SUNSHINE LADIES TOUR REVIEW
Casandra Alexander.
CAS IS NO 1 ON LADIES TOUR
both these titles in 2025. Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby was the winner at Belle Mare Plage in the MCB Classic. Alexander again came close in the Joburg Open, runner-up for a second straight year (she was the 2021 champion when it wasn’t part of LET). She played exceptional golf over the weekend on the Fire- thorn course (67-66) and might have won outright had she not bogeyed the par-5 72nd hole after a lightning delay on Sunday. She was eliminated on the first hole of the playoff. In the opening tournament at Humewood she had lost in a playoff to Germany’s Celina Sattelkau, who then triumphed in the NTT Data Pro-Am at Fan-
CASANDRA ALEXANDER may have failed to win on the 2026 Sunshine Ladies Tour, but steady performances saw her retain the Investec Order of Merit crown and a R200 000 bonus. She was a runner-up three times in four appearances, including the Joburg Ladies Open and the new MCB Ladies Classic in Mauritius which wrapped up the tour in early May. It was another season though in which the for- eign contingent claimed the major titles in the Ladies Eu- ropean Tour co-sanctioned events. England golfer Esme Hamilton capturing the In- vestec SA Women’s Open at Royal Cape, and France’s Agathe Laisne the Joburg Open at Randpark. English and French players took
court the following week. Disappointingly, Alexan- der missed the 36-hole cut in the SA Open. A year ago, she had been runner-up in the championship at Erinvale to
Order of Merit 1 Casandra Alexander 2 Celina Sattelkau (Germany) 3 Sophie Witt (Germany) 4 Danielle du Toit 5 Gabrielle Venter 6 Nadia vd Westhuizen 7 Caitlyn Macnab 8 Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (Iceland) France’s Perrine Delacour. Caitlyn Macnab was The R&A Rookie of the Year, hav- ing had three top-5 finishes. There were three South African champions this season, Danielle du Toit, Nadia van der Westhuizen and Gabrielle Venter. All three, plus Alexander and Macnab, are exempt for the Waterfall City Tourna- ment of Champions at Royal Johannesburg in early June.
Danielle du Toit won the Standard Bank Open at Durbanville for her second tour title. She lost a playoff in the Jabra Ladies Classic at Killarney to France’s Lois Lau.
Nadia van der Westhuizen won the ABSA Ladies Invitational at Royal Johannesburg by seven shots with a 17-under-par total, her fourth title on tour.
Gabrielle Venter birdied her two final holes at Blair Atholl and beat Norway’s Madelene Stavnar in a playoff to win the Platinum Ladies Open. It was her second tour victory.
9 Nobuhle Dlamini 10 Stacy Bregman
108 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MAY 2026
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