Boy I love South Africa and one of my favourite parts of the country is the Eastern Cape. I spent the last few days in Gqeberha. I get to stay in the Courtyard Hotel which overlooks the ocean which is a real treat for a Pretoria boy. Secondly, the tournament was played on one of my favourite courses in South Africa, Humewood.
Now, Humewood and I have a long and complicated relationship. As a 16-year old I won the SA Amateur Strokeplay here, shooting an 89 in the second round. The wind was malicious that day. Guys were putting off greens. I had a 5-putt. The defending champion was Bob Williams who shot a 99.
Unfortunately I never played a professional tournament at Humewood during my prime. I would have loved to test myself, especially in windy conditions. When they played the last SA Open at Humewood the members were really upset because the weather was brilliant. Hardly any wind and as they said: “We wish the pros could play the course in the wind like we do every Saturday.”
Well they got more than they bargained for when the fourth round of the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship was called off due to raging winds. I can just hear the members saying, “Why? We play in that wind every weekend.”
The Sunshine Tour moves just down the road this week to St Francis Links for the SDC Championship, which is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, so it should be an exciting field. |
| Billy Casper won more than 50 tournaments on the PGA Tour between 1950 and 1970, including the US Open in 1959 and 1966, and the Masters in 1989. He was the biggest money winner on the PGA Tour in 1966 and 1968. |
Arnold Mentz, a long-time member of the PGA passed away last week. Arnold joined the PGA of South Africa in 1991 and during his tenure he was the professional at Southbroom Golf Club and at Stellenbosch Golf Club. In 1996 he became the Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour for a few years and he was also on the Board of the SADGB.
| Arnold Mentz with O'Brian Barber |
He spent the last few years back in KZN coaching golf, probably his favourite pastime. He had been fortunate enough to spend some of his early years learning from David Leadbetter.
My condolences to his family and friends. |
| DP World Tour keeps churning out great ideas |
| Check out the “behind the scenes” of the advert featuring Tommy Fleetwood and Brandon Baum: |
| After his ball found the water, Matt Wallace stuck with his commitment to do a walk and talk interview which was really interesting content. |
OG Molefe had a hole-in-one yesterday at Leopard Creek. Playing a round after the African Amateur Championship he holed out on the 12th hole.
OG has become an absolute golf nut. The man that hosts golf for Supersport cannot get enough. He soaks up all aspects of the game like a sponge. Well done OG. We are proud that you have now joined the most exclusive club in golf. |
 |
- After losing his card at the end of the last season and winning it back at Q-School, Darius van Driel then won his first DP World Tour title at the Magical Kenya Open at the Muthaiga GC in Nairobi. He started the final round tied for the lead and made birdie at the last for a 4-under par 67. He won by two over Joe Dean and Nacho Elvira at 14-under. Manuel Elvira (Nacho's brother), Matthew Jordan and Adrian Otaegui tied for third at 11-under. Deon Germishuys tied for 9th at 9-under and a great week for Ryan van Velzen on the DP World Tour. He tied for 11th at 8-under, in the same group as Jacques Kruyswijk. Thriston Lawrence tied for 19th at 7-under and Thomas Aiken finished in a large group tied for 23rd at 6-under. Congrats to Ronald Rugumayo who, thanks to a birdie at the last, became the first Ugandan golfer to make the cut at the Kenya Open since it first started back in 1967. He shot rounds of 71 & 73 over the weekend to finish at 2-over. Watch him making the cut here.
- Rookie Jake Knapp won his first PGA Tour title in just his fifth start of the season at the Mexico Open at Vidanta at Vallarta. After a third round 63 he held a four-shot lead going into Sunday and despite struggling to a level par 71 he won by two over Sami Valimaki at 19-under. Stephen Jaeger; CT Pan and Justin Lower tied for third at 14-under. Erik van Rooyen tied for 8th at 12-under.
- Patty Tavatanakit had her second LPGA win in two weeks, this one at the Honda LPGA Thailand on the Old Course at the Siam CC. She held a three-shot lead entering Sunday and shot a 67 to claim a win on home soil at 21-under par. Albane Valenzuela finished second, one shot back after a stellar back nine that included six birdies in her last eight holes on route to a 63 - she had 19 putts on Sunday. Sei Young Kim and Hye-Jin Choi tied for third at 18-under after shooting rounds of 65 & 66 respectively.
- Bronte Law won her third LET title at the Lalla Meryem Cup on the Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco. A final round 9-under 64 vaulted her to the top of the leaderboard and saw her win by three at 13-under. Paulin Roussin-Bouchard finished second while overnight leader Maria Fassi (who shot a 76) tied for third at 9-under alongside Fatima Fernandez Cano. Casandra Alexander tied for 13th at 3-under and Nicole Garcia tied for 24th at 1-under.
- Sweden's Bjorn Akesson was declared the winner of the Sunshine Tour's Nelson Mandela Bay Championship at Humewood after brutal wind caused the final round to be canceled. The third round was delayed on Saturday too, with the leaders only teeing off at 18h11. They came out on Sunday to complete that round, after which the Tour called off the event. Akesson had shot rounds of 63-67 & 68 to win at 18-under, one clear of Lee Slattery. Hayden Hopewell finished third at 16-under.
- India's Tvesa Malik notched up her first pro win outside of India, at the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International at the Lost City Golf Club. She started the final round tied for the lead with Paula Reto (the winner in 2022), and shot a solid 1-under 71 to finish at 9-under. She won by three over Gabrielle Venter, while Reto finished third at 5-under. Lee-Anne Pace, England's Amy Taylor and Germany's Helen Kreuzer tied for fourth at 4-under.
- Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez won the Champions Tour's Trophy Hassan at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco. He shot a final round 3-under 70, which included four birdies in a row from the 13th, to win by one over Thomas Bjorn, at 10-under. Overnight co-leader Y.E. Yang finished tied for third at 7-under alongside Mark Hensby. Adilson da Silva tied for 18th at 1-over. Fellow Argentinian Angel Cabrera was back playing in his first competitive event and finished tied for 27th at 2-over.
- Mexico's Carlos Ortiz won the Asian Tour's International Series Oman at the Al Mouj Golf Club. He made seven birdies on Sunday on route to his final round 65 and won at 19-under, four shots clear of Louis Oosthuizen, who shot a 69. Joaquin Niemann finished third at 14-under and Maverick Antcliff and Mito Perreira tied for fourth at 13-under. Peter Uihlein finished sixth at 12-under. Scott and Kieran Vincent tied for 18th at 7-under and Branden Grace tied for 27th at 3-under. Did you see Uihlein's par save from the beach on Friday? He pulled his tee shot left onto the beach and his second shot wasn't much better. It ended up short and left of the green, but then he managed to hole his putt from there for a par. Watch here.
- Greg Woodbridge won the Boland Senior Open at Paarl Golf Club. The Atlantic Beach golfer shot two rounds of 69 to win at 6-under 138 and won by four over Kobus Engelbrecht. Paul Baatjies was third at level par.
- What a superb finish to the inaugural African Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek. Altin van der Merwe narrowly missed making eagle at the last to win outright, but made a superb birdie instead to force a three-way play-off after tying with Christiaan Maas and Ivan Verster at 13-under par. Van der Merwe won with another birdie on the first play-off hole. Matthew Bramford was fourth at 10-under and Simon du Plooy fifth at 8-under. The event brings with it loads of prestige including an invitation to play in the Open Championship at Royal Troon, The Amateur Championship, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions powered by Attacq. Well worth a mention is the fact that Christiaan Maas set a new course record 63 at Leopard Creek on Saturday and that was bettered by Keegan Shutt with a 62 on Sunday. Check out Altin's birdie on the 72nd hole here.
- Kyra van Kan made it three wins in the month of February with her win in the inaugural Africa Amateur Women's Invitational. She triumphed in wire-to-wire style at Leopard Creek where she won by nine-shots at 1-under par after rounds of 72-71-72. Bobbi Brown finished second at 8-over, Gia Raad finished third at 9-over; Kenya's Chanelle Mwangi finished fourth at 11-over and Kaiyuree Moodley finished fifth at 12-over. With the win Kyra van Kan earns starts in The Women's Amateur Championship, Final Qualifying for the AIG Women's Open and The Investec South African Women's Open in 2024, as well as in the Ladies European Tour's Lalla Meryem Cup and Magical Kenya Ladies Open in 2025.
- Centurion CC's Dian Kruger won the North West Open at Pecanwood. He shot rounds of 68-67-66 to win at 15-under 201, five clear of Tristan Leonard. Francois Coetzee finished third at 8-under.
- Augusta National Golf Club has increased the length of its already longest par 5, the second hole, to 585 yards. The hole played as the easiest hole on the course last year and they have now moved the tee box back by 10 yards and to the left. Last week The Masters also announced three special tournament invites had been accepted by Ryo Hisatsune, Joaquin Niemann and Thorbjorn Olesen. Eighty-three players have been invited so far and that includes Charl Schwartzel; Erik van Rooyen and Christo Lamprecht, the reigning British Amateur Champion. Trevor Immelman will not play but will be in the commentary box. The event will be played from 11th to 14th April so there is still some time left for players to earn spots in the field through tournament wins or through the Official World Golf Ranking - the top 50 the week before the event automatically qualify.
- Charlie Woods attempted to pre-qualify for the Cognizant Classic last Thursday. He played at the Lost Lake Golf Club in Hobe Sound - one of four qualifying venues - and 25 players and ties from each venue advanced to the Monday qualifier, out of which only four players earn a spot in the field of the tournament. At 15 years of age, he shot a 16-over 86 which included 4 bogeys, 2 double-bogeys and a 12 on the par 4, 7th. Kudos to him for trying - he had nothing to lose and after making the 12, he composed himself enough to make six pars in a row.
- Paula Creamer will join Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Angela Stanford as assistant captains at this year's Solheim Cup. Stacy Lewis will Captain the US team which will play at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia from 13th to 15th September.
- Capital One's The Match will be played later today at “The Park” Municipal Course in West Palm Beach. It will feature Rose Zhang; Lexi Thompson; Rory McIlroy and Max Homa playing a 12-hole skins game. The ladies will play off different tees on eight of the 12 holes while they will play off the same tees on all the par 3s.
- Eric Cole has had the most rounds of golf on the PGA that have been 66 or lower. He's had 37. A close second is Scottie Scheffler with 33 and in third place is JJ Poston with 27.
- Muss Gammon who used to host the instructional TV show Ultra Simple Golf on Supersport, has just had a triple bypass. We wish him a speedy recovery. Muss won the Welsh Open on the European Tour.
|
Please note that this is the entry list as at Monday & is subject to change:
|
- PGA TOUR - Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches - Christiaan Bezuidenhout; Garrick Higgo; Erik van Rooyen.
- DP WORLD TOUR / SUNHINE TOUR - SDC Championship - Darren Fichardt; Daniel van Tonder; Thriston Lawrence; Oliver Bekker; Zander Lombard; Shaun Norris; Ockie Strydom; Hennie du Plessis; Louis de Jager; JC Ritchie; Deon Germishuys; Tristen Strydom, Wilco Nienaber; Brandon Stone; Dylan Frittelli; Jayden Schaper; Casey Jarvis; Thomas Aiken to name just some.
- LPGA - HSBC Women's World Championship - No South Africans in the field.
|
- Dylan Frittelli returned to the winners circle for the first time since 2019, at the DP World Tour's Bahrain Championship (1st to 4th Feb) at the Royal GC in the Kingdom of Bahrain: "It's been a long road the last five or six years since I left the DP World Tour and went to the States... Last year I was in a couple of spots where I thought I was giving the game up to be honest and looking for something else. I found some resolve at the end of last year and got some good work from my physio and my coaches and trainers. I'm glad I persevered and all the support from family and friends has been well worth it."
- Joaquin Niemann shot a 12-under 58 on the Friday at the El Camaleon Golf Course in the LIV Mexico event and then won it on Sunday in a four-hole play-off with Sergio Garcia: "... I was playing great. I was being really confident on the golf course and hitting my shots. I was more excited than anything to start the season, to start playing on LIV and start playing for my teammates. I was just excited to get started.”
- Canada's Nick Taylor followed up a runner-up finish in 2023 with a win this year at the WM Phoenix Open (8th to 11th Feb) at TPC Scottsdale making birdies at five of his last six holes: “The finish was pretty dream-like... I putted out of my mind”.
- Recovering from a neck injury, Hideki Matsuyama won his ninth PGA Tour title at The Genesis Invitational (15th to 18th Feb), the most PGA wins by an Asian player (he was tied with KJ Choi on eight): “There were a lot of times where I felt, you know, I was never going to win again...ever since that injury, I was worried every week that something bad might happen to my neck”.
- Patty Tavatanakit had a wire-to-wire win at the 2024 Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF (15th to 18th Feb) and then won the very next week on home soil at the Honda LPGA Thailand (22nd to 25th Feb) at the Siam CC: “It was a lot of emotions. It was joy. It was - I felt so proud. And a little bit of - I felt a little tired, too. But overall, you know, like, again, I had so much pressure on me today just playing in front of the home crowd, and I was able to do that. It was just like a dream come true. It was like unbelievable. Like I still couldn't believe I did that today.”
- Darius van Driel's win at the Magical Kenya Open (22nd to 25th Feb) was literally magical and he did it in in wire-to-wire style : "It means a lot... it's a dream come true...I saw that everybody was around ten (under) and Manuel (Elvira) was also around there so in my head it was a bit of one v one so me making eagle and him making par (on the tenth) was a bit of a difference. That was a good one... "
|
| To leave the flag in or out - that is the question! |
| This topic is way above my pay grade but this article from Golf Digest is well worth a read so that you can decide for yourself: |
| Dale Hayes Golf appreciates the ongoing support of City Lodge... |
| Click on the button below to see the upcoming Tour events. |
The friends you make on the golf course are the friends you make for life and for me one of these friends is Jeff Clause. Jeff originally came from America to head up Fancourt. Today he is not only a Master Professional member of the PGA, but he's the go-to-man for advice when it comes to service or marketing of golf clubs.
From the time St Francis Links opened, Jeff has been the face of the entire estate. Their relationship is not infatuation, it's the real thing. A genuine love affair that works both ways. Add to that his wife Liezl, who quite simply makes things happen. Their style is friendly, fun and relaxed, but super-efficient. Of course it does help if you have a very special facility. |
The Jack Nicklaus golf course is a genuine links built on sand dunes. It's one of Nicklaus' best courses and it's always in superb condition. There are so many memorable holes, it's hard to pick a feature hole. I love the drivable (depending on the wind), short par 4, 5th hole. The hole has a little turn in it and is well bunkered. An accurate drive will give you a birdie, but hit it off-line and you can double that score. Most of the holes have very generous fairways, but the par 4, 8th hole is scary. For most, an iron off the tee will keep it on the fairway and that should then leave you with a long shot into the green.
The clubhouse has amazing views over the golf course to the ocean and a feature is Jack's Bar, with lovely photographs of the greatest golfer that's ever lived.
St Francis Links is a regular host of Sunshine Tour events and this week, for the second time, it will host the SDC Championship, a co-sanctioned DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour event, where 156 professionals will battle it out for the title - and the $1,5 million prize fund.
Spectators are welcome - and there is no entry fee - so if you are looking for somewhere and something different to get up to this weekend, why not pop in and walk the course? You will not be disappointed by the experience.
There truly is something for everyone at St Francis Links and I guarantee that you will be treated like a king or queen.
Golf Bookings: (042)200-4500 / golf@stfrancislinks.com / https://stfrancislinks.com |
 |
| | | Which club should we feature next? |
| Share this with your friends: |
The rare hole-in-one, the most perfect fluke ever, it's the best feeling in golf. Celebrate - get the certificate and have bragging rights forever!
For further information, or to join, please contact Margaret on (012) 654-1144.
Or: |
| | | | Wise words from legends of golf | |
“Golf tips are like aspirin. One may do you good but if you swallow the whole bottle, you will be lucky to survive.”
|
| |
 | | | This mail was sent to {{contact.contact_email}} by Dale Hayes and is provided as a service for the members and guests of GOLF CHAT and has been supported and sponsored by advertisers in this email and our partner suppliers. For any queries contact us on 012 654 1144.
Sent on behalf of GOLF CHAT by
RetailTribe: Unit 8 | Blaauwklip Office Park | Stellenbosch | 7600 | 021 880 2693 |
| |
681.jpg)
