Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2020 i Compleat Golfer

Well, how was it for you? The world didn’t tilt on its axis; TV viewers weren’t so offended that they bombarded the broadcasting ombudsman with complaints. Allowing pros to wear shorts at a tournament might have been a world first for men’s professional golf but no one was harmed in the experiment. In fact, the message might well have been: children, go ahead, you can try this at home. With temperatures reaching 40ºC during the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, players were given permission to wear shorts on competition days for the first time. Tournament director David Williams said the decision was made to protect player health. ‘The temperatures will increase as the week goes on … A lot of players were concerned about it,’ he said in a…

‘Smell the roses’ I’m not trying to steal any thunder from Compleat Golfer’s resident golfing instructor, Grant Hepburn, in this next new section for 2020. But, whenever I tee it up with mates and partners at the pro-ams, I am asked for advice. So, we thought we’d share some of my tips with you too and see if it will help you save a few shots. This may be a cliche, but it still rings true. I am far from perfect and nothing makes my brain boil more than a bogey. However, when I see a 45-year-old accountant breaking his putter after missing a four-footer, I question his sanity. This man, let’s call him Victor, works behind a desk for 40-50 hours a week. Yet when he arrives at his…

Four South African golfers won on the European Tour this past season and three the previous one. If the trend continues in 2020, which South Africans are likely to carry it off? Gary Lemke (Compleat Golfer editor): I can’t see why the trend won’t continue. South Africans have won every year on the European Tour since 1991. Erik van Rooyen is an obvious choice and Christiaan Bezuidenhout won’t stop where he now is. Zander Lombard is getting better all the time and I’ll throw Brandon Stone in there too. Wade Pretorius (Compleat Golfer digital editor): Erik van Rooyen, Zander Lombard and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Dale Hayes (commentator and businessman): George Coetzee, Haydn Porteous and Brandon Stone. Christopher Bentley (CEO, Royal Johannesburg and Kensington): Darren Fichardt has retained his European Tour card…

Something for everyone is almost always the goal but often the hardest to achieve. Young, old and all those in between have different needs, tastes and expectations. Increasingly, consumers are becoming more selective where to spend their hard-earned rands. Customers are demanding an all-round package with endless options. It’s a tough bouquet of demands to meet but one San Lameer and the estate on which it is built can confidently say it is well placed to satisfy. The course has its place in history as the first golf estate developed in South Africa on a nature reserve which was granted to one Colonel GH Langeler, an influential businessman and keen naturalist, in 1938. He introduced exotic and indigenous flora that created a haven of considerable beauty. His trust stipulated that…

As 2019 draws to a close and most players go into hibernation, the Sunshine Tour is on the verge of something special with its latest marketing campaign: #Gr8nessBeginsHere. There has been no better time for this new look. The European Tour’s co-sanctioned events on the Sunshine Tour always find a way to bring out the best in our talent, and I feel 2020 will be no different. The Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek has long been a player favourite and it was also the scene of my most heartbreakingly cruel, yet entertaining moment on Tour. The backdrop of the story is that one of my best mates, Jannie, was on the bag that week and we had spent the first 34 holes clinging to the projected cut line, before…

Celebrating Of all the ways to injure yourself, this must be the most galling. Thomas Levet’s celebrations upon winning his national open in 2011 had barely started when they went horribly wrong – the Frenchman fractured his leg diving into the greenside lake. Levet missed out on The Open Championship and a number of other tournaments that year. Sleepwalking During the 1993 Ryder Cup, Sam Torrance injured his toe after tackling a potted Yucca plant that he mistook for an intruder. According to Torrance, he was sleepwalking when the incident occurred and he sustained injuries to his toe and chest severe enough to rule him out of the singles matches the next day. Not to be outdone, fellow Ryder Cup player Graeme McDowell fell victim to the curse of sleepwalking…

Many years ago I lived on the Montagu Course at Fancourt. My house was in a panhandle nestled between the 16th tee box and the 11th green. My office looked out on to the 16th, and it was here that I wrote such bestsellers as Jonty in Pictures, Memorable Moments in One Day Cricket and Fancourt: The Road to The Presidents Cup. It was Raymond Chandler who said, ‘Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until your forehead starts to bleed.’ He would have had full sympathy when, during the long summer days, I developed a debilitating habit. I would wait for the last golfers to come past my front door, abandon work for the day, pop the lid off a cold bottle…

Two players battling for LPGA status were penalised for a rules infraction at the LPGA Q-Series – even though one of them did nothing wrong. Kendall Dye (above) and Dewi Weber were both penalised two strokes for violating Rule 10-2, Advice and Other Help, at Pinehurst No 9. As Weber was preparing to hit her tee shot on the par-three 17th, Dye flashed three fingers towards Weber’s caddie to establish what club she was using. The caddie confirmed Dye’s query. The other player in the group, Christina Kim, told a rules official about the incident after the round. They each had two strokes added to their scores for the round. Dye tweeted: ‘I take 100 percent responsibility for the infraction and shame on me for not knowing this was a…

Well folks, here we are. A new decade has arrived and as with most new things, it offers us limitless opportunities. From a personal perspective I’m starting my second year as Compleat Golfer’s playing editor and am looking to build on what we started in 2019. I hope you’re enjoying the interaction. As we get to know one another even better, please send any questions – within reason of course! – to the magazine (email garyl@hsm.co.za). I’ll read every one of them and offer as much feedback as I can. Even though I’m in my ‘office’ when I’m out on the golf course, I appreciate every bit of support I get. It’s one of the few professions in the world where our work is on public display when we are…

Standing in the middle of yet another fairway, waiting for his turn to play, Justin Harding pulls something from his right pocket and seconds later his face disappears behind a cloud of smoke. ‘Vaping,’ the South African explains later. ‘I quit smoking cigarettes about six months ago and I’m trying to wean myself off completely. My girlfriend is a doctor so she’s obviously looking out for me and I know smoking is not the best thing for the body. But going cold turkey after all this time is not easy. Vaping has been a substitute and the plan is to start the new year by giving that up too. Then to go three weeks “clean” and play at the SA Open like that. If I chop down trees I might…

When you read the golf news you sometimes see headlines that make it seem the Rules of Golf just don’t make sense. That must have been many people’s thoughts when they read that Russell Henley (above) was given an eight-shot penalty for playing a different ball during his round at the Mayakoba Golf Classic on the PGA Tour. Henley changed his ball during his round and only became aware of this afterwards when he was signing autographs and handing out golf balls to fans. He reported the issue and it was determined that he’d played four holes with a different ball. Unfortunately for him, the PGA Tour has a local rule in place that prescribes a two-stroke penalty at each hole where the breach occurred, resulting in the eight strokes…

‘The team at San Lameer prides itself on having a course of 18 memorable holes, so that makes it very di_ cult to single out one hole,’ says director of golf Meyer du Toit. ‘The course is diverse but the beauty of it lies in the challenge. Course management is key around any of the holes and that’s evident at our 9th hole. While San Lameer is known to have some of the most picturesque par threes in the country, this one is arguably the most photographed. ‘Standing on the elevated tee gives you a view of the green with a beautiful ravine separating it from the 10th tee. ‘Wind plays a decisive factor and will change your club and approach from day to day. The breeze is usually assisting…

The top six amateurs on the South African Golf Association (SAGA) ranking were rewarded with an invitation to compete at the South African Open at Randpark in January. Jayden Schaper, Casey Jarvis, Martin Vorster, Sam Simpson, Kyle de Beer and Jordan Duminy will fight for the coveted Freddie Tait Cup, which is given to the best-placed amateur who makes the cut. Other amateurs can qualify for the tournament through several events in the buildup to the SA Open. ‘As the custodians of the world’s second-oldest Open, we are extremely pleased to offer our amateurs the opportunity to test themselves in a championship of this stature,’ said Naadir Agherdien, the president of SAGA. ‘We are fortunate to have great depth among our elite amateurs. The fact many of them are juniors…

2018 winner: Louis Oosthuizen ended a 33-month winless run by lifting the South African Open trophy for the first time after a six-shot victory at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg. The 2010 Open champion had last triumphed on the European Tour in 2016 when he won the Perth International in Australia. The 36-year-old South African closed with a four-under-par 67, shrugging off a poor start to eagle 14 and finish well clear of runner-up Romain Langasque from France. Schedule clashes meant Oosthuizen was playing at the South African Open for the first time since 2010 and he wept after clinching an ultimately comfortable victory. ‘This is a very special victory for me as I become only the sixth golfer to win the two oldest national golf championships, The Open Championship…

The list I’ve compiled has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘ranking’ of golf courses. Basically, after the brilliant feedback I received regarding my toughest 12 holes in 2019 we decided I’d bring things closer to home. After all, not everyone will get a chance to tee it up at the courses like Carnoustie, which has the toughest three finishing holes in golf. I’ve decided to focus on South African courses and explain what I like about my top 12 every month. I have to offer a disclaimer: this is by no means me trying to influence any ranking system and is obviously not in any way official. It’s simply my preferences. I hope you enjoy. 12 Centurion Country Club I love this place. It’s where I grew up. My passion…

A South African golfer’s CV is never quite complete until he has got his hands on the SA Open title, one of the most revered tournaments in the world, given its longevity and list of former champions. On the past three occasions the country’s Open has been staged at this Johannesburg venue, the players have shot the lights out around Firethorn and Bushwillow, the two courses that make up Randpark. In 2019 Louis Oosthuizen put together rounds of 62, 70 and a weekend of 67s to win by six shots on 18 under par. Previously, Swede Mathias Gronberg had to get to 14 under to hold off Darren Fichardt, Ricardo Gonzalez and Nick Price to claim the famous trophy in 2000. Five years before that, two-time Major champion Retief Goosen…

Golf can be an incredibly frustrating game notwithstanding your expertise with a club in hand. Somebody once said: ‘If you have forgotten what frustration is like, spend 10 minutes on a golf course.’ Managing frustration during a tournament can make all the difference between winning and losing, going low or blowing out. It is a key skill to acquire on your journey to becoming mentally tough. So how do you manage your frustration? There is no one-shoe-fits-all approach. However, applying the parable of the Chinese Farmer to your golf game is one notable tactic. Let me tell the parable and then unpack how one Tour player applied it to great effect in a tournament round. Once there was a poor Chinese farmer who worked his farm together with his son…

MEN OPEN 1 (1) Jayden Schaper (Ebotse GC) 2 (11) Casey Jarvis (State Mines CC) 3 (3) Martin Vorster (Pinnacle Point GC) 4 (2) Samuel Simpson (Bellville GC) 5 (7) Jordan Duminy (Pinnacle Point GC) 6 (4) Kyle de Beer (Port Elizabeth GC) 7 (6) Luca Filippi (Milnerton GC) 8 (5) Yurav Premlall (Glendower GC) 9 (9) Keegan Thomas (Pearl Valley Golf Estate) 10 (8) Therion Nel (Bloemfontein GC) 11 (10) Werner Deyzel (Woodhill CC) 12 (12) Christiaan Burke (Bloemfontein GC) 13 (13) Rigardt Albertse (Potchefstroom CC) 14 (16) Christiaan Maas (Pretoria CC) 15 (14) Aneurin Gounden (Glendower GC) 16 (19) Gregory Mckay (Mt Edgecombe CC) 17 (15) Jordan Burnard (Ebotse GC) 18 (18) Ryan van Velzen (Benoni CC) 19 (17) Christo Lamprecht Jnr (Pinnacle Point GC) 20 (-) Vaughan…

Jean Hugo will be playing his 21st South African Open championship as a pro golfer in January. That’s every one since 2000, when he turned professional, a year after he had finished in a share of ninth at level par to take the Freddie Tait Cup at a tournament won by David Frost. ‘The South African Open is a very special tournament for every professional golfer in the country,’ says Hugo. ‘I’ve had a few good ones – the 2003 SA Open stands out,’ he recalls of the time he finished tie-third behind Trevor Immelman. ‘I still think “could’ve, should’ve” about that one. Since then, I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. These days, it’s tough to win any tournament, let alone the SA Open. I’ll keep…