Tournament Preview
TOP CHALLENGE
The Nelson Mandela Bay Championship is the final of four co-sanctioned tournaments between the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour. Mike Green
22-25 FEBRUARY, HUMEWOOD GOLF CLUB, SOUTH AFRICA
At the inaugural Nelson Mandela Bay Championship in 2023, for the first three days, left-hander Dylan Mostert survived the wind that makes the storied Humewood Golf Club such a test. Then he withstood a furious final-round charge from countryman Jaco Prinsloo, who carded a 10-under-par 62 to set a challenging clubhouse target at 15 under par.
When it came to the final hole, Mostert stood over an eight-footer which he needed for birdie and a one-stroke win. He rolled in the putt for a final round of 67 and his maiden Challenge Tour title on 16 under par. “My mental game definitely got me through this week. That’s what won me the tournament,” said Mostert after his solid final-round performance in gusting conditions.
“I was so relieved when I holed that birdie putt to win. It was a grind the whole week with the wind. The golf course was difficult for me. But once you taste victory like this you just want more of it. To be a two-time winner on the Sunshine Tour is a great achievement.”
Since the Challenge Tour began to kick off its season in South Africa, it has become a way for players from Europe to get going earlier in the year, as well as providing a new path for South Africans to get on to the bigger golfing stages of the world.
THE COURSE
Humewood Golf Club was opened for play 95 years ago in October 1931. It was designed by Colonel SV Hotchkin, who introduced some profound design ideas at several South African courses on his 1929 visit.
THE COURSE
Humewood Golf Club was opened for play 95 years ago in October 1931. It was designed by Colonel SV Hotchkin, who introduced some profound design ideas at several South African courses on his 1929 visit. He also designed East London Golf Club, just over 300km up the Eastern Cape Coast.
Humewood is called the ‘only true links in Africa’ for a reason, with Hotchkin drawing inspiration from the Old Course at St Andrews. The legendary South African Bobby Locke, four-time winner of The Open Championship, regarded Humewood as one of the best courses he ever played. Located in the sand dunes of Gqeberha and with wide, undulating fairways and vast coastal bush surrounding the course, it is a classic British links on the African continent.
The club has hosted several tournaments throughout its history, including the South African Open Championship on five occasions. It was the venue for the SA Amateur and SA Open in 1934, just three years after it opened. Ernie Els won the last SA Open held there in 2006 with an impressive 24 under par. Humewood also hosted the first 72-hole men’s SA Amateur Stroke Play in 1969. The wind was so ferocious during the second round that the average score was in the 90s. Winner Dale Hayes shot 89 and kept his position, with a winning total of 314.
If high winds come into play, and they almost inevitably will in a city nicknamed “The Windy City”, some of the holes will become really challenging. Hotchkin built eight unusually long holes, three heading west (4, 8 and 13), three east (7, 11 and 15), and two north-south (10 and 17). Up until the 1970s these were all par fives, but four (4, 8, 10 and 13) have become par fours. Members talk of two “courses” – West and East. When the westerly wind blows out to sea across Algoa Bay the downwind par fives are reachable in two, while the par fours into the wind can take three shots to reach. The easterly wind presents an opposite picture.
EXPLORE THE COURSE
There were six tournaments in South Africa in 2022, and, with some necessary consolidation, there have been four since 2023. This year, the SA Swing got under way with the SDC Open at Zebula, followed by the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open at Royal Cape, the Dimension Data Pro-Am at all three courses at Fancourt, and concluded with the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship.
In 2023, all four events were won by Sunshine Tour players, underscoring the significance of the opportunity for South Africans to try to play their way into Europe. Benjamin Follett-Smith won in Cape Town, JJ Senekal at Zebula and Oliver Bekker at Fancourt.
This year’s tournament will boast an impressive field once again, with DP World Tour players Zander Lombard, Brandon Stone and Casey Jarvis, and Ryan van Velzen, Neil Schietekat and defending champion Mostert just some of the world-class South Africans there to thrill the crowd.
Besides the opportunity of parlaying a fine season on the Challenge Tour into playing rights on the main Tour, the tournament also offers $350 000 in prize money. Convert that to nearly R6.6-million rand, and the value of a good performance in Gqeberha – and at the other three tournaments – for a South African professional is apparent.
TESTING NEW WATERS
Lyle Rowe and Dan Erickson enjoy some fishing off the Gqeberha rocks during their downtime.
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FAST FACTS
- Entrance is free for all spectators at the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship.
- Parking is available at the Beachside parking lot.
- The course record of 62 is held by Daniel Greene at the 2010 Vodacom Origins (eight birdies, eagle at 15) and Jaco Prinsloo at the 2023 Nelson Mandela Bay Championship (eight birdies, eagle at 17).
- Humewood has electric vehicle charging stations supported by Tesla and Audi.
Gallery below
DID YOU KNOW?
Humewood member Lyle Rowe, who finished T20th at the 2023 Nelson Mandela Bay Championship, will be playing in front of his home crowd again this year.
TYRONE WINFIELD/SUNSHINE TOUR