Louis Albertse was an
impressive 23-under at
Irene CC as he coasted home to win the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am with 24 birdies and two eagles.
Peter Karmis produces some of his best performances in Eswatini (Swaziland), and the 42-year-old won there for the fourth time in the FNB Challenge at Nkonyeni. He won the Lombard Insurance Classic twice at Royal Swazi Spa – becoming the first player to shoot 59 on the Sunshine Tour in 2009 – and also the Investec Royal Swazi Open in 2017. This was his first win since 2018. Disappointment though was to strike at a windblown St Francis Links in September when he let the PGA Championship slip away from him with a final round 77.
Pieter Moolman is among a group of Ekurhuleni golfers – others being Jayden Schaper, Casey Jarvis and Ryan van Velzen – excelling on the Sunshine Tour. The 32-year-old from Benoni Lake has had two wins in the past two years, both in playoffs, and his latest success came in the Vodacom Origins Wild Coast event where he opened with a 76 and closed with 64. It could have been three wins, but he blew a seven-shot lead in the final round of the VOG Western Cape and lost in a playoff to Kyle Barker. Moolman earned a card on the DP World Tour in November at the Qualifying School in Spain, alongside Jacques Kruyswijk, another VOG winner at Zebula, and Darren Fichardt.
Martin Rohwer made the biggest final-round comeback of the year to win the SunBet Challenge at Umhlali CC in his KZN neighbourhood. Eight shots back starting the day, he posted a six-under 65, then watched the wind strengthen and the leaders go backwards. Two hours after signing his card he went out again to the par- 3 18th in an unlikely playoff to face Christiaan Burke. Rohwer had played his last six holes in 5-under while Burke played them in 3-over.
Hennie Otto is three years away from qualifying for the European Legends Tour, but continues to be a force playing against the youngsters, collecting his 14th tour victory in the SunBet Challenge at the Gary Player CC just shy of his 47th birthday. He beat Hayden Griffiths in a playoff. Another veteran still holding his own in 2023 was 48-year-old Darren Fichardt, runner-up in the Joburg Open, and a winner on the Challenge Tour in France. He’s had 18 wins on the Sunshine Tour.
Sunshine Tour veteran Neil Schietekat, 39, had one of his best years in 2023, winning twice at the Zimbabwe Open (Royal Harare) and Vodacom Origins Final (Pezula), almost a third with a playoff loss in Zambia, and with R1.7-million in earnings looks set for a high finish on the Order of Merit which concludes in April 2024. A six-time winner on tour, he’s been consistent this season, with six top-10s in 14 tournaments.
Trevor Fisher had fluctuating fortunes in the Fortress Invitational at Glendower. In a first round 63 he had an albatross (No 8), an eagle (No 13) and five birdies. He then shot 74-80 before having two eagles in a closing 69. Every club golfer will empathise with JC Ritchie in the SA Open. Brilliant 68 with seven birdies on day one, dismal 83 with a 9 on his card on day two.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 99
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
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