One back at the start, 27-year-old Prinsloo closed with a 68 to reach 12-under for the tournament, beating Sandys, who carded the day’s low score of a 67, by two shots for his first Big Easy Tour win since 2013.

England’s Jeff Inglis joined the South African duo of Jacquin Hess and Francois Coetzee for a share of third on -7 as the MENA Tour’s Jamie Elson, who led by one shot overnight, returned a final round 75 to settle for solo sixth a further shot adrift.

“It’s been a while since I won on the Big Easy, but, it’s very nice to win the co-sanctioned event with the MENA Tour. It just feels like it’s a step higher,” said Prinsloo.

“The last leaderboard was on hole number 15’s green and I still had a three-shot lead there. I thought ‘OK, this looks pretty simple’, and all of a sudden on 17, Omar (Sandys) was on 10-under and put some pressure on me. But luckily I kept calm and put the ball in the right spaces, and yeah got it done.

“I just had to keep doing the things I have done the last two days and, it’s always a little bit tougher to do that on the last day, a little bit more pressure. But, I managed to stay calm.”

Elsewhere, Sweden’s Henric Sturehed signed for a 71 to finish in a three-way tie for seventh on five under, one ahead of fellow MENA Tour member Antonio Costa of Chile and two better of Fredrik From, the winner of the Pattana Golf Championship in Thailand last month.

England’s Sam Hobday took the honours in the amateur division on +8 after closing with a 78 as Brazil’s Tiago Lobo, who hit the front on day one with a 73, failed to keep the momentum going, missing the cut on Wednesday after a second-round 78.

Next up is The Roar, the third and final co-sanctioned event on MENA Tour’s South Africa swing, which will be played at Waterkloof Golf Club in Pretoria from June 20 to 22.

The post Late charge propels Prinsloo to victory at Jo’burg City Masters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Elson carded an equal best of the day 67 Wednesday to come from two shots back to grasp the lead in the co-sanctioned Sunshine Big Easy Tour-MENA Tour event at -9, a shot clear of South Africa’s Jaco Prinsloo.

Joy, meanwhile, was unable to recover from his opening two-over 74, going backwards with a second round 76 to miss the cut but four shots. That means the inconsistent OOM leader, through seven events of the MENA Tour season, is in danger of surrendering his lead atop the points standings, particularly if Elson can kick on to victory at Country Club Johannesburg Thursday.

Golf is a numbers game and those can be tricky when you’re playing at altitude where the ball flies further. Not that Elson, who mixed five birdies and an eagle with two bogeys in his second round, seems to be struggling.

“I played really solidly the past two days. I’m really confident with my iron-game. I got some really good yardages today and managed to hit some pretty close. It’s just a question of getting it in on the green, you know,” said Elson who finished runner-up at April’s Ras Al Khaimah Classic.

“The main thing is just working out the altitude,” he said of what he needs to work on going forward.

“You know, coming from the UK, the ball is flying, I would say, five percent further in the winter time here. I have been to Jo’burg before in the summer time but it was about 10 percent further. So I have got a little conversion thing in my bag that’s been helping me out and it’s been working very well.”

South African Maritz Wessels fired a 67 to climb into solo third as overnight leader Jacquin Hess slipped into a three-way tie for 13th on -4 despite closing his second round 74 with an eagle at the par-5 18th.

England’s Sam Hobday led the amateur division into the final round on +2 as overnight leader Tiago Lobo (Brazil) endured a tough second round, carding a 78 to finish on seven over, leaving himself with a mountain to climb in Thursday’s final round.

The post Elson eyes MENA Tour OOM lead as Joy’s glum Jo’burg City Masters ends prematurely appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As golf tournaments go, this week’s South to East Challenge near Johannesburg is hardly what you’d call big game.

The $30,000 (ZAR 400,000) event is a stop on the Big Easy Tour, a mid-season, garden variety event on the feeder circuit to South Africa’s celebrated but ultimately still developmental Sunshine Tour. It means only the players, their friends and family and serious golf anoraks elsewhere are likely to stay abreast of developments during the 54-holer.

With the U.S. Open to prepare for at Erin Hills in Wisconsin next week, it’s a fair bet the renowned golf photographer David Cannon won’t be clicking away inside the ropes at Ebotse Links in Benoni. But rest assured, the Englishman will have the South to East Challenge in sharp focus.

Cannon’s 30-year-old son, Chris, is one of the players to watch this week as the MENA Tour goes on its annual safari, co-sanctioning three events as part of its South African swing.

After years of graft and a tough start to the season, Chris finally broke through to win the Big Easy Sunshine Tour’s recent Kempton Park title, carding rounds of 67-65 and firing up Dad along the way.

Proud Dad! Today son Chris showing he has it! @BigEasyTourSA great effort! More to come! pic.twitter.com/GQ9dH9dQf1

— David Cannon (@Cannonball63) May 25, 2017

David Cannon has previously told GolfDigestMe.com that his ultimate dream is to photograph Chris playing the Open Championship one day, though we wonder how he’d manage to focus through the inevitable tears of joy.

Chris is still a way off lining up in a major but the sometimes MENA Tour starter can at least see light as he toils away in golf’s lower leagues hoping for that big time break.

“I feel like I have been moving in the right direction and my play is getting better and better,” he told the Sunshine Big Easy Tour.

“I think everything has been improving. I mean, I have certainly been putting well and my wedge shots have been much better as well this week. So, it’s just a general overall improvement and also mentally, I have been very focused.”

Fredrik From, meanwhile, will also take that rare winning feeling into this week having captured the MENA Tour’s most recent event, the rain-shortened Pattana Golf Championship in Thailand.

Fredrik Form

The 27-year-old Swede has set his sights on the MENA Tour order of merit title after signing for a sizzling 63 in the final round and has every reason to set such lofty goals after his breakthrough. The eventual MENA Tour champion earns starts in the PGA Tour’s 2018 DEAN & DELUCA Invitational at Colonial Country Club as well as European Tour starts in Dubai, Morocco, Malaysia and The Netherlands among other incentives.

Cannon and From will have their work cut out with defending champion Bryandrew Roelofsz and current Big Easy Tour money leader and countryman Etienne Bond headlining the South to East Challenge field.

England’s Luke Joy, who will be looking to make amends after missing the cut at the Zambia Open on the Sunshine Tour last week, is one of 37 MENA Tour professionals and five amateurs in the field. He is joined by fellow MENA Tour winners Tyler Hogarty (South Africa), Antonio Costa (Chile) and Cyril Suk (Czech Republic) while Dubai-based Brazilian Tiago Lobo, who is currently second to Switzerland’s Michael Harradine in the amateur order of merit standings, will be watched closely. The 100-strong field will be cut to the leading 50 professionals and ties after 36-holes.

Designed by Matkovich and Hayes Golf Course Architects, Ebotse Links has been described as South Africa’s only “inland links”. It was built to US PGA specifications with a 6,372-metre par 72-rating, features seven holes on the water and is currently ranked the 32nd best course by Golf Digest South Africa.

“We are very excited with our association with the Sunshine Big Easy Tour, which will benefit members of both the tours and help further stimulate the growth of golf. South Africa boasts some of the best and most beautiful golf courses in the world. I am confident our members will have fun playing there,” said Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Tour.

The MENA Tour is also co-sanctioning the Jo’burg City Masters at the Country Club from June 13-15 and The Roar at Waterkloof Golf Club in Pretoria from June 20-22.

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After two rained out days and several frustrating false starts in between, the inaugural Pattana Golf Championship finally got underway in Thailand Thursday and the Spaniard made up for lost time with a sizzling eight-under 64.

It will see Casado take a two shot lead over Thai Nakul Vichitryuthasastr into Friday’s final round with the MENA Golf Tour’s first ever 72-hole tournament to be decided over 36-holes, whether permitting.

England’s Jodan Garnish and Indian Udayan Mane fired 67s to share third a further shot adrift, one clear of a seven-man group which included Venezuela’s Wolmer Murillo, the winner of the MENA Tour’s Mountain Creek Open by Golf Citizen last year.

Starting on Pattana Golf Club & Resort’s 10th tee, Casado jumped out of the blocks with an impressive six successive birdies from the 11th.

“It was an amazing round with nine birdies. My putting was crazy as I made six birdies from holes 11-16 and another three on the front nine,” the Spaniard said.

“This is my first year playing on the MENA Tour and I am really enjoying the atmosphere as there is a tremendous sense of camaraderie among the players.”

That mightn’t last if Casado continues to wield such a hot putter although Vichitryuthasastr went bogey free Thursday and looks a threat. The experienced Thai also lit up the back nine with five birdies before picking up another shot on the 1st to stay in contention for a maiden MENA Tour title.

‘Played a good, solid round. I had an early start and benefited from the lack of wind,” said Vichitryuthasastr who turned professional in 2006 after an impressive amateur career which saw him represent Thailand in the Putra Cup and the Eisenhower Trophy.

Mane also kept it clean, reeling off two birdies on the front nine and three coming home.

“I drove the ball really well which gave me enough chances to hit greens,” said the Bangaluru native, who won a Professional Golf Tour of India’s event in Dhaka in March.

“It was a bit waterlogged in a few places, but it’s our duty as players to adjust to the course. The greens were surprisingly really quick and it caught me off guard on a few holes, but I was able to salvage pars.”

Elsewhere, European Tour regular Prom Meesawat returned a 70 to move into a 16-way tie for 16th along with England’s Zane Scotland and Luke Joy, who finished runner-up at last week’s Mountain Creek Open by Golf Citizen.

Brazil’s Dubai-based prodigy Tiago Lobo mixed five birdies with an eagle and four bogeys to lead the amateur division on a 69, three shots ahead of fast-improving Indian star Arkesh Bhatia, who is also based in Dubai.

The cut was made at level-par 72 with 58 professionals and seven amateurs making it to the final round. English cricketer-turned-golfer Craig Kieswetter (73) was among the notables who missed out on the halfway mark.

The post Spaniard calmly storms to top of rain-shortened Pattana Golf Championship leaderboard appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Thai was dialed into his laser-guided distances as he took advantage of a breathless early tee time to card an equal best of the day 68 to join overnight leader Lionel Weber atop the leaderboard at the MahaSamutr Masters in Hau Hin on Wednesday.

Frenchman Weber (67-71) and Janewattananond are tied at six-under 138 heading into the final round at Banyan Golf Club, a shot clear of England’s Jordan Garnish (68-71).

Suradit Yongcharoenchai and Ratchapol Jantavara share fourth a further shot back as Varanyu Rattanaphaibulkij, also of Thailand, and England’s Zane Scotland, who shared the overnight lead with France’s Weber, slipped to T8 after carding 75s.

“I had a pretty solid round today,” said Janewattananond. “ I started early in the morning and that helped. It got a bit windy on Tuesday afternoon, but this morning we had a bit of an advantage as it was very still out there,

“I did well on the back nine, scoring three of my four birdies. I love the idea of using range finders and golf buggies on the MENA Tour. I think I just need to get my rhythm going as there are a lot of good golfers on the leaderboard.”

France’s Weber, who is also a Banyan Golf Club ambassador, made three birdies against two bogeys en route to a second-round 71 to hold on to his overnight lead as Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela, who finished second here last year, kept his hopes alive, moving into a tie for 6^th on three under after a 71.

Dubai-based Brazilian Tiago Lobo fired an impressive 68 to join India’s Rayhan Thomas atop the amateur standings on one-under, six ahead of Victoria Tip-Aucha, the first female to play in a MENA Tour event and now the first to make a cut after rounds of 73-76.

An eagle on the par-5, 3rd highlighted the round of Lobo while Thomas, who was two under for the day and six under for the championship through 14, had to settle for a 73 after dropping three shots, including a double bogey on the par-3 17^th. 

Elsewhere, England Andrew Marshall carded back-to-back 73s that left him tied for 32nd in an 11-man group which included Craig Hinton, the winner of the MENA Tour’s Order of Merit title last year.

The cut was made at four-over 148 with 44 professionals and 10 amateurs making it to the final round.

Craig Kieswetter may have missed the cut by two shots, but the former England cricketer provided one of the highlights of the day, acing the par-3, 15th from 134 yards with a pitching wedge for his second career hole-in-one — and the first in a professional tournament.

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