SUN CITY – Martin Rohwer is eager to start the new season well and get up the order of merit as soon as he can, and the four-time Sunshine Tour winner surged to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City on Wednesday.
Rohwer, who began his round with an eagle on the par-five 10th, fired a five-under-par 67 at the Gary Player Country Club on Wednesday to claim a one-stroke lead after the first day of the third event so far this season.
The Kloof Country Club member hit a 270m drive on the 505m 10th and then hit a hybrid just short of the green, from where he sank his chip for the eagle-three. He birdied the next par-five, the 14th, and then gathered three successive birdies on the 18th, 1st and 2nd holes. His final birdie came on the par-four sixth, while he only dropped two shots, making fives on the par-four 13th and eighth holes.
“Obviously it was a great start, chipping straight up the hill into the hole for an eagle on my first, and I played some solid golf after that too,” Rohwer said. “It was a very cold morning, but then it warmed up and there was really not much wind, it was a lovely benign day.
“I drove the ball really well today, which is obviously a big advantage at Gary Player Country Club because then your second shots are not too difficult. This course does suit my game, I won the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final here in 2022 and last year I had a chance to win this event before finishing third. It’s a fader’s course and I fade the ball off the tee.
“I’m just trying to get up The Courier Guy Order of Merit early doors this season and then I will work on my swing during the break later this month,” Rohwer said.
Rohwer was one stroke ahead of Lyle Rowe and Werner Deyzel, who shot four-under-par 68s.
In stark contrast to Rohwer, Deyzel started his round with a bogey on the par-four first hole and then a double-bogey at the par-five second. But instead of responding with bile, the 24-year-old Deyzel summoned brilliance and played his next 16 holes in a remarkable seven-under-par. He also eagled the 10th and made five birdies.
Zimbabwe’s Stuart Krog, who first came to prominence in 2014 with his tenacious performances in the World Junior Golf Series, shining alongside the most promising Brazilian, South African, Irish, Scandinavian and American talent, was on three-under-par 69 alongside Estiaan Conradie and Sweden’s Fredrik From.
Johannes Veerman (right) with the Nedbank Golf Challenge trophy, alongside tournament patron Gary Player. Photo: Grant Leversha, Nedbank Golf Challenge
Johannes Veerman produced inspired golf on the final day of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Sunday, but even then his eventual victory had a touch of the miraculous about it, with the 32-year-old himself expressing his amazement.
Veerman shot a 69, one of just four sub-70 rounds on the final day, to finish on five-under-par 283. He was in the tie for seventh, five shots off the lead, at the end of the third round. But no-one else on that score or above him on the leaderboard was able to shoot less than 71 and Veerman came from nowhere to claim the prestigious title.
“What just happened?!” Veerman said in his press conference after lifting the famous crystal trophy on the 18th green, presented by tournament patron Gary Player. “My mindset after posting five-under was that at best I would have to go out again for a playoff, but I was thunderstruck when I heard I didn’t have to.
“I really look up to players like Max Homa and Mackenzie Hughes, and Gary Player of course, to be in the same field as them is a dream come true because I respect them so much. But to actually win, you have to pinch me, how did I do that? It’s crazy!,” Veerman said.
For the player born in Orange County, California, the win is his first outside of Europe, having won the Czech Masters in 2021. Veerman has always prioritised playing on the DP World Tour, and his journey towards fulfilling all his golfing dreams has been a fascinating one.
The son of a Dutch father who worked for a multinational oil and gas company, Veerman lived his early life in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, China, England and the United States. His mother is Indonesian.
He went to university at Tulsa and at Texas A&M, but he is one of the few American golfers who clearly have a global view of the game. Homa, who was the defending champion, is another.
But it was while the family were living in Berkshire, England that Veerman’s life changed. He was nine years old when father Jan took him to watch the PGA Championship at Wentworth. Johannes was enchanted and immediately decided to take up golf.
His talent for the game was obvious and he returned to the U.S. to play college golf. Except being a professional golfer was still not his first love. Following a mishap when a firework accident nearly blew off his thumb, Veerman was so impressed by the work of the surgeons who repaired the damage that he decided he wanted to be a doctor.
That only changed when his fellow pre-med students at Texas A&M said playing golf would surely be a better option.
And that ‘career change’ certainly seems to have paid off as Veerman now has his second professional victory, and a famous title that carried a winner’s cheque of more than a million dollars.
“To win Africa’s Major – I can now put that on my Instagram and call it the fifth Major! – means a lot because my family has sacrificed so much for me. My wife sold her business and now we travel with a one and a two-year-old, so it’s a lot of work being on the road all year. So this is really satisfying.
“I’ve played the majority of my golf in Europe and Asia but my first priority has been the European Tour. So I remember Ernie Els and Retief Goosen winning here, I was a very big fan of them and always wondered what it would be like playing on this iconic course.
“I was kinda lurking all week, so to walk away with the trophy feels amazing. I could not believe how big the grandstands were on 18 when I played a practice round and the crowds have been amazing. I think it helps that I have a name like ‘Johannes Veerman’, so it feels a bit like home advantage!
“This week has also been great fun with all the functions and meeting really fun people. We had a fireworks show, dinner in the bush and just so much fun because the support of the crowds is amazing and just the whole environment is great.
“Sun City compares with anywhere in the world and the Gary Player Country Club is absolutely a premier golf course. All the greens look like clovers so there are little nooks. Nowhere else in the world do you get that plus the wind and heat we’ve had every day. They call this place the ‘Caddy Graveyard’ because the wind just switches all the time.
“The closing stretch especially is so difficult, and I knew that if I could par my way in then I might have a chance. It’s an incredible test of golf and you have to stay so patient. It tests every club in your game, but not just your equipment, also your attitude and your grit.
Although the married father of two clearly wants to experience the wonderful whole wide world of golf, he admits that eventually a return home to play on the U.S. PGA Tour is clearly a goal.
“I could play on the DP World Tour forever and I love playing in Europe, and of course now in South Africa. I’m obviously coming back to Sun Coty, forever at this point, and winning this tournament is the biggest bang at the start of the season that I could have hoped for.
“But I would also love to play on the PGA Tour and this is such a big step in that direction. All my family are over in the U.S. and with decisions about daycare and schools coming up in a few years, obviously I would be nearer to my kids if I play in America,” Veerman said.
Having won the toughest Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1990 when David Frost claimed his second title with a four-under-par tally of 284, the outlook is good for Veerman, who has now gone to the top of the Race to Dubai rankings, to finish in the top-10 of the order of merit and gain a PGA Tour card.
SUN CITY, North-West – This year’s SuperSport Ladies Challenge at Sun City from Wednesday has been moved from the Gary Player Country Club to Lost City, and Tandi McCallum reckons that is a boost for her chances, even though she finished runner-up in this event at GPCC in 2020.
That year, McCallum was edged out in a playoff by Lejan Lewthwaite, but the Johannesburger won the Sun International Ladies Challenge at Lost City in 2014.
“I’ve actually done better at Lost City, I won there in 2014 and I prefer it to the Gary Player Country Club, which I know a lot of connoisseurs will frown on. I just enjoy being there, it suits my eye and it rewards golfers who hit it very straight and putt well,” McCallum said.
“Lost City demands that you be a bit more strategic, it’s very firm on the side of the mountain and the undulating fairways mean you have got to be in good positions. The key is to be on the fairways, but they are so hard that you can’t overpower the course. I find Gary Player Country Club has more generous fairways.”
Fortunately for much of the field playing in the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, they will be coming from the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am at Fancourt, which required some advanced golfing skills and would have battle-hardened the Sunshine Ladies Tour contingent.
McCallum played solidly enough to finish in a tie for 13th on 10-over-par, the winning score being Kylie Henry’s three-under-par 213. The Scotswoman is teeing it up again at Lost City, but many of the other European golfers have moved on to the Ladies European Tour, which has an event in Morocco starting on Thursday.
“I didn’t play super-well on day three when there were fantastic conditions but a very challenging set-up,” McCallum said. “But it was good to shake off any rust and I was very happy to make the cut.
“It’s great for us South Africans to be able to compare ourselves with the international players, but this week there is an overlapping LET event. Generally our tour has international players who don’t have full cards in Europe, so if they get a start over there then they will take it. But we will still have a very competitive field at Lost City.”
Veteran Lee-Anne Pace, who charged up the leaderboard on the final day at Fancourt to finish second, will be looking to go one better this week and LPGA star and 2022 SuperSport Ladies Challenge winner Paula Reto is also in the field.
A young up-and-coming talent to watch is 19-year-old Gabrielle Venter, who finished tied-fifth at the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, her best ever Sunshine Ladies Tour result.
Hot weather and the ball flying for miles is always the norm at Sun City, but Belgium’s Thomas Detry managed to master the different conditions in this year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge and soar into a share of the lead after the third round with back-to-back 67s on Saturday.
Heavy showers on Friday meant the second round could only be completed on Saturday morning, with the golfers then only having a half-hour break before heading out again for their third rounds. Although there was occasional drizzle on Saturday, mercifully there was no disruption to play with the rain not nearly as heavy as forecast.
Detry began his round on the 10th and immediately gathered back-to-back birdies and then another shot on the par-five 14th. His next birdie came via a lengthy, curling putt on the par-three fourth, and he then finished his round in superb style with three successive birdies from the seventh to the ninth holes. The 29-year-old dropped two shots, on the 17th and sixth holes, both par-fours.
His tremendous finish lifted him to nine-under-par for the tournament, the mark Rasmus Hojgaard got to on a sensational run that saw him eagle the famous ninth hole and pick up birdies on the par-five 10th and par-three 12th holes. The exciting Dane then parred his way home to shoot another 69, just as he did in the first two rounds.
Detry is a leading player on both the DP World and U.S. PGA Tours, and so he has had to learn to be adaptable, especially when it comes to the considerable travel demands and the different courses and conditions he has to handle. It is no surprise then that an unusual day at the Gary Player Country Club did not catch him offguard.
“With all the rain, the course is playing longer. We’re used to hitting Driver 330 metres and seven-iron over 220, but with the colder weather, we’re now hitting five or six iron and I think that surprised some of the players a little,” Detry said.
“It’s also wetter so the rough can be a bit harder to get out of, so it is easy to drop shots here and there. It’s usually hot, so the course is playing much longer than we’re used to.
“The travel between tours is tough, but I really wanted to make these last two events on the DP World Tour, so I flew from Mexico on Sunday night and only arrived here on Tuesday night.
“I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, so to be able to rest most of Friday was massive for me to play 27 holes today so consistently. Getting a lot of rest and eating a lot of food out there gave me energy,” Detry said.
South Africans Branden Grace and Thriston Lawrence are both just one shot off the pace heading into the final round. Lawrence had the lowest score of the third round with a brilliant seven-under 65 and, starting his round on the 10th, he had three successive birdies from the 13th and then another two back-to-back on 18 and the first hole. The 2021 Joburg Open champion completed a bogey-free front nine with two more birdies on the sixth and ninth holes.
Grace lifted himself into contention with a brilliant 67 on Saturday morning, and then struck the ball beautifully again in the third round, but a cold putter meant he had to settle for a one-under 71. But he is in hot form and has the confidence of his 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge triumph to bolster him.
Colossians 3:13-14 – “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have; forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together.”
“When the Holy Spirit lives in you, you reflect the qualities of Christ in your life. Love and courtesy are basic characteristics of the Christian life. … If Chris lives in you, you will be kind and patient toward others.
“A person who is truly courteous is humble, … His attitude is the same regardless of whether he is talking to kings or beggars. He treats everyone alike, no matter what race, colour or creed they are. He rejoices in making the path through life easier for others to travel.
“It is impossible to say that you love and serve God while at the same time treating your neighbour with contempt and disrespect.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm
