The Sunshine Tour made a three week stop at the South African KwaZulu-Natal coastal province where three emtional winners were crowned.
[Music] Sunshine Tour professionals have been coming to the expanse of Wild Coast Sun Country Club since 1984 and they made their way to the Sunsplashed Coastline for the Sunbed Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun. It’s always great to be here. Everything is so beautiful about this place and I’m so happy to be part of uh the tournament which has been played here at Wild Coast. For the last few years, the golf course has been improving. the best players in the country are here and the challenge is wind. You know, it’s the wind can give you something else. But, uh, when you walk off the golf course, you always feel like I can stay here for another 3 weeks. You know, that’s how beautiful this place is. It’s excitement to come here in Eastern Cape, especially in a beautiful golf course and a beautiful nature. when you’re playing at the Wild Coast, you see the beach is next to golf course. Everything is exciting. It’s the wild coast. Anything can happen here. I think firstly coming down, I mean, the scenery is amazing. You never know what the weather’s going to do either. The course, it’s short, but it’s not short obviously depending on the wind. So, you know, whichever way the wind blows, holes play completely different. Um, and I think that’s what’s quite exciting about the golf course is it never really plays the same. Skill and patience were acquired at the start of the 54hole event. And Herman Lope Show snapped a three-year win throughout the season. Opened with a three under 67 in the wind. Wasn’t too worried about the score today. It was all just keeping it in play, hitting kind of shots with the wind. Uh the quite nice thing was with the wind, it kind of forces you to hit a certain shape cuz if you don’t get the shape wrong, it’s it’s you’re in big trouble. I started off a little bit shaky, but I hold a few nice putts in the in the beginning. Yeah. and then started playing a lot more solid from there. Confronted by the layout’s greatest defense and gusts of up to 51 km/h, Michael Hollik tapped into his potential on a brutal first morning. And the season’s Esatini winner shot 66. I’m not particularly good at playing the Wild Coast. Definitely not one of my courses I would say I’m I’m looking forward to going to play in terms of uh good golf, but very pleased with my round. I played really nicely. Um drove the ball nicely. I made my short putts. Um, and you know, that’s where I think you can be a little bit unstuck here, especially in the wind. It’s it’s tough to read them when there’s so much wind and they are quite quick. So, I managed to make a few, you know, nice short putts, you know, routine stuff that we would kind of do in Joberg. It’s just that much trickier at the coast. The elements eased up late in the afternoon, allowing Jacqu Devilius to take advantage. And with a superb back nine of 31, he’s signed for an impressive seven under bar 65. There’s still a lot a lot of golf left, so but this certainly helps. I think the the conditions are meant to be calm the next two days. So, we’ll see. I mean, it’s all it’s all still out there and really tough. It could easily have gone the other way and then the tournament is gone. But yeah, seven under. See what see what the week has left for us. Joe Knox also went four under on his inward half and the Englishman shared the first round lead with Devilius. Albert Fenta was two strokes back after his round of 65. Dadwa played college golf at Drexel University and in his full season as a pro. This exciting Zimbabwean is learning from the likes of his brother Robson Chenoi, a previous winner on tour. You know, finding my feet on the Sunshine Tour, uh it’s it’s it’s big. It’s big. you know, I’m still obviously learning. Uh, you got to be patient with yourself. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. And I’m happy, you know, it’s good experience, you know, trying to get comfortable also. That’s also the huge thing because at the end of the day, you can play the game. Uh, you just got to make good decision, be comfortable, you know, it’s been it’s good. It’s good experience. It’s awesome having a brother playing on the Sunshine Tour, Robson Chinoi. You know, it’s been a great inspiration for me. You know, I did KD for him uh half of last season, so that was awesome. got a lot of experience from that. And also just living with someone who is one on tour, you know, it’s a huge huge benefit. You don’t realize it just, you know, we play practice rounds together. You just see his thought process. You see what he’s doing and you get a lot of lessons from that. You know, you’re also learning how to approach the game in a different angle. I mean, from someone, it’s a huge huge thing. as my brother said, you know, we’re trying to grow the game in Africa just because it’s so small and also, you know, Sunshine Tour is a great place which gives you a great platform to actually, you know, play, compete, grow the game. And a lot of people out there, you know, when they see you playing out there, they definitely know it’s possible. And that’s also a good drive for them to just, you know, keep working on it, keep chasing it. And it’s very much possible. You know, being out there, having a good character keeps you in the game, keeps you focused just because if you lose it out there, it’s it’s hard. It’s hard. So, trying to be the best version of yourself out there, keeping yourself calm, be as good as possible mentally, and then the physical aspect just takes place. A day after this Eastern Cape Classic bar its teeth, calm skies brought much needed relief. Working his way back into form was Albert Fenta, whose last success on the main tour came in 2022. With the second round of 68, he took his tournament tally to seven under par. The last couple of months haven’t been particularly well for me or great golf wise, but you know, I’ve worked hard and try to get myself back into shape and and trying just to to do what a professional has to do. Um, yeah, and it’s it’s been it’s had its challenges and I’m I’m pretty pleased with my performance up to this point. Um, I think there’s a lot of positives to take out from the last two days. I think, um, today on the green side, I struggled a little bit and kind of seemed like the pace was a bit difficult for me to get compared to yesterday, but yeah, I’m looking forward to the challenge tomorrow. Joint first round leader Joe Knox backed up an opening 63 with a solid round of 69. And the big easy tour graduate remained in contention at eight under par. I think it’s sometimes hard to to back a really good round up with a with another one. just trying to keep it pretty steady. Hit lots of fairways, greens, just give give yourself as many chances as you can really. And and and I did that for the most part. Hit I think 16 greens. Um gave myself a lot of looks inside 20 foot. I think I had 14 15 birdie putts inside 20 foot. Just a bit disappointed. I I missed a good number of them inside 8 foot, but it was still a good round and looking forward to tomorrow. Michael Hollik surfing with confidence at Wild Coast maintained his swag. Three straight birdies on the back nine and a round of 65 saw him move to nine underpar. I’d like to go back in the history books, but I honestly don’t think I’ve made a cut here for 10 years. I do know at one stage I had about six mis cuts by one shot in a row. So, you know, I’m happy to be, you know, leading the event and we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Pollock led by one over Knox and Jack Devils. Fenta and Lro were a further shot of drift while Austin Bautista and Sam Simpson were beginning to make their presence felt. Herman Lopshire playing with confidence came into the week as the Courier Guy Auto leader following a consistent run of form and a win in per race. Getting back into the winner circle after I think 3 years, it’s quite a long time. So, it’s hard to kind of draw experience off off of a win if it’s that long ago. So, it feels like you haven’t won. And um I had a close call couple weeks before and the week before. It didn’t quite get the job done. So to get over the line was massive and kind of just frees me up a bit more for the rest of the season gets me into those bigger events which I’m I’m super excited for. It may seem like I’m I’m quite relaxed out there on the golf course. Some rounds it definitely feels that way. Some rounds doesn’t feel that way so much, but uh just getting the wind wind under my belt is definitely um taking a bit of pressure off. It’s one of the goals ticked off and quite early in the season. So, it definitely feels like there’s a little little more freedom to just go enjoy my golf a bit more and and and then see how see how well I can play. The biggest learning curve over the last uh 3 years before the win, it’s probably just kind of keeping the self-belief. A lot of my mates, they play well and then a lot of players that you know that you’re just as good as and you see them and they’re playing really well and and you just know you got to wait for your turn, stay patient and kind of wait for your breaks to come. Hopefully now um I can just carry on with this good momentum. The players were greeted by the best conditions of the week at Walco Sun Country Club, but the pressure of trying to win a golf tournament remained the same. Out early in the final round was Herman Lopshire and the current number one was able to maintain his grip at top the season long standings with a share of fifth position. This approach into the par five third set up one of six birdies in his sparkling round of 65. Flying up the leaderboard was Australia’s Austin Boutistaster who after beginning the day on six under path three strokes drift carded a front half of 30 to charge into contention. Overnight leader Michael Hollik recovered brilliantly after a shaky start. The shot from the greenside bunker at the third resulted in an eagle. Hollik back in front by one was chasing a second Sunshine Tour title in four weeks and a third of the year. Sam Simpson who broke into the winner circle in June with his triumph at the Zambia Open followed up rounds of 66 and 68 with a closing 66. The Cape Town professional ended his 54hole bid on 10 under par and in a share of third position with Lyall Row who went round in 67. A great display by the three-time Sunshine to winner who is trending in the right direction. Baltista though had been threatening a win this year with two top three finishes leading up to the week. A birdie at 10 was followed by another red number here at 12 and he was at that stage seven under for his round. Hollik was not deterred by the situation nor the fastm moving Australian and the experienced campaigner set up a second eagle of his outward half with a brilliant iron shot into the par five seventh. Sunshine to a rookie Joe Knox battled back from a disappointing front nine to shoot 69 for the second straight day and he finished up alongside Lopia and Jacqu Devilas on nine under a top five result for his efforts. A red hot boutaster meanwhile went on to set the clubhouse lead at 14 underpar with the week’s lowest round a sensational 8 underpar 62. The man from Sydney now led by three. And despite Hollik fighting back in the latter stages with a birdie at 15 and with this exquisite second into the powerful 18th hole. The man from Mount Edge came up agonizingly short of matching Baltista’s leading mark. Aleik finished one shot behind Bartista who after knocking on the door for the past few tournaments following his victory on the Big Easy Tour captured a deserved first title on the Sunshine Tour. It’s a nice feeling. Winning winning golf tournaments is is great. The the Sunshine Tour is a great tour. You know, we get to come to amazing places. This is uh Wild Coast is one of my uh favorite places to come to. This is my first cup made actually. It’s a beautiful, beautiful layout and um it’s just so challenging and luckily I was able to come out with the uh the win this week. And with coastal glory at the Sunbet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun, the 28-year-old Australian is now the closest challenger to Herman Lopshire in the Courier Guy Order of Merit standings. While Austin Bounty continues his rapid rise in the game, the Sunshine to NX travels to the Midlands for an exciting visit to Gallery Farm. The Vodiccom Origins of Golf has added a new chapter to its long history with the Sunshine Tour. For the first time in four decades, a tour event was played on a track that’s less than 2 years old as they made a stop at Gaif Farm Lodge and Golf Course. We started off as a 9-hole course, which we in fact had 11 holes where we used to play as a 18hole course, which got well received. We were considered as one of the top 10 short courses in the world outside of the USA. And then when we went to 18 holes, it’s been a fun ride seeing how it’s gone. It’s still got a long a long way to grow in, but it’s been fun watching the pros playing the dream, what we dreamed of. And I think we’ve learned a few things. We’re going to make some changes, but overall I think it’s been quite well received. Spectacular layout, Gary Farm. I must say it gives me quite a lot of feelings from Scotland cuz I played in Scotland once before and really has a good links feel to it. For me, I find it quite old school Scottish links, especially the front nine, the way they’ve done that. And then the back N’s just unbelievable. Such a great layout. So many good holes. Um, you obviously depending on the wind, there’s some good getable holes. If the wind switches, then they, you know, become pretty tough, but then the other holes become, you know, a little bit more getable. But to be honest, my opinion, this is probably one of my favorite layouts in South Africa. First time here and yeah, blown away by the place. It was a rather misty start to the tournament, forcing round one play to be delayed in the morning. Ting off on the 10th, Ryan Thundercliffe made a good start turning in 31 and he was leading the opening round when play was suspended due to fading light. It was an interesting day to say the least having to come here an hour and a half delay before we teed off. It’s something that like you know as professional golfers you kind of have to get used to. It’s, you know, we always talk about the weather being an uncontrollable factor. So, you kind of have to stick to your process, stick to your routines, kind of stay away from your phones in that sense. So, you know, it’s something that you kind of have to do as a professional golf. And, you know, your mentality has to be somewhat strong in that in that aspect. Funas was still fresh in his professional career this year when he won on the Bedway Big Easy Tour. And looking to replicate that success on the main tour, he came back to finish and set the clubhouse lead at minus 6. I’ve had a good couple of runs last few events. I’ve been working hard with my entire team from Brett Tucker, Miles Usher, Neil Chetum. Um, you know, I have a lot of credit to give to them, but we’ve been working hard as a team and um, you know, also my caddy John is fantastic. He’s allowed me to stay calm throughout the last two events, but I feel like right now um, the game’s in a great place and today it showed. So, it was great. Since play was suspended, it meant that the first round would resume at 7:00 a.m. the following morning. and the late starters were welcomed by wonderful weather conditions and they took full advantage. Still searching for an elusive second win on tour, Karat Pepl is sitting just outside the top 10 on the order of merit having played nine events. He got off to a flyer in the Quesad Midlands going five under in his opening seven holes. When he birdied his 10th hole, he looked well on his way to taking the lead, but he gave it straight back. He bounced back with two birdies which were unfortunately offset by three bogeies at the fifth, sixth, and eighth to sign for a 67. Building on its history of promoting gender equality, Vodiccom once again featured professional women golfers competing for equal prize money alongside their male counterparts. This initiative reinforces the telecom giants dedication to leveling the playing field and recognizing the skills and abilities of female golfers. Five ladies were in the field at Gai. Kelsey Nicholas had a good start cutting a 269 with five birdies and three bogeies to lead the charge. Gabrielle Fenta opened with a 70 round. Despite finding five birdies, she was pulled back by four bogeies at 8 and nine as well as at 15 and 16. K Mlache, who’s still looking for a maiden win on tour, started his tournament with a 66. Unlike many in the field, he was a bit familiar with the Guy Smith layout, having played the course a few times before it was expanded to 18 holes. Played a little bit of social golf here kind of throughout the years growing up. One of my good friends, Mattis, lives on the golf course, so we’ve played the old one a little bit. first time seeing the new one, but I really enjoyed the challenge out there. I played pretty well. I hit it really good. I didn’t actually putt very well. I think I had a run of like 10, 11, two in a row. So, I hit it really well. Um, and did what I needed to do on the top fives, which is really nice, which I haven’t really been doing of late. So, yeah, happy with the round and yeah, happy with what’s to come. Nikil Rama gave chase of the leaders after opening with back-to- back birdies on his way to a 31 front nine. He birdied the 10th and made an eagle at the 13th to take the outright lead. Got off to a quick start on the first n. I think I turned four under. Um puts were going down. I mean I was hitting really good golf shots even on the back nine. I just just a bad mistake on the double bogey that I made on the 16th. But uh other than that it was a really solid round of golf. Haven’t been playing great lately. Um, so I mean golf has been trending, so it’s nice to see the results starting to pay off now. So quick start was was lovely today. Dylan Mosett wasn’t getting left behind. Three birdies and a bogey on his outward nine set him well on his way and he would make two birdies and an eagle to leap up the leaderboard. It’s been a little bit frustrating with the fog and and the rain delay today. you know, didn’t even get to tea off yesterday, but came out today, started well, hold some nice putts. Um, I just been putting a lot of hard work and it’s nice to see a little bit of payment. Just felt like I managed myself quite well around the course, hit a lot of greens, made a couple long putts, which always helps. And um, yeah, made some nice short putts as well. It took 2 days to complete the opening round. And once it was in the bag, Dylan Mosed found himself at the top of the summit, holding a slender advantage over rookie Ryan Fandlas. Estona is a promising young amateur golfer who made headlines with his standout performance at the 2024 Sunbat Challenge played atali where he finished in a tie for fourth place. His strong showing against some of the Sunshine Tours best earmarked him as one for the future. The one atli was good. It definitely gave me a bit of confidence. You know, you can sort of back yourself. It get settles the nerves a little bit, but these guys are good. So, every week’s different. You got to adapt. You’re learning a new rotation of golf courses as well. So, just a little bit of confidence. That’s that’s what it did for me. Be very grateful as amateurs. These fields are packed. Guys are qualifying pre-qualifying to try and get in. So, the two spots that they give us, we just very grateful to the the tour and to Golf RSA and Mr. Rert for just allowing us to be out and just uh grow as a player. I think over the next few months I’ve got him fli next week and then um myself and Jean Ludic head over to Argentina to represent SA. So we’re looking forward to that and then hopefully the Daniel at the end of the year and then we’ll turn pro after that. With all the weather delays wreaking havoc with the tournament officials reduced the Vodiccom origins of golf at Gari Farm to 36 holes setting up a dramatic finish with a few players battling it out for the title. K Mlache had already began his second round when play was called off the previous day and after starting like a house on fire, he slowly lost his grip on the winner’s trophy as he navigated the tougher front nine which was his closing nine. Nikil Rama just simply couldn’t replicate his round one heroics, slumping to a one over par 72 to close out his campaign. First round leader Dylan Mustard had a day to forget. After opening with a birdie, he made a triple at the second and never recovered, finishing with the 74 that saw him tumble down the leaderboard, leaving the door open for a man who had wrestled with the demons of golf for a few years. Hayden Portas lost his playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour last season and received an invite to the tournament from commissioner Thomas Apt and he wasn’t about to waste that golden opportunity. He shot a closing 69 to set the clubhouse lead at 7 under par, then had to wait a few hours for the others to finish. Winner of the first Origins event of the season, Herman Lobsha continued his rich vein of form in the Midlands. Following up his first round 67 with a 69 to finish on 600 par, a mark that would later be matched by Luke Jerling. The lefty bounced back from a slow start, carving out a 66 with six birdies and just a solitary dropped shot. He was feeling good, especially with the flat stick in hand, going on to finish in a share of second place. First day leader Ryan Fandlas lost a bit of his magic after sitting out for so long without hitting a ball. He was one over for the round heading into the back nine and just couldn’t find the momentum to bring him back. Eventually signing for a 72 to finish in a six-way tie for ninth. In total contrast, Estan Conrad was having quite the entertaining day. He found six birdies and an eagle at the 16th only to undo his great work with four dropped shots. Narrowly missing out on what would have been an impressive victory. Searching for his first win of the new campaign, Daniel Fand walked with a sense of purpose down the last as he needed an eagle to force a playoff. He put together a thrilling 600 back n that included this birdie at the last which was sadly not enough to send the tournament to a decider. Having finally broken through a week prior with a win at Wild Coast, Austin Bautista looked to make it back-to-back victories in Guazulu Nadal. With Portius nervously looking on from the clubhouse, the Australian needed to chip in for Eagle to extend the tournament to a playoff. And when he failed to do so, the 31-year-old was confirmed as the winner, sealing his first sunshine to a victory since 2016. Hidden Portius produced one of the greatest comeback stories at Ga Farm to claim a one-shot victory. There was a seven-way tie for second place. Rookie Ryan Fandlas notched up an impressive top 10 finish. But in the end, it was Portas who made his way back into the winner circle. It’s no secret that uh I’ve been struggling with my game and you know, Thomas Apt was was uh very nice to me and giving me an invite this week. I I think I’ve shown a bit of a bit of good golf, you know, sort of on the on the mini tours and and to come here and take advantage of that invite is just, you know, words can’t really describe it. And uh you know, it’s been I think people underestimate how tough this game is and uh you know, I think all you need to do is have a look at at at the last few years in my career to to really know how tough it is. And to be back in the winner circle is just, you know, something I didn’t even dream of, you know, at the beginning of the week, you know, I just just wanted to kind of stick to how I was playing over the last 6 months or so. And you know, it was unfortunate that you know, a lot of the rounds were were being suspended. And uh, you know, to do it in two rounds was was unfortunate, but a win is a win. So, you know, super super happy and uh, you know, hopefully I can I can take this and and and use it as some confidence. The victory moves him into 11th place on the Sunshine Tours Order of Merit delivered by the Korea guy which is led by Herman Lobsha. A popular winner at Gower Farm, Hayden Portier back where he belongs competing for titles yet again. That’s all from the highlights team as we make our way to for the last of our three stop Kazad and mini swing. The third and final installment of the sun bit series. The sun bit challenge hosted by Sun Sabaya teed off at beautifuli country club as the sunshine tour wrapped up its kad in swing. I love the sunbet series. I had a top 10 at winggate and then we went to wild coast and I was in the mix again. Sunbet and sun international has been fantastic partner for the sunshine tour. They if you win in this tournaments uh you can get exempt. You play all the big ones and we say thank you as the professionals to Sunbet for putting up fantastic tournaments for us. The Peter Matkovich designed country club is a much loved course and has been a permanent fixture on the Sun series since 2022. It’s a tough layout. You can see the scores aren’t as low as everybody predicts around here. Just got to be very straight off the tea and greens are very small so you got to hit precise golf shots into the greens as well. Parkland Golf Course kind of similar to Jober in a way with a lot of trees very tight to the tea. You’ve got all those banana trees. Um that coastal grainy grass which is a little bit different to what I’m used to. Green’s also very grainy. So condition wise is very different to what we’re used to or what I’m used to. But yeah, all good. It’s almost feels like a resort course. Um short, you have to be in play. Um on the fairway, fairway is the key here. I think with the palm trees and the water features and the rough, it gets you uh you need to focus. Uh so the key here is just keep it in play on the right spots on the green and then if you put well you can definitely get a lower one. Overcast conditions welcome the players for the opening round of the three round tournament. Donnie for Nick enjoyed an exemplary 18 holes, delivering five birdies and a bogey to take a share of the lead at four under. Bit better goal for me this week. I’ve been battling for weeks now, so I’m going to take this round. Um, new body in the bag this week. I actually built it yesterday, so worked great today. Pretty happy with the round. He was one clear of two players which included Lyall Ro. The man from Kbeca offset his two bogeies with five birdies on his way to a 68. Nice and solid. Uh put it pretty nicely which is which is pretty good on these greens. They’re not I mean you can hold putts but it’s easy to also miss a few. So yeah puted pretty solid which is good. But sitting alongside for Nick at the top, James Mack, who opened his account were three birdies in his first five holes before draining another two after the turn along with the bogey. I’m very chuffed. I had a few lucky breaks on 16. Hit the path and gave myself a good lie. But otherwise, I was pretty solid off the tea. Good into the greens and myself and my caddy just really worked the wind out like really well today. So, we put in a good graft. So, a two-way tie at the top, but with plenty of players in contention, plenty could change over the remaining two days. And plenty did change as sunny skies greeted the competitors for day two, which resulted in some very low scoring, especially in the morning session. Young Benjamin Fvake bounced back from a 72 to set the early pace with a brilliant 7 under 64 to climb to the top on six under. Uh yesterday I was actually like hitting the ball not too great. Uh spoke to my coach G this morning. I was like I need to fix something with my swing. We kept it the same. I just made like every single putt on on the earth. So everything worked out good today. [Music] Fun bake was soon joined by another rising star Tyron Sniders who went bogey free on his way to a 4under 67. [Music] It was a grind out there today. Wasn’t easy. Swirling winds, tricky greens, but glad with how I did it. Didn’t hit the ball too great, but um short game definitely saved me chipping and putting. Didn’t miss it in the wrong places, which was good. And yeah, made a couple putts, so good run of golf. The pair were in good company at the top as the vastly experienced Yaku Princler also finished the day at six under an excellent 67 which included four birdies and an eagle. Started very slow. I think I made um eight pars in a row and I managed to birdie the ninth hole which kind of uh got me going. I eagled the 10th and then I missed two really short putts on on the on the next couple holes but hold a nice one on 15 and um and yeah just I played well today. Three is company, but four certainly isn’t a crowd as Louis Albertson became another member of the ever growing sixunder club. He opened with an eagle on his way to a super 66. It was obviously such a hot start. Um you you have to stay composed as much as you can, but also try to ride the wave while you’re doing it. But um yeah, the front line was pretty much flawless. I think there was a bogey in there, but it was unbelievable. And then yeah, reality hit between 1 and four and then I brought it back nicely towards the end which is nice. But um yeah, chuffed. Peter Mulman had a chance to break away from the pack but an unfortunate bogey at the last saw him complete the quintet at six under. We always want to be in contention. Give yourself a chance. Um you know it’s scarce that we have a day making putts like I did today. Feel like I can hit it a little bit better. So going to go graft off this, but uh yeah, tomorrow’s going to be interesting. I mean, there’s a lot of exping out here. So um we’ll just fight with them and see what happens. So gridlock at the top with no less than five players sharing top spot at six under. Their closest challenges, Kyle Barker and Keegan Thomas, who had just one off the pace. Also in the mix, Hayden Portius, fresh from his emotional victory at Garry Farm a week earlier, which was his first win on the Sunshine Tour since 2016. It’s no secret that I’ve that I’ve been battling with my game for a few years now. And uh you know, all I want is uh you know, just just to feel a bit more comfortable out there. And you know, I’m starting to do that and and putting some good rounds together. And you know, last week was was just emotional. You know, it was it was a lot of hours and and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to to get myself back to where I know I can be. And it’s good to also be around guys that I’ve grew up playing golf with. There was obviously some times where I thought I’d kind of lost the touch, you know, and I think these are very reasonable thoughts. And, you know, I have told a lot of guys that, you know, in my sort of junior, amal days, you know, golf seemed really easy. And you know, now I’ve kind of gone through some trials and you know, you realize that the game’s not that easy. But in saying that, I’ve learned a lot about myself. You know, things that you know, maybe I wouldn’t have learned if you know, things had carried on going on very easy. And it’s uh a little bit of a delve in into yourself. And you know, these are moments that, you know, I’ll cherish for a long time. Gain a bit of perspective. You know, I I got married. I’m expecting a little baby girl, Harley. you know, and that’s that’s given me a lot of perspective in in into life and what what life’s all about. And, you know, golf, even though it’s super important to me, it’s it’s secondary, you know, I think, you know, to have a happy life and a happy family is is number one. And, you know, that might be a contributing factor for why, you know, I’m getting myself into a better place, just because maybe I was trying a little bit too hard here and there and just refusing to kind of just let it happen. And I think right now I’m I’m I’m letting it happen. and and we’ll see what the future holds. The clouds return for the third and final round at Schlali with the 52 players who made the cut all in action. [Music] Lyall Row was a consistent performer all week and finished things off with a 69 to end the tournament at 5 under. Hayden Griffiths, who came second in a Sunbit Series event at Sun City in 2023, delivered 69s throughout his three rounds on his way to a share of eighth place at six under where he sat alongside Ryan Thundercliffe. Overnight co-leader Mullman was on the move, sinking four birdies on the front line to make the turn at 9 under for the tournament. [Music] However, he was being hunted by the unwavering presence of Louis Albertza, who scrambled with ruthless efficiency to put himself in contention. Herod Pepler wasn’t among the front runners in the first two rounds, but a superb 5 under 66 took him to a share of sixth at 8 under. Princler couldn’t quite keep up with the leaders, but he did deliver 68 to finish tied for fourth at nine under. The man beside him, twotime Sunshine Tour winner Kyle Barker. This remarkable chip in to save par at the 16th, the highlight of his 67, which also featured six birdies and two bogeies. The pair were one below young Tyrron Sniders who stayed in the 60s all week to finish at 10 under. A commanding performance from the man who represented the Texas Tech Red Raiders with distinction over in the USA. Mulman once again had a chance to break away from the pack at the last and he did with this birdie at 18, giving him the clubs lead at 11 under. But he couldn’t shake off Alberta who once again got himself out of trouble to save part 18 and force a playoff. [Music] The two men returned to the par 31 18th which they both part at the first time of asking. But after Mulman scrambled from the sand to find the green in two, Alberta had this lengthy putt for victory. An exhilarating end to what was a wonderful tournament with the ever popular Louis Alberta securing his third Sunshine Tour title in dramatic fashion over Peter Mullman. So a playoff separating Albertan Mulman while Sners played beyond his years to wrap up third place all on his own. Bark and Princeler completed the top five by finishing at nine under. The last year and a half overseas playing on a challenge and main tour is very tough. Um, yeah, losing category on sunshine tour back into rerank category is is obviously also tough. You know, you you know, you’re not into the big events and you have to play yourself back in there. I was actually into the French Open this week as well. And um, yeah, decided I I wasn’t going to go. It’s a very big event and um to give that up to come play Adam Schlley is is a is a tough decision and it was obviously the right one and and it’s nice to be at home and trying to find my feet and this is a perfect way to find your feet. The victory took Alberta to eighth on the order of merit delivered by the courier guy which is led by Hammond Lopia who sits slightly ahead of Australian Bautista. Congrats to Louie and thanks to Schlali for producing an epic three days of golfing action. [Music] [Music] [Music]
