kirsten said.

Kallis is bound to slot straight back into the number three spot in England and will also give the team the sixth bowler, which is imperative at ODI level.

With South Africa’s premier all-rounder returning to action, where does that leave Ryan McLaren?

McLaren will have some wonderful yarns to tell his grandchildren after a renaissance summer for the 30-year-old in which he shone in successive series wins over New Zealand and Pakistan. He took 10 cheap wickets at an economy rate of 4.45 against the sub-continental side, while he played a couple of crucial innings against the Black Caps and took eight wickets in three matches.

“It’s important for us to look for a new guy to step into Jacques’ place and Ryan has now had a bit of a run. He has shown he has the skills to do the job with the ball and I’m confident he can do a job with the bat too. He’s now displaying his skills in a relaxed manner and has had two fantastic series,” Kirsten said.

The coach stressed that the air’s notoriously thinner at international level, so one of the major positives from the summer was the way “fringe” players like McLaren, Farhaan Behardien, David Miller, Colin Ingram and Rory Kleinveldt stepped up and performed.

“There’s a lot less pressure at domestic level but everyone expects players to make a play straight away at international level. If they haven’t produced the goods after two games then they say they’re not good enough.

“But I’m very pleased that guys like Behardien, Miller, McLaren, Ingram and Kleinveldt have all had an impact and have shown they’re capable of playing at international level. We’ve created some depth and it’s important for us to find other players. I’m excited by the development of those fringe players,” Kirsten said.

As much as traditionalists (myself included) dislike the idea of De Villiers being captain, wicketkeeper and the key batsman, there is no doubt it seems to have brought out the best of one of the most extraordinarily talented cricketers in the world.

“AB has made great strides as captain and this has been a very significant series for him. His batting has been outstanding and his wicketkeeping continues to develop. Plus he had a couple of great games as captain, he’s done a fantastic job as skipper. It obviously takes time to develop as an international captain,” Kirsten said.

There have been some suggestions that there has been a lack of focus on limited-overs cricket from the current Proteas management, but Kirsten assured that the eyes of the coaching staff are firmly on the Champions Trophy. Winning that would obviously help lift the monkey on their back when it comes to World Cups.

“We’re trying to bring in a similar culture to the Test team, but there’s a different focus and we don’t even talk about the Tests. We’ve made good strides against a great team in this series and it’s been a good stepping-stone to where we want to go.

“Now it will be a good time to reflect and work out how we can win the Champions Trophy and I’m very excited about the team we can put together,” Kirsten said.

Kirsten confirmed that the addition of another world-class spinner in Johan Botha was not on the cards, but South Africa’s pace bowlers will obviously enjoy performing in the seam and swing of English conditions.

But that is also when the leadership and mettle of De Villiers will have its first major test. But, as he showed again in conquering the fearsome Pakistan attack on a tricky Willowmoore Park pitch, De Villiers is not one to shy away from a challenge.

– http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-03-25-as-easy-as-abde-v/#.VFdqZ_mUde8

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    John 14:20 – “On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

    All the effort and striving in the world, all the good works and great sacrifices, will not help you to become like Christ unless the presence of the living Christ is to be found in your heart and mind.

    Jesus needs to be the source, and not our own strength, that enables us to grow spiritually in strength, beauty and truth.

    Unless the presence of Christ is a living reality in your heart, you will not be able to reflect his personality in your life.

    You need an intensely personal, more intimate relationship with Christ, in which you allow him to reveal himself through your life.

     

     



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