LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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To the editor

Dear Marc

Thanks for writing in. Your letter has profound meaning and I hope that many people read this. So many lessons can be learned through playing golf and it really is the game of life. All the best and I trust that you will achieve your specific objectives going forward. Regards

When I first started out playing golf, I thought it was all about swinging hard and hoping to make contact. I reckoned that if I needed to hit the ball a long distance, I needed to use lots of force. I soon realised that making solid contact created distance – and I rarely made solid contact from swinging hard. The more I analysed my game, the more apparent it became that there was a negative correlation between how hard I swung and how far I hit the ball. When I slowed it down and focused on making solid contact, good things started to happen.

This made me think about life and how the same rules apply. Rarely is much accomplished from merely swinging hard. Sheer force does create action, but it’s often negated by a lack of strategy. Like in golf, I’ve learned to pull back a little, focus, and work on specific objectives.

Regards

Marc Rush

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Strydom breaks records on his way to Tour Championship win

Tristen Strydom made his professional breakthrough on the Sunshine Tour when he won the season-ending Tour Championship in record style at Serengeti Estates.

Strydom built on a two-stroke lead overnight and closed with a 66 to win by six shots, which is the biggest margin of victory in the history of the Tour Championship. Strydom also claimed the record for the lowest winning total in the history of the Tour Championship on 21-under-par 267, surpassing the previous record of 19-under-par 269 by Garrick Higgo in 2020. He is also the first player in Sunshine Tour history to win the Tour’s Qualifying School and the Tour Championship. Strydom won the Qualifying School in 2020.

“I can’t describe how it feels. It’s been hard for me and I’ve worked extremely hard to get where I am today. I’m blessed with a lot of good people around me. It makes it so special to get that first victory for everybody who believes in me,” said Strydom. Pieter Moolman took second place on 15 under par with a final round of 70, while George Coetzee finished third on 11 under with a closing 70.

Strydom was never under pressure on the final day as he made four birdies on the front nine – three of them in succession – to continue moving away from the field. He stumbled with a bogey on 10 but corrected this with another birdie on the 11th. When he added a birdie on the 14th the title was beyond doubt, and his final birdie on the 18th confirmed it.

“I came out with an attacking mindset. I didn’t want to give anybody a chance. I had a good gameplan and I felt really comfortable with the golf course. I’ve had so many second-place finishes and it does get to you after a while. Buy my caddie just kept telling me to stay patient and it will happen at the right place and right time. And it’s great to have finally done it,” said Strydom. The win is a groundbreaking one for a player who was one of South Africa’s top amateurs and who then took some time to adjust to the professional ranks. The victory earns Strydom a one-year exemption on the Sunshine Tour.

The Tour Championship wrapped up the Sunshine Tour 2021/22 season. Shaun Norris claimed the top spot on the final Order of Merit thanks largely to his victory in the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Steyn City Championship. That earns Norris exemptions into the US Open and Open Championship this year as well as the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City. Dean Burmester finished second on the Order of Merit and Thriston Lawrence ended the season in third place.

Jayden Schaper’s finish of fourth in the Tour Championship secured him the Rookie of the Year award.