25th February 2022 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
More Sunshine Ladies Tour glory for Grant at Glendower
Linn Grant of Sweden turned it all on at Glendower Golf Club on Friday as she carded a superb seven-under-par 65 to pull clear for a two-stroke victory in the R1-million Jabra Ladies Classic.
Grant is certainly taking the Sunshine Ladies Tour tagline “Level Up” to heart, as this marked her second visit to the winner’s circle in her debut season, after she celebrated a maiden pro win in the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge at Fancourt a fortnight ago.
In the end, it was a bit of a race against time as the leaders cranked up the pace of play – as well as the quality – to beat in incoming highveld thunder storm. It took a buggy ride to their tees shots to play their approaches as quickly as possible.
Grant made two birdies in the final four holes in response to Paul Reto’s three birdies in three from the 13th to the 15th, and, when Reto bogeyed the 16th, the Swede took the gap and stretched out for the win
“We rushed on the 18th because we knew there was a storm coming in and we had been told we had 15 minutes or half an hour to make it in,” said Grant. “That was a little stressful.”
In fact, she felt things were stressful for most of the closing stretch as she did battle with Reto who had won so handily last week at Sun City. “I was very nervous, like for the last five holes,” said Grant. “I knew that we were tied for the lead for much of the time, and Paula holed a very long putt on 13, which tied it up again, so I was nervous, but it was fun too.”
It was a bogey-free effort for Grant, who turned in three-under 33 to move to six-under for the tournament, level with overnight leader Reto who turned in one-under 35.
Just before the turn, Grant had begun to apply the pressure with two of her birdies on that front nine coming on seven and eight. She put pedal to the metal after the turn with two successive birdies pulling her clear, while Reto made just pars after the turn.
Then came Reto’s run from 13 to 15, which drew her level after the 14th, and exchanged birdies on 15 kept them locked up at nine-under.
But once Reto made her bogey, Grant was able to close things out, denying the LPGA Tour player a double victory after her SuperSport Ladies Challenge success at Sun City last week.
Nobuhle Dlamini of Swaziland finished with a two-under-par 70 to be third on four-under, and Casandra Alexander endured a frustrating final round during which she birdied just one of the par-fives on her way to a three-under, and a share of third at three-under with reigning Investec South African Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace.
Marine Legentil, the 2022 South African Women’s Amateur champion, edged reigning South African Women’s Stroke Play winner Kiera Floyd & SA Women’s Amateur finalist Kyra van Kan in a count-out on eight-over-par 224 for the Leading Amateur trophy.
For Grant, her South African campaign has been a vindication of hard work and of the decision to play here before launching herself on the Ladies European Tour.
“It’s been good, and I’ve seen that my game is headed in the right direction,” said 2021 Arizona State graduate. “One thing I’ve learned, especially from today, is that regardless of where you play, the competition against yourself kind of gets into your head a little bit and dealing with that well helps a lot.”
The Swede is taking a week off to explore the attractions in Cape Town before she returns to Fancourt to prepare for the two upcoming tournaments co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour – the €250 000 Joburg Ladies Open at Modderfontein Golf Club from 24 – 26 March, and the season-finale Investec South African Women’s Open in Cape Town. This year’s 72-hole event carries a purse of €290 000 and will be hosted by Steenberg Golf Club from 30 March-2 April.
22nd February 2022 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Alexander geared for Jabra Ladies Classic homecoming
Casandra Alexander just needs more accuracy off the tee this week at Glendower Golf Club if she is to take a step up and get a third Sunshine Ladies Tour title in the R1-million Jabra Ladies Classic which tees off on Wednesday.
Newly married and with a new surname after campaigning as Casandra Hall, Alexander was one of very few players who managed to stay in the same postal code as Paula Reto in last week’s tournament, the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, presented by Sun International.
She was still 10 shots behind as she claimed the runner-up spot, and a glance at her season statistics gives some insight as to how Alexander can close the gap.
On one of the most imposing championship courses in the country, Alexander brings the distinct advantage of being long off the tee. She is ranked fourth on tour in driving distance at an average of just short of 265 metres, but she needs to work on hitting fairways and greens to up her game.
She has hit 73 percent of fairways, which is very good, but that ranks her just 53rd on tour. She has hit 65.8 percent of greens in regulation, which puts her in 15th on tour. Like her fairways numbers, that’s pretty solid, but should she be able to improve at Glendower, she’ll be able to get fewer than 32 putts per round, a number which ranks her a lowly 72nd on tour.
Reto headlines the field again this week, and she brings a relentless game to the party: relentlessly accurate off the tee, relentlessly accurate on to the greens, and she backs it up by sinking putts relentlessly.
The South African, a regular LPGA Tour campaigner, missed only two fairways in the 54 holes at Sun City, but she hit 43 of 54 greens in regulation last week and she averaged under 30 putts per round. And therein lies the difference, and the target for Alexander.
Clearly the likes of former Order of Merit winners Lee-Anne Pace, Nobuhle Dlamini and Stacey Bregman are able to produce relentless spells of their own too, as are the two other players who have won this season so far – Nadia van der Westhuizen, who won her maiden Sunshine Ladies Tour title with her victory in the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open, and Sweden’s Linn Grant, who claimed the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge honours.
And waiting to pounce are the likes of Nicole Garcia, Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen, Cara Gorlei and Scotland’s Jane Turner.
For Alexander, however, who lives just down the road from Glendower, a win would be very sweet, especially since she had a share of fifth in 2019 and she came third in 2020.
17th February 2022 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Rampant Reto pulls clear at Sun City
Paula Reto grabbed the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s SuperSport Challenge by the scruff of the neck on Thursday as she carded a seven-under-par 65 to stretch out to a seven-stroke lead after the second round at Gary Player Country Club.
The 31-year-old South African, who plays out of Coral Springs, Florida in the United States on the LPGA Tour, was playing just her second tournament round on one of South Africa’s top courses in her first Sunshine Ladies Tour appearance.
She made things look easy as she reached the turn in four-under-par 32 with four birdies. Although she dropped a shot on the tough par-four 17th, four more birdies on her homeward nine put her into a commanding lead.
Sharing second in the R1.3-million event were Casandra Alexander (nee Hall), playing in her first event of the 2022 season after getting hitched earlier this month, and reigning South African Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace.
Alexander signed for a four-under-par 68, while Pace had a two-under 70 as the pair moved to five-under for the tournament.
For Reto, coming to terms with the greens meant she was able to go even lower than her opening five-under 67. “One of the things that stood out today was the putting,” she said. “I saw a few more lines than I did yesterday when I kept leaving it short. My distance control was also good, and I hit a couple of close ones as well, so I had a couple of tap-ins which helps to go low. Other than that, I was relatively consistent.
“I had so much fun today – you know, one shot at a time, staying in the moment, that kind of thing. That really helps me kind of hone in on what I’m doing at the time, and then a couple of putts dropped early on to give me some confidence.”
Alexander, who won the Joburg Ladies Open last year, used her distance off the tee to good effect with an eagle on the par-five fifth. She also made three birdies and a bogey for a second round that was topped only by Reto.
“I played great today,” said Alexander. “I left a few out there when I missed a couple of one-metre putts for birdie. Other than that, I kept it very tidy and only had one bogey for the day. I actually played just as well yesterday, but I made a few more drops so it wasn’t as impressive a score. I’m feeling good.”
Getting married has meant her season has had a slightly disjointed start, but she’s not complaining. “We had our wedding in Pretoria,” she said. It was very, very hot. It was a great day though. I won’t do it again though. I’m done now! I’m sorry to have missed the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open and the Dimension Data Ladies Challenge, but it’s just one of those things. Getting two good rounds under the belt gives me confidence,” she added.
Reto is also confident after such a good start. “I’m going to try and do the same thing – sort of visualise my shots and keep it simple, and I feel like I’ll do well,” she said.
Behind the front-runners, Cara Gorlei carded a three-under-par 69 to move into fourth place, with Swaziland’s Nobuhle Dlamini carding a second successive level-par 72 to hold down fifth ahead of the final round.
GolfRSA No 1 Isabella van Rooyen, the leading amateur in the season-opening event at Royal Cape Golf Club, once again leads the amateur challenge. The Clovelly golfer carded a round of 73 to tie for 14th on four-over with Norway’s Michelle Forsland. The only other amateur to make the 36-hole cut was Kaylan Boshoff on five-over.
2nd February 2022 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
McCallum on the Move in Cape Town
Former South African Women’s Open champion Tandi McCallum battled strong winds and a steady drizzle to open up a one-shot lead on day one of the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open on Wednesday.
With the course playing tough and longer in the adverse conditions, the Gauteng golfer might have been in for a long day after a bogey, bogey start, but McCallum managed to turn things around.
She responded with six birdies to hit the front with a one-under-par 73 and was the only player to break par in the opening round.
Nicole Garcia and England’s Thalia Martin share second on level par, with Lejan Lewthwaite – fresh off her victory in the Vodacom Origins of Series Final at Sun City – a further stroke back in fourth.
After finishing with back-to-back bogeys, McCallum was pleasantly surprised to find herself leading the season-opener of the ninth Sunshine Ladies Tour season.
“It’s definitely more than I expected, given the conditions. I just wanted to put a decent score together to get into contention, so really pleased with the outcome,” she said.
“We’ve played the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open here at Royal Cape six out of seven times, so I’ve pretty much worked out where I can score, but today I had to adjust my strategy completely with the strong North Westerly.
“It was like a reverse strategy. Holes that are usually reachable were totally out of reach and I had to adapt by going for birdies on the holes where I would normally play for par. I just tried to minimize the bogeys before the final stretch, because I knew that would be tough.”
McCallum turned one-over, but birdies on 10, 11, 13 and 15 took her three deep.
“Sure enough, I dropped the last two holes,” she said. “We usually have the wind behind us over the closing stretch, but today they were really tough,” she said. “For instance, I usually hit driver and a short iron into the last hole, but today I needed driver, 3-wood to get on the green. Lejan said she had to hit driver, driver and she is one of our longer hitters.
“I knew it was going to get tough at the end, so I am pleased that I looked for opportunities early on the back nine, where I could use the wind. There is still a lot of golf to play, but I’m very happy with today’s result, and hopefully I can build on it.”
And with 36 holes to go, don’t count out last year’s top golfer Lee-Anne Pace.
The reigning Investec South African Women’s Open champion – chasing her fourth title in this event – finished the day just four strokes off the pace in joint fifth alongside former winner Stacy Bregman and rising stars Zethu Myeki and Nadia van der Westhuizen.
Southern Cape’s Kim de Klerk, a regular campaigner on the Sunshine Ladies Tour over the last X years, leads the amateur challenge at Royal Cape. De Klerk opened with a four-over 78 to join last year’s runner-up Cara Gorlei, Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen and multiple winner Kim Williams in a tie for ninth.
31st January 2022 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
All systems go for 2022
South Africa’s leading golfers and emerging stars will aim to stake the first claim when the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open tees off the ninth Sunshine Ladies Tour season in the City of Cape Town this week.
The homegrown talent will go head-to-head with the first international campaigners to hit South African shores in the 54-hole curtain-raiser at Royal Cape Golf Club from 2-4 February.
The City of Cape Town has supported the event since 2015, but this is the first year SunBet, South Africa’s premium online sports betting site, has joined the Sunshine Ladies Tour stable sponsors and partners. The collaboration meant this year’s purse has doubled to R400 000, making it an attractive drawcard to launch the 2022 season.
“SunBet has been involved in all levels of professional golf and we are excited that they extended their support to the Sunshine Ladies Tour,” said General Manager Pauli van Meersbergen. “It’s a great time to support women’s professional golf in South Africa, given the growth of the circuit and the heightened international participation we have enjoyed over the last two years. For SunBet, this event also represents a wonderful opportunity to entertain their clients and to expose more people to our amazing professionals, who really show them a great time during our pro-ams.”
Three-time winner Lee-Anne Pace – the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s most prolific champion with 14 victories since 2014 – spearheads the local challenge and the reigning Investec South African Women’s Open champion is well-supported by multiple winners Stacy Bregman, Nicole Garcia, Tandi McCallum, Kim Williams and Lejan Lewthwaite, fresh off her victory in the Vodacom Origins of Golf final at Sun City.
Seasoned Ladies European Tour champions Florentyna Parker and France’s Anne-Lise Caudal will lead the international posse, representing nine countries.
England’s Parker is yet to win on Africa’s premier women’s professional circuit, but Caudal celebrated a popular win in the 2019 Jabra Ladies Classic. However, having worn the bridesmaid’s tag twice in this event, the Frenchwoman will be keen to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Manon Gidali and make it back-to-back wins for France in the Mother City.
The “old guard” will have to content with a wave of rising talent, though. Last year, three rookies and an amateur stepped into the winner’s circle in the first four events, and the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open could very well serve as the launch pad again for the youth to level up this year.
Former top amateur talents Zethu Myeki, Cara Gorlei and Nadia van der Westhuizen lead the youth brigade, looking to make a fast start to the 2022 season.
Former GolfRSA National Squad member Myeki represented South Africa seven times on the international stage, but her transition into the pro ranks was hampered by financial limitations and the Covid-19 pandemic. Myeki tees it up this season with the strong backing of Investec and the guidance of Investec stable-mates Bregman, Garcia and Lewthwaite and she signalled her intent with a one-two finish on the Vodacom Origins series in September last year.
Gorlei led the first two rounds of last year’s event and, having honed her skills on the Womens Pro Tour in the United States in 2021, the Capetonian will be keen to make amends for the play-off loss and lift the title at her home course.
Van der Westhuizen turned pro on the back of arguably her best amateur season as the No 3 ranked player in the country. Having cut her teeth on the 2021 Sunshine Ladies Tour, she was set to tee it up in the Ladies European Tour Q-School before the pandemic travel restrictions put paid to her plans. Look out for the Serengeti golfer to make an impression this season.
Caitlyn Macnab’s breakout season and her march to victory in the 2021 Jabra Ladies Classic to become the first amateur to win a professional title since 2007 has also fired up the amateur field, led by GolfRSA No 1 Isabella van Rooyen. The 18-year-old Clovelly golfer enjoyed a top 20 finish in last year’s event – her first start in a professional event – and was the only other amateur to make the 36-hole cut in the national championship. She will lead an eight-strong amateur contingent at Royal Cape, where she is also a member.
CAPE TOWN LADIES OPEN PAST WINNERS
2016 Lee-Anne Pace
2017 Ashleigh Buhai
2018 Lee-Anne Pace
2019 Carrie Park
2020 Lee-Anne Pace
2021 Manon Gidali
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27th January 2020 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Is Dlamini the player to beat in Cape Town?
27 January 2020 – In-form Nobuhle Dlamini will be bidding for a second Investec Order of Merit title when she launches her 2020 Sunshine Ladies Tour season in the Cape Town Ladies Open this week.
The R200 000 season-opener, hosted by the City of Cape Town for a sixth successive year, will be contested at King David Mowbray Golf Club from 29-31 January.
Coming off a superb showing in the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School in Spain, few would bet against the big-hitting eSwatini golfer starting her seventh season in the pro ranks on a winning note.
As an amateur, Dlamini was a dominant force, but she struggled to transition to the pro ranks.
The pedigree was there, though. She racked up 16 top 10 finishes over the first three years and finally broke her professional duck at the Sun SuperSport Ladies Challenge in 2018.
The self-belief that took her to number two in the amateur world rankings came flooding back and a wave of confidence propelled Dlamini to the top of the standings in 2019.
She won the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am and Joburg Ladies Open, had runner-up finishes in the Jabra Ladies Classic and SuperSport Ladies Challenge and confirmed her dominance with further success in the Investec Royal Swazi Ladies and victory in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Ladies Final.
Dlamini said the key to her overnight success was simple. She didn’t try so hard.
“I’ve been hitting the ball for a very long time and I was just waiting for a break, but I was also trying to force things all the time. I just decided to stop forcing it. I focused on letting the winning come through the process. As a result, I was much more relaxed and the trophies started piling up,” Dlamini said at the end of the 2019 season.
“My mistake when I turned pro was that I tried to change and get my game perfect. But you are not perfect. My advice to any amateur out there would be to not try to change too much. As an amateur, you get to where you are because it works, so don’t change when you turn pro.”
That self-belief – illustrated most emphatically at Fancourt, where she drained a 25-footer at the final hole in the last round with authority to win the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am – was on display once again in Spain.
Dlamini took her blistering form to Europe, but playing on a limited card proved frustrating. She struggled to build momentum with sporadic starts and weeks off between events and narrowly missed the top 80 cut-off at the end of the 2019 on the Ladies European Tour (LET) season.
Forced to make a return trip to Q-School this January, she landed a top 10 spot with an opening round of 71 on the South Course at the Real Golf La Manga Club and kept her foot on the pedal throughout the gruelling 90-hole test to clinch her card for 2020 with a top eight finish.
With her future in Europe secure, Dlamini has set some lofty goals for 2020 Sunshine Ladies Tour – a second Investec Order of Merit title and the ultimate prize: in the season-finale Investec South African Women’s Open at West Lake Golf Club in March.
After a week of challenging weather conditions in Spain, the infamous Cape Town South Easter could further strengthen her chances.
Dlamini won the SA Women’s Amateur Championship in a windy 36-hole final at Royal Cape in 2009. She went wire-to-wire at Umhlali Country Club in even more blustery conditions to lift the 2012 SA Women’s Stroke Play title. She braved gale force conditions at the Wild Coast Sun for her maiden success on the Sunshine Ladies Tour. And gusty conditions put a premium on her skills in the wind during both of her victory marches on the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour last year.
“Windy conditions doesn’t worry me,” said the 27-year-old.
“You have to play the holes into the wind well. On the other holes, if it comes off the side or from behind, you can use it to your advantage. King David Mowbray is a tight course and heavily tree-lined. The greens usually roll true and have a nice speed. You just have to keep the ball in play. The course isn’t that long and if you are hitting it well, you can score. The key this week to winning is fairways, greens and a hot putter.”
To get the first win in the bag though, Dlamini will have to stave off some stiff competition all seeking a winning start in the City of Cape Town.
Former LPGA Tour winner Lee-Anne Pace is hunting a hat-trick of Cape Town Ladies Open titles and last year’s Jabra Ladies Classic champion Anne-Lise Caudal from France hopes to convert successive runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019 into gold, while former Sunshine Ladies Tour champions Stacy Bregman, Nicole Garcia, Kim Williams and Jane Turner from Wales, and reigning SA Women’s Masters champion Lejan Lewthwaite are also primed to pose a significant challenge.
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Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour and WPGA.
17th December 2019 | Sunshine Ladies Tour
Sunshine Ladies Tour poised for glorious run in 2020
CAPE TOWN, 17 December 2019 – The Sunshine Ladies Tour will celebrate its seventh season in early 2020 with a bumper schedule, exciting incentives, including a R100 000 bonus for the 2020 Investec Order of Merit winner and record prize money of nearly R6-million on offer.
“The Sunshine Ladies Tour is a very attractive proposition at the start of the season and we are extremely proud of the tremendous growth the local circuit has enjoyed since we launched in 2014,” said Sunshine Tour commissioner Selwyn Nathan.
“In addition to increases in prize money and events, the Sunshine Ladies Tour attracted foreign investment and our international participation has tripled in the last three years, with over 40 foreign players competing in South Africa in 2019.
“The local professional circuit is healthy, strong and growing thanks to the continued commitment of Investec and our other key stakeholders and sponsors, including Jabra, Dimension Data, Sun International, SuperSport, Canon, the cities of Joburg and Cape Town, the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality and Serengeti Estates.
“We are excited to offer great playing opportunities for the local and international professionals and a great stage for the rising stars in the amateur ranks to gain experience with eight events, including the co-sanctioned Investec South African Women’s Open in 2020.”
The seventh edition of the Sunshine Ladies Tour will feature seven Investec Order of Merit counting events, plus the new limited field Canon Serengeti Par 3 Challenge.
The 2020 season launches at the end of January with the Cape Town Ladies Open at King David Mowbray Golf Club and returns to the Mother City, where the prestigious Investec South African Women’s Open will fittingly draw the curtain on the seventh season in mid-March.
“This November, the LPGA and Ladies European Tour announced an exciting new 50-50 partnership with the joint goal of further developing women’s professional golf in Europe and we are thrilled to be a part of this development,” Nathan said.
“The Ladies European Tour will once again co-sanction the Investec South African Women’s Open with the Sunshine Ladies Tour and the WPGA. In addition to the lion’s share of the €200 000 purse, the 2020 champion will receive a Tournament Winner’s Category Exemption on the Ladies European Tour and Sunshine Ladies Tour for the remainder of the 2020 season and the 2021 season, as well as exemption into two of the five Majors in 2020 – the Women’s British Open and the Evian Championship.
“The winner of the Jabra Ladies Classic will also earn exemption for the Jabra Ladies Open, which is the final qualifying event for the Evian Championship. These are fantastic incentives for our players to gain an advantage on the global stage. We look forward to crowning a new Investec Order of Merit champion at the end of what promises to be another exciting and exhilarating season.”
Danni Dixon, Head of Marketing Investec SA, said Investec is proud of their continued involvement with the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
“It has been very exciting to be part of the launch of the Sunshine Ladies Tour and to witness the growth of the local women’s professional circuit over the last six years,” Dixon said.
“The partnership with the Sunshine Ladies Tour showcases the incredible talent of women in sport and ensures that these golfers are recognised for their dedication. We are invested in the next generation of women, and we are thrilled with the Investec South African Women’s Open as a platform that aids the promotion and growth of South African women in sport.
“It is further encouraging to see that our local professional and amateur women golfers benefit from our partnership with Sunshine Ladies Tour, by giving them an opportunity to compete on a global stage.”
2019 SUNSHINE LADIES TOUR SCHEDULE
29 – 31 January
Cape Town Ladies Open
King David Mowbray Golf Club
Prizemoney: R200 000
4 – 6 February
SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International
Gary Player Country Club & Lost City Golf Club at Sun City
Prizemoney: R400 000
14 – 16 February
Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am
George Golf Club & Outeniqua Course at Fancourt
Professional Prizemoney: R600 000 / Pro-Am Prizemoney: R100 000
19 – 21 February
South African Women’s Masters
San Lameer Country Club
Prizemoney: R200 000
22-23 February
Canon Serengeti Par 3 Challenge
Serengeti Estate Par 3 Course
Professional Prizemoney: minimum R150 000 / Team Calcutta Prizemoney: R50 000
26 – 28 February
Joburg Ladies Open
Soweto Country Club
Prizemoney: R500 000
4 – 6 March
Jabra Ladies Classic
Glendower Golf Club
Prizemoney: R600 000
12 – 14 March
Investec South African Women’s Open
Westlake Golf Club
Prizemoney: €200 000
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the Sunshine Ladies Tour.