Ken Borland

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – Christiaan Basson has won before in the strong winds of the Eastern Cape in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series, claiming the St Francis Links title in 2015, and the 39-year-old is hoping this week’s event at Humewood Golf Club will be the one in which he “makes it count” and finally throws off the momentum-stopping effects of the Covid pandemic on his career.

Basson had enjoyed his best finish since 2011 on the Sunshine Tour order of merit, inside the top-20 in 2019/20 before Covid hit, and he hasn’t quite been able to recapture the same consistency in the last two seasons. He finished 38^th in 2020/21 and is currently 43^rd in the standings for this season.

The arrival of twins for Basson and his wife last year lessened the blow of his career being disrupted, but he is now itching to get back into contention and try and claim his fifth Sunshine Tour title.

“Yes, Covid definitely disrupted my golf, but it came at a good time for me to help my wife because we had twins just before the virus arrived. So they were in nappies through Covid and it was nice to have that family time together. But in terms of golf it put a bit of a stop on my progress and I haven’t really done well after Covid.

“I was sort of on a high when it hit and since then I haven’t had much opportunity, there haven’t been many big events with all the postponements. I’m positive about my game, it’s trending in the right direction, but I’m also keen to make one or two tournaments really count now,” Basson said.

Born in Strand, raised in Cape Town and now living there as a member of Metropolitan Golf Club, Basson is obviously at home in the strong winds that are expected to buffet the Humewood seaside links with increasing ferocity when the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series tees off on Thursday. But on Tuesday he said even he needed some time to adapt.

“The way I’ve played lately, I wouldn’t say I’m going in full of a lot of confidence, but I’m happy with these conditions and I think it suits my game. It’s been a while since I’ve played in such a strong wind though. You know how to do things in conditions like this, but you still need to get sharp beforehand. You can’t really practise for wind when there is no wind.

“But I like the conditions and the challenge. You’ve just got to be solid around here and keep the big mistakes off your card. You have to accept that you’re going to make one or two bogeys, especially into the wind, and mentally I’ll even swap the par-fours and par-fives around if the long hole is downwind and the par-four is into the wind. You can hardly get there in two sometimes when the par-four is into the wind,” Basson said.

It is a problem though that Basson is well-equipped to solve. He has the knowledge of winning at the St Francis Bay Links 100km west of Humewood and, now in his 15^th season on the Sunshine Tour, he has plenty of experience of coastal conditions.

There are many words to pen about the dominance of the Bulls in the admittedly insular world of Currie Cup rugby, but there just seems to be no stopping the blue juggernaut at Loftus Versfeld as they notched another comfortable win there on Sunday, hammering the Lions 40-21.

They put six tries on the board and their efficiency in all aspects of the game was too much for a willing Lions team. The likes of hooker Johan Grobbelaar and eighthman Elrigh Louw had mighty games, but it was how the side combined as a unit that was most impressive.

While one should deservedly wax lyrical about the Bulls attack, the defence was equally impressive as they fiercely protected their line. It is clear that this Bulls side takes enormous pride in their defence.

The Bulls led 28-14 at halftime, but it was the Lions’ second try that deserves full description because it was an absolute marvel.

The Bulls were hard on attack but Lionel Mapoe’s pass infield from close to the corner flag went to a Lions player. From behind their own goal-line, they launched a counter-attack, fullback Wandisile Simelane stepping his way all the way to the 22. There he found flank Vincent Tshituka, who produced a remarkable display in a well-beaten team. To see Tshituka galloping from 22 to 22 was an amazing sight and he then produced a superb offload in a double-tackle for wing Courtnall Skosan to score.

But the Lions could not add to that score before halftime despite camping in the Bulls’ 22 and throwing the book at them with wave-after-wave of strong carries. Apart from loose forward Arno Botha being yellow-carded as the penalties piled up, the Bulls suffered no loss.

After that the result was assured as they dominated the second half. It took them 15 minutes to crack some staunch Lions defence as well, with flyhalf Johan Goosen cleverly deviating from all the pick-and-goes as he sent a crossfield kick to wing Richard Kriel for a well-taken try.

His older brother David, playing at fullback, put his name on the scorers list six minutes later.

The Bulls are back on top of the log and look in good shape to book their place in the semi-finals some time soon.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Harold Vorster, Zak Burger (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Richard Kriel, David Kriel. Conversions: Johan Goosen (5).

Lions – Tries: Vincent Tshituka, Courtnall Skosan, Sti Sithole. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (3).