16th February 2024 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Dawson leads the way at theDimension Data Ladies Pro-Am
GEORGE, Western Cape – After a day of very bad weather at Fancourt, with strong gales and torrential downpours, Ana Dawson was the only golfer to finish under-par after the first round of the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am and she had good reason to feel delighted.
Dawson, who hails from the Isle of Man, played the Outeniqua course in one-under-par 71 and so ended the opening day one stroke ahead of another three international golfers who finished on level-par: Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann, Scotland’s Kylie Henry and Englishwoman Lauren Taylor.
If the weather did not dampen Dawson’s mood then even a three-putt for bogey at the par-four last hole was not going to do it either.
“It was really hard weather and with all the delays, keeping your round going was probably the trickiest bit. It’s always a shame to three-putt the last, it leaves a bit of a sour taste, but I’m still very happy,” the 22-year-old Dawson said.
“If someone had offered me one-under today at the start of the round I would definitely have taken it. I had a nice draw because Outeniqua is a bit shorter and a bit more forgiving, but you still have to play well. I honestly hit just one bad shot today, but I struggled on the greens.”
Dawson enjoyed a fast start with a birdie on the par-four first hole, but she had to stay very patient thereafter as three pars were followed by a bogey on the par-four fifth. She birdied the sixth and eighth holes, but then dropped a shot at the ninth to turn in one-under.
The back nine was more grind with birdies on the 10thand 14th holes, but another bogey on the par-three 12th.
Dawson said the tough conditions actually suited her because it allowed her to take her time.
“It was quite slow out there, but in a way that was nice because it meant I didn’t have to try and rush, which has happened to me in the past. I felt I didn’t need to hurry at all today and that helped me. I really took my time and made sure everything was ready and right before I played,” Dawson said.
Henry and Taylor both took on the Montague course that is rated as being more difficult.
Henry was excellent on the front nine, going out in two-under, but the back nine bit back as she bogeyed three of the first four holes. A birdie on the par-five 18th was a great way to end though, restoring her to level-par.
Taylor recovered brilliantly from a disastrous front nine. After three pars, a double-bogey seven at the fourth would have knocked the wind out of her sails. She also dropped shots on the sixth and ninth holes, partially offset by a birdie on the par-three eighth, but the 29-year-old was three-over at the turn.
But Taylor stormed to three birdies in the first five holes of the back nine, not dropping any more shots on her way back to the clubhouse.
Kiera Floyd and Lejan Lewthwaite are the leading South Africans, tied in fifth place on one-over-par with Alexandra Swayne of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
SCORES:
71 – Ana Dawson (IMN)
72 – Carolin Kauffmann (GER), Kylie Henry (SCO), Lauren Taylor (ENG)
73 – Kiera Floyd, Lejan Lewthwaite, Alexandra Swayne (ISV), Corinne Viden (SWE)
74 – Lee-Anne Pace, Tandi McCallum, Jane Turner (SCO), Sideri Vanova (CZE), Harang Lee (ESP), Emily Penttila (FIN), Cara Gorlei
75 – Tara Griebenow, Stacy Bregman, Helen Kreuzer (GER), Elena Hualde (ESP)
76 – Anna Magnusson (SWE), Pasqualle Coffa (NED), Romy Meekers (NED), Nadia van der Westhuizen, Amy Taylor (ENG), Zethu Myeki, Gabrielle Venter
77 – Maiken Bing Paulsen (NOR), Julie Boysen Hillestad (NOR), Verena Gimmy (GER)
78 – Isabella van Rooyen, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA), Clara Young (SCO), Tvesa Malik (IND)
79 – Kaleigh Telfer, Louise Duncan (SCO), Michelle Forsland (NOR)
80 – Brittney-Fay Berger, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM), Michele Thomson (SCO), Lora Assad, Ivanna Samu
82 – Vanessa Knecht (SUI), Danielle du Toit
84 – Emie Peronnin (FRA)
15th February 2024 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Sunshine Ladies Tour has global appeal
GEORGE, Western Cape – The influx of international golfers on the Sunshine Ladies Tour is making it harder for South Africa’s women professionals to contend at home, but it’s a challenge that Lee-Anne Pace has welcomed.
The 2024 Sunshine Ladies Tour tees off its season at Fancourt this week with the R2.5 million Dimension Data Pro-Am on the Montagu and Outeniqua courses. The 54-hole tournament is played concurrently with the men’s Sunshine Tour’s Dimension Data Pro-Am.
The growth of the Sunshine Ladies Tour is reflected in the overwhelming international contingent competing this week.
“It’s nice to see the overseas support of the Sunshine Ladies Tour. It has grown a lot, but we are now finding it harder to win at home,” Pace said with a chuckle on the eve of Friday’s first round.
Of the 44 professionals in the field this week, 28 are from overseas.
“There’s a really strong overseas contingent coming to play and the fields on the Sunshine Ladies Tour seem to get stronger every week,” said Pace, who won this tournament in 2016 and finished second in a playoff in 2021.
“It’s a really good field this week and I think the scores are going to be quite a lot lower than last year. The courses are a bit softer than usual, and on the shorter side, so we can attack a little bit more. I think there are going to be a lot of birdies and as always, it’s going to come down to putting.”
Even though it is the start of the South African season, Pace is one of the players to bring some form into the event having finished in a tie for 11th at last weekend’s Magical Kenya Ladies Open, the first event of the new Ladies European Tour (LET) season.
“I felt really good on the last day and played really nicely for a 68, so I feel I do have a bit of form on my side,” Pace said.
Compatriot Cara Gorlei also finished in a tie for 11th and was leading the tournament before a 77 in the third round pushed her down the leaderboard.
This week’s field also includes France’s Anne-Lise Caudal, a two-time LET winner who finished second in last year’s Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann, who finished fifth in last year’s Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, and Englishwoman Lauren Taylor, who has two top-10 finishes in this event.
South Africa’s challenge includes former champions Stacy Bregman and Lejan Lewthwaite.
8th May 2021 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Skarpnord seals stunning play-off win at Fancourt
8 May 2021 – Marianne Skarpnord sealed the Dimension Data Ladies Open title in stunning fashion after a final round 70 gave her the chance to emerge triumphant in a four-way play-off in George.
On a sun-drenched final day in the Sunshine Ladies Tour showpiece on the Montagu Course at Fancourt, the Norwegian clinched her 10th professional title with two massive birdie putts in a dramatic final hour of play.
The first birdie, which came on the 18th in regulation play, left her tied for second on one-under-par 215, alongside reigning Joburg Ladies Open champion Casandra Hall and former winner Lee-Anne Pace.
The second came after the trio watched in astonishment as Germany’s Olivia Cowan threw the trophy in the water.
Cowan, the overnight leader who started the day with a five-shot lead and needed just seven to seal the win, hit a great drive down the 18th and laid up with her second to leave herself a short iron into the island green.
She paid a hefty price for going for the flag when her ball spun off the green into the water. Visibly shaken, Cowan three-putted for a triple bogey 8 and signed for 79, which gave Skarpnord, Hall and Pace another shot at the title in the ensuing sudden death shoot-out.
The quartet headed back to the 18th and this time, all four players were on the dance floor in three.
2021 Dimension Data Ladies Challenge winner Marianne Skarpnord with her caddie at Fancourt; credit Sunshine Ladies Tour.
Skarpnord used her magic wand and hit a birdie putt with perfect pace. The ball caught the edge of the hole and dropped, handing her the win.
The victory at Fancourt was her second on SA soil since she won the South African Women’s Open in 2013, and her first since she banked the Australian Ladies Classic title in 2019 for her fourth Ladies European Tour (LET) win.
“That was not even on the planet for me, to be honest,” said Skarpnord, who began the round seven shots off the pace. She offset three bogeys with a trio of birdies to finish level par for the day.
“I was so far behind at the start and still far behind at the end, so I was actually about to order lunch when one of the girls said she heard something happened on 18.
“I’d been finished for 30 minutes and I was a little stiff, but I was first off and of course, I started with a nice little pull in the trap. I got it out nicely, but I was in the rough with a bit of mud on the ball. With three other people trying, I had to go for it. I hit a nice wedge and a good putt and here we are.
“It was a surprise for me; for all of us really and it’s a shame that it happened this way. I would have loved to see Olivia win. She is a good golfer, but obviously she had a tough day. But her win it not far away. Obviously I am happy to be standing here, but it’s always a bit weird when it happens like that.”
However, it was also a timeous win for the 35-year-old Norwegian.
If Skarpnord can back up the win at Fancourt with another strong performance in the Investec SA Women’s Open at Westlake next week, she will definitely be on the radar of International team captain Catriona Matthews, who will make her Captain’s Picks for the Solheim Cup at the AIG Women’s Open.
Marianne Skarpnord receives the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge trophy from Werner Kapp, Chief Executive Officer Dimension Data Middle East Africa at Fancourt; credit Sunshine Ladies Tour
“The last few weeks have been amazing. It’s absolutely fantastic to start the season this way. It was completely unexpected, but I couldn’t be happier. I haven’t won for a few years and this has been one of the best weeks on tour and I’ve been on tour for a long time,” said Skarpnord.
Pace had a chance to extend the play-off, but her birdie putt slid just past the hole, while Hall’s effort overshot the cup. But joint second means the South African pair keep their one-two positions on the Investec Order of Merit heading into the season-finale in Cape Town next week.
Pace leads the rankings on 1,353 points, with Hall a little over 100 points behind on 1,213.
SuperSport Ladies Challenge winner Michaela Fletcher, who retired with an injured shoulder in the final round, sits in third on 821.50. Skarpnord overtook Nicole Garcia for fourth with 744 points.
The Investec South African Women’s Open will draw the curtain on the 2021 season.
The event is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour and will also serve as the U.S. Women’s Open qualifier this year. The championship carries a purse of €200 000 and will be contested over 72 holes at Westlake Golf Club from 13-16 May.
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Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
7th May 2021 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Cowan takes pole at Dimension Data Ladies Challenge
6 May 2021 – Olivia Cowan will go in search of a maiden Sunshine Ladies Tour title on the final day of the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge at Fancourt after emerging from the pack in Friday’s second round.
Cowan, who made a late call to compete in the show-stopper on the Garden Route, started her campaign with a one-over-par 73 on the Montagu Course.
Four off the pace at the start of the day, the 25-year-old German made the most of her sponsor’s invitation on the Outeniqua Course, firing a stunning nine-under-par 63 to reach eight under for the tournament.
In a flawless performance, Cowan backed up an eagle start on the par-5 11th with seven birdies, including three on the bounce coming home.
She will take the largest 36-hole lead into the final round this season, with Emie Peronnin from France, three-time champion Kim Williams and eSwatini’s Nobuhle Dlamini tied for second.
Peronnin and Williams both carded 71s on the Montagu.
Dlamini, also playing the Montagu, was four behind overnight leader Tonje Daffinrud after an opening 73 on the Outeniqua course. At the turn, the 2019 champion looked very much like the player to catch Cowan after she birdied the third and eagled two par fives – four and 10. However, the only time she broke par coming home was with a bogey on 14th and a 68 left her in the three-way tie on three-under.
Cowan was understandably pleased with the day’s result.
“That was so much fun, especially after the start I had,” Cowan said. “I holed out for eagle on the first and birdied the next hole. I turned to my caddie and said: ‘Today we’re going to go low’ and I managed to keep the momentum going.”
Cowan put some space between herself and the pack with further birdies on 14 and 18 for an outward half of 31 and increased her advantage with a trio of birdies from the fifth.
“It could have been 10 under, but my birdie on 10 lipped out,” she said. “It was a bit unexpected, if I’m honest. I didn’t strike it very well on the Montagu and I wasn’t hitting it well on the range this morning. But those first two holes really set me up and I kept it going with good iron play and putting. Yeah, it was a lot of fun out there.”
Scotland’s Kylie Henry (69) and Astrid Vayson de Pradenne from France (72) tied for fifth on two-under and the internationally-flavoured leaderboard continued, with local favourite and former winner Monique Smit the only South African in the four-way tie at one-under.
Smit carded 72 to tie Norwegian pair, former SA Women’s Open champion Marianne Skarpnord (70) and Daffinrud (74), and Katerina Vlasinova from the Czech Republic.
Vlasinova was one-under when play had to be suspended due to darkness. The Czech golfer, Pasqualle Coffa from the Netherlands and Lora Assad will complete the round at 07h30 on Saturday. Following the cut to 30 and ties, the final round will be played on the Montagu course.
Cowan is looking forward to another strong performance to cap the week in George.
The Ladies European Tour campaigner kicked off her 2020 season in South Africa with a tie for seventh in the Investec South African Women’s Open at Westlake. The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic put paid to her hopes of winning a maiden title last year, but Cowan is holding out hope that 2021 will be season that delivers the breakthrough.
“The 2020 season was basically a write-off, but I am positive for this year. That’s why I came out earlier to use this week as preparation for the start of the Race to Costa del Sol in Cape Town and it would be great to leave Fancourt on a winning note,” Cowan said.
“The Montagu is the tougher of the two courses for me, because it plays longer and you can’t really fire at the pins. I managed to avoid bogeys today, which always sets you up for a better score, so that will be the strategy for tomorrow – hit fairways, hit greens, make putts and eliminate mistakes.”
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
6th May 2021 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Daffinrud darts to the top in Dimension Data Ladies Challenge
GEORGE, 6 May 2021 – Norwegian Tonje Daffinrud birdied the last two holes to break away from the pack and surge to the top of a congested first round leaderboard in the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge in George on Thursday.
With the field split between two of the three courses at Fancourt over the first two rounds, Daffinrud was the surprise leader after carding a three-under-par 69 on the less than giving Montagu course.
She will carry a slender one-shot lead into her second round at the Outeniqua course, where all six players tied for second recorded two-under 70 rounds on day one.
Teeing off in the afternoon field, the 29-year-old Ladies European Tour campaigner opened with a birdie on the par-5 10th. She dropped her only shot of the day at the par-4 15th, but got it back to level with a birdie on the third before closing out her round with a brace of gains.
“I didn’t actually make a lot of putts until the back nine, but my iron-game was pretty solid and I hit them close,” said the Oslo golfer. “The course was definitely softer after all the rain overnight and that helped. We only had overcast skies and occasional drizzles, so that was good, too. But it was definitely the iron game that saved me.”
Daffinrud made her debut on Africa’s premier women’s professional circuit at Soweto Country Club last week, where she tied for eighth in the Joburg Ladies Open.
“It feels pretty good to be in contention. I worked really hard during the winter and it’s my first time playing in South Africa. Fancourt is an amazing facility and I am looking forward to playing the course on Friday. I am really enjoying myself here in South Africa and my game is feeling pretty good. It’s absolutely amazing to be playing tournament golf again.”
South Africa’s Kim Williams fired a two-under 70 on the Outeniqua Course at Fancourt to finish one off the pace in the first round of the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge; credit Sunshine Ladies Tour
Another afternoon starter, Kim Williams, joined Stacy Bregman as the only two South Africans in the six-way tie for second.
The three-time Sunshine Ladies Tour winner made three birdies on the bounce from the fourth and edged into the outright lead with a birdie on the eighth.
“I had two soft bogeys coming home, but I’m really happy with the round,” said Williams. “I have been striking the ball really well since the start of the season, but not scoring because the putter just stayed cold. Today it finally came to the party and it was fun out there for a change.
“It was quite a shock at the start of the round to see how differently the course played to the practice round. It had softened up quite a bit and the greens were holding. They were quite firm yesterday, but today your iron shots either sat or you got one bounce and it would spin back.
“I hit some really good irons today and the putter did the rest. Both my bogeys were soft drops, where I short-sided myself. I had no green to work with on 10 and on 14 I hit 6-iron and pulled it left on the wrong side of the green. That green has a lot of slope, so I wasn’t too upset with the outcome.
“I may have to take my putter to bed tonight to keep it warm for the Montagu, because that’s a much tougher test. The greens have way more slope and positioning is key to scoring on that side. But it feels really great to shoot a competitive score again, and that before we head to Cape Town next week for the Investec South African Women’s Open.”
Bregman, who lifted the title in 2015, offset a lone bogey with three gains to square up with Williams, French pair Emie Peronnin and Astrid Vayson de Pradenne, and Dutch golfer Romy Meekers.
Last year’s Investec Order of Merit winner Monique Smit also made a strong start as she pursues a first win this season, and a second victory in the Dimension Data Challenge. The popular Oubaai golfer carded 71 on the Montagu to tie for third on one-under with Tandi McCallum and the Czech Republic’s Katerina Vlasinova, who both played Outeniqua.
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour.