1st February 2019 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Buhai goes wire-to-wire at Irene
1 February 2019 – South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai went wire-to-wire at Irene Country Club to complete a convincing four-shot victory on eight-under in the Canon Sunshine Ladies Tour Open on Friday.
She could not match her opening two rounds of 67 and 68, but with a lone bogey over three rounds, the win was never in doubt and she pushed her winning tally on the local circuit to 10 with a final round one-over 73.
Defending champion Stacy Bregman soared up the leaderboard with a closing four-under 68 to finish second on her own at four-under.
Yet another South African Lejan Lewthwaite also made strides with a third round 68 to take third on two-under. England’s Lauren Taylor was fourth on one-under and former Investec South African Women’s Open champion Tandi Mc Callum from South Africa completed the top-five on level par for the week.
“I’m very happy to pull off the win this week in the first tournament of the year,” said Buhai, whose only drop in the tournament was a soft bogey at the 52nd hole.
“Today was quite scrappy, but that’s just what you have to do to try win. Thank goodness there were no pictures on the scorecard. I learnt that I just had to stay patient and keep grinding.
“The course I played a little tougher. There were some low scores, but thank goodness I had that seven-shot lead starting the round. I knew I had that comfort zone. After nine, I knew I wasn’t going to hit it close, so I just started going for the big part of the greens and taking my two-putts to make as many pars as I could coming in.
“I think a few years ago I would have got more frustrated with myself, and probably made quite a few more bogeys. Today, I trusted my ability, especially with my putter. I made one bogey in 54 holes, so I’m really chuffed with that.”
Despite the comprehensive triumph, the 29-year-old Buhai said she was not totally satisfied.
“My goal was to get to double-figures, and then push on from there. When I had a six-shot lead with nine to go, it was just about grinding it so no one could catch me. Double figures was still my goal, even coming down the last. I was still trying to make birdie even though I just bogeyed 17.
“Overall, it was a good tester to see where I’m at and where I can improve. The main positive is that if I’ve got a sharp short game when I’m not hitting it well, I can still score.”
Buhai had just hit her tee shot into the par three 13th when play was suspended due to lightning. It turned out to be a short delay, with the players resuming within the hour. The disruption was far from ideal, but Buhai was still up to the task of closing out an emphatic victory.
“On 13, I hit one of the few iron shots that I flushed the whole day,” she said. “I thought I finally got something going and then we went off. I just had to accept it. Luckily we weren’t called off for too long. My first drive back, my hand slipped in the rain and I hit it out right. I had to punch out but I got it up-and-down from 60 metres to keep the momentum going. Overall, I’m happy with the week but disappointed with today.”
“Any time you shoot under par, you take the positives out of that,” said Buhai. She paid tribute to the sponsors for helping the event proceed.
“A huge thanks to Canon for coming on board and for sticking with us these last three years,” said the world number 116. “Without sponsors, it wouldn’t be possible. And to Investec, they have been our biggest supports and it’s great to have them on board again. The Sunshine Ladies Tour is growing every year and that’s what we want to see.”
Buhai leaves on Saturday to compete in two LPGA events and one LET event in Australia and returns in March to take up her title defence in the R2-million Investec South African Women’s Open at Westlake, which is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.
Bregman, who won the 2018 Investec Property Fund Order of Merit last year and former LPGA Tour winner Lee-Anne Pace, who withdrew after nine holes in the second round after the onset of a migraine, will also be making the trip down under.
Eighteen-year-old Symone Henriques was second after an opening round 70.
She slipped from contention with an 80 in the second round, but bounced back to overtake fellow GolfRSA Elite Squad player Kajal Mistry with a final round 74 to win the amateur honours on eight-over 224.
The Sunshine Ladies Tour moves to Serengeti Estates next for the inaugural Serengeti Team Championship on 5 and 6 February. Teams of two will compete in the Betterball format for the lion’s share of the R100 000 prize fund.
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Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour and WPGA.
30th January 2019 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Buhai fires warning shot Canon Sunshine Tour Ladies Open
30 January 2019 – Ashleigh Buhai sounded a warning shot to the field of the Canon Sunshine Ladies Tour Open field with a flawless five-under 67 in the first round at Irene Country Club on Wednesday.
The bogey-free round for Buhai meant she opened up a three-shot lead in the 54-hole event over countrywoman Symone Henriques and Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann, who both carded tidy opening rounds of two-under 70.
A further stroke adrift in solo fourth was France’s Emie Peronnin, while six South Africans shared fifth spot on level par, including former Sunshine Ladies Tour winners Lee-Anne Pace and Bertine Faber, rookie Casandra Hall, amateur Kajal Mistry, 2018 Investec Property Fund Order of Merit winner Stacy Bregman and Ivana Samu, making a welcome return to competitive golf after undergoing back surgery last year.
Buhai ended the 2018 season on a high note, winning the Investec South African Women’s Open for a third time, and the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington golfer was understandably chuffed with her first competitive round of 2019.
“I’m very happy with the way I played with it being my first tournament back after I took five weeks off starting in December,” said Buhai.
“I started practicing three weeks ago, and I was very happy to put what I was working on into play. I had five birdies and no bogeys, so a very good result at the start of the season.”
When Buhai missed shots, they were in the right places and her short-game came through with flying colours.
“I made a lot of good saves and my short game was very sharp, considering I haven’t played that much. My coach Doug Wood and I have a plan and we’ve worked on that. Consistency-wise I was never really in trouble, even my bad shots were just right or just off the green. They weren’t difficult up-and-downs so that also made it a little bit easier for me to make those pars.”
Following a second place finish on the final Order of Merit last year, Buhai produced some strong performances abroad which saw her end the year as the top-ranked SA player on the global stage.
At 116th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Buhai is some way ahead of Pace, with SA number three Bregman even further back at 308th.
“I was happy with the way I finished off last season,” Buhai said. “There was definitely some inconsistency and we’ve built something into my swing which I hope will help me with that.
“I played a lot of golf last year, I think it was 31 tournaments. I’m looking to space things out a lot better this year and hopefully play well in the bigger events and then to not have to play as much golf either.”
Husband Davis is back on the bag this week, a partnership which clearly works on local shores.
“Dave is back on the bag when I’m in South Africa, but when I compete abroad, I use Gary du Plooy from Zimbabwe,” Buhai explained. “He’s been caddying for me for just over six months now. I enjoy it when Dave caddies for me, since he knows my game the best, but I think it’s good to have that time apart when we hit the long run in the States.”
The 29-year-old has a busy schedule ahead, and will not have much time to dwell or savour from this week’s event.
“I leave for Australia on Saturday, where I will be play three weeks and then I’ll come back for the Investec SA Open. Straight after Westlake, we leave for the United States for a six-week stretch.”
Glenvista amateur Symone Henriques tied for second with a two-under 70 in the Canon Sunshine Ladies Tour Open at Irene Country Club; credit Sunshine Ladies Tour.
Henriques will also be heading for the United States, although not as quickly as Buhai.
The Glenvista amateur will be taking up a golf scholarship at East Carolina University in North Carolina in August.
“I’m excited to play the Sunshine Ladies Tour without the pressure of school and to take in as much as I can from the pros,” said the 18-year-old. “I also hope to get into seriously competitive shape for the national amateur circuit. It would be great to win one more time before I leave.”
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Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour and WPGA.
23rd January 2019 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Bregman heads to Irene with lofty goals
PRETORIA, 23 January 2019 – Five-time Sunshine Ladies Tour champion Stacy Bregman is embracing the pressure that comes as defending champion as she prepares to tee it up in the Canon Sunshine Ladies Tour Open at the end of the month.
The sixth season launches with the R200,000 event at Irene Country Club on 30 January.
Bregman, who captured her first Sunshine Ladies Tour title in the Zambia Ladies Open five years ago, racked up victories in the Sun International Ladies Challenge, Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am and Cape Town Ladies Open in 2015.
Last year she ended a three-year winning drought when a closing 71 at Pretoria Country Club helped her towards a four under par total and four-shot victory for her fifth triumph.
Bregman travelled to the United Arab Emirates earlier this year for the Fatima Bint Mubarak Open on the Ladies European Tour. “I took time off over the festive season, so I wasn’t very sharp. And I got the bad side of the draw with really windy conditions in the first two rounds, so I was really pleased to kick off the season with a top 16 finish.”
Since she returned from Abu Dhabi, Bregman has been hitting the gym hard and working with her coach, Grant Veenstra. She feels positive heading to Irene to defend the title and her 2018 Investec Property Order of Merit crown in the season-opener.
“It’s always nice to play at home, especially when the weather turns warm,” said the Country Club Johannesburg golfer. “I have always enjoyed playing Irene, because it’s a thinker’s course and if you are swinging it well, you can go low.
“Being the defending champion is an added bonus. It doesn’t happen as often as you would like, so it does put a bit more pressure on you, but I always enjoy a bit more stress. I’ll have a good week regardless.”
Bregman said it’s always nice to draw on positive memories at the start of the season.
“It was a very exciting finish. I hit some smart shots to stay in front and played more conservatively at the end, relying on my short game. I’m really strong off the tee, but I live by my short game. It’s a huge part of my game. “I’m very happy with a lot of aspects of my game. I need to put it all together on the golf course to have a win, but there are a lot of positive signs. My expectation is the same every time I play. You’re trying to play as well as you can to get yourself into contention for the final round. I know that if I can get myself into that position I can win coming down the stretch.”
Bregman expects tough opposition from the leading South African players, who will also be keen to get a foot on the Investec Property Fund Order of Merit ladder in the first event.
She headlines the 66-strong playing field that will feature former LPGA Tour champion Lee-Anne Pace, Sunshine Ladies Tour winners Ashleigh Buhai, Bertine (Strauss) Faber, Kim Williams, Monique Smit, Tandi Mc Callum and Nobuhle Dlamini from Swaziland, former LET winner Laurette Maritz, as well as 21 international campaigners from 14 countries.
A number of rookies will also be making their Sunshine Ladies Tour debut including 2018 Sanlam SA Women’s Stroke Play champion Casandra Hall.
“It’s a strong field and it should be a really good event,” Bregman said. “If I’m in the mix, I will push really hard. It would be great to win the first one; it really sets you up for the rest of the tour.
“The course has lots of trees, but it’s quite open and there is not a huge amount of rough. If the weather stays nice, we’ll see very good scoring.”
Canon South Africa’s Corporate and Marketing Communications Executive, Dana Eitzen, said Canon is proud to be part of the Sunshine Ladies Tour for a third successive year.
“The Sunshine Ladies Tour has enjoyed tremendous growth and support since its inception in 2014 and is certainly the most illustrious ladies’ professional circuit in Africa,” Eitzen said.
“Canon is once again proud to sponsor the Canon Sunshine Ladies Tour Open, which is traditionally the kick-off event when some of the best female golfers in the country and the world, convene for the start of the season. We are certain that the 2019 edition of this prestigious event will once again showcase tremendous skill and unrivalled sportsmanship and we look forward to watching the tour unfold over the next few months.”
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Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour and WPGA.