[Music] The Sunshine Tour’s fourth stop of the season led players to the Benoni Country club as they pay tribute to legendary golfer Gary Player and his wife Viven with a tournament named in their honor. The event marked the penultimate tournament before the tour takes a winter break and it was a good opportunity for the players to accumulate much neededed order of merit points or even a win before enjoying some time off. Nestled in the heart of Echureni east of Johannesburg, the club’s roots trace back to 1907. And over the years, BCC has evolved into a distinguished sporting haven celebrated for its historic origins and a prominent Parkland course. The golf course’s legacy is deeply entrenched, having hosted prestigious tournaments in the past, and it provided quite a stern test for some of the tour’s finest players. Graeme Fameva went around the track bogey-free in the opening round, ting off on the 10th. He started with a birdie and found two more to make the turn in 33. The 34 year old then made two birdies on his back n to sign for a 5 under 65. It’s it’s a good course. It’s a really good tournament course. You have to be good good off the tea here and I’ve never seen the greens running this well. Um so full compliments of Benoni Country Club and the team. Um really good tournament test and uh yeah they can be proud of themselves. Jason Roots wasn’t able to keep the bogeies off his card, but found plenty birdies to put a smile on his face. With the mercury hovering around 12° C when the morning wave of golfers went off, he quickly warmed up with an eagle birdie start. Yeah, you got to hit it pretty good off the tea. You got to hit it pretty good. Obviously, very treelined. Um, so if you get yourself out of position, you’re going to be behind. Um, and then, yeah, you got to say hit some good second shots, kind of slopey greens and some tough lags out there. So yeah, you got to be pretty precise out here. He would give two of those shots back before making a birdie at the ninth to turn on minus two. He was clinical on the back nine, finding five birdies to surge to the top of the leaderboard. Armed with a runup finish at the KK Cash and Kerry Prom and a fourth place finish at the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions, Jonathan Broomhead went in search of what would be his fourth Sunshine Tour win in three seasons. and his good form continued as he matched the leading mark without dropping a single shot. Made a nice birdie on on 10 my first and then just kind of kept the kept it going. Strung a strung a few along the way on the that front nine of mine. But um yeah, I was good. Hit the ball really nicely. Made some nice putts coming uh for most of the round. Um which was a good day. After day one, this is how the leaderboard looked. Samuel Simpson joined the roots and broom head at the top after he also caught it in opening 65. Vamerava found himself in a three-way tie for fourth place alongside Malcolm Mitchell and Ricky Hendler. Samuel Simpson has had a good start to the new season, opening with a top 10 finish at the first event in Zimbabwe. He struggled slightly at Irenei. The former Junior President’s Cup player recently turned 23 and he looks closer than ever to getting over the line. You know, I worked hard. You know, home is Cape Town. I actually didn’t go home over the over the short break. I stayed in I stayed in Joberg. Um so I did quite a lot of prep and got myself as mentally ready as possible. I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me is mental confidence equals good golf. So, um, yeah, I think this is my third year on the Sunshine Tour, fourth as a pro, and I think, um, I’ve learned a lot, especially last year. I finished just outside top 50 on the auto merit, but it was, you know, a bit on and off, but I learned how to make cuts and I’ve learned how to, um, you know, at least put myself in the position to hopefully play well on the weekends, which is what I struggled with before. So, I think coming into, you know, the first couple of events of the season, I’ve really tried to prepare to win. Um, you know, that may happen, it may not. you know, I can’t control that, but what I have done is prepared to succeed. And I think that’s a difference that I have over the last couple years. It was a strong field that gathered in Benoni. And with the Gary and Vivian player challenge being a 54hole tournament, the pressure was on at both ends of the leaderboard on day two. There wasn’t a lot of breathing room between the leaders and the chasing pack. So, they were hoping to keep up the momentum to stay at the top. And that’s exactly what Sam Simpson did as he picked up his opening 65 with a delightful 66 to nudge ahead of the field. He began his second round with the par before dropping a shot at the second, but quickly bounced back to find seven birdies which gave him the outright lead. His closest challenger on the day was Malcolm Mitchell who carved out eight birdies and two bogeies for his round of 66. The Kadan golfer struck the ball well to get himself into contention as he chased a second Sunshine Tour victory. Yeah, it was a a nice solid round again. Um, you know, driving the ball well around here I think is quite important and I’ve done well the the first two days. So, you just want to carry that over. Yeah, putting um luckily I’ve got it I stayed a lot with Yaku on sale, you know, being a member here and he gave me a couple of insiders a couple years back and I’ve just never forgotten them. So, but the greens are really good um receptive and, you know, rolling extremely well. The young Simpson would sleep on a two-shot lead and the knowledge that he would feel a little bit more pressure come the final round, especially with Martin Foster, Jonathan Broomhead, and Jason Roots just a further two shots behind Mitchell. The leaders all looked calm and ready ahead of taking on the challenging Penoni Country Club layout one last time. It was all to play for and a good start was premium. And when the leader blocked his opening shot to the right, that opened a gap for the chasing pack. He would make a bogey while Malcolm Mitchell opened with the birdie to tie for the lead. Another birdie at the fourth gave the Durbanites the outright lead, but bogeies at seven and eight saw him drop into a three-way share at the top. He managed to make a birdie here at the par 59. Ahead of them, Connor McKenzie was making a run. Two front nine birdies and this eagle at the ninth put him in the mix. He threatened to run away with it when he birdied the 10th, but sandwiched the second back n bird with two bogeies to set the clubhouse lead at 11 under power, courtesy of his closing 68. [Music] Alton Fameva never quite got it going on the last day, but he finished off in style with this magical eagle at the 18th for a final round two under 70 to finish in fifth place. [Music] Graeme Fameva was also putting on a fight. He was four under for the day when he made the turn, then made three more birdies and a drop at the last to sign for a 66 and finished in a tie for third with McKenzie. Jonathan Broomhead started bogey bogey and seemed to have played himself out of contention, but four birdies before the turn brought him back and the fourth one at the ninth was super impressive. The three-time winner made two birdies and a bogey to set a new clubhouse mark at 12 under. Walking onto the 18th T- box, Mitchell needed a birdie to win. by three putts to get himself into a playoff with Broomhead. This wonderful chip at the first playoff hole set up a second birdie opportunity for the win. Come back. [Music] And this time around he converted with ease to claim a second Sunshine Tour victory. Yeah know it was it was really good you know not being in contention um well this close to contention for a while um it was different and I’ve been doing a lot of work trying to you know teach myself patience and things like that and it started to show a little bit today which was nice. Uh, you know, it was actually a little bit calmer for the playoff because it’s either going to be first or second. Um, you know, sometimes things happen on the final hole. So, the the the nerves were quite high. Um, but the playoff it was actually I was under control and really enjoyed it. Unbelievable. I think it will only kick in, you know, in the next couple days. But right now, I’m over the moon. Uh, it’s all the hard work and blood, sweat, and tears. It’s starting to pay off. Oh, it’s always good. You know, that exemption, that winners’s exemption makes a big difference. Um, going to other um tours and things like that, you know, you can plan your life a little bit better, which is which is very nice. This is the final leaderboard at the Gary and Vivian player challenge. Malcolm Mitchell just pipping Jono Broomhead in a playoff. Luis Carrera finished in a tie for 23rd and still leads the Order of Merit standings delivered by the Korea guy. Mitchell’s win has seen him leap into second place with Broomhead in third. After a wonderful week in Benoni, it was Malcolm Mitchell who reigned supreme. [Music] The tour is off to Zambia before going on a winter break. From the entire Super Sport Highlights crew, that’s all from us. We’ll catch up again soon. [Music] [Music] [Music]
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