After her strong finish to close with a 66 and tie Stavnar for the lead on 16 under par following the Norwegian’s final round of 68, Venter carried that momentum into the playoff and birdied the first playoff hole to win and claim her second Sunshine Ladies Tour title.

“I am very happy. I played great, hit some really good shots, and didn’t make any mistakes, which is a positive. I am very happy with the win,” Venter said.

The South African duo of Bobbi Brown (66) and Jordan Rothman shared third place with Iceland’s Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (67) on 14 under par.

After battling with flu as well as a tough 27-hole second day cause by weather delays, Venter gave it everything during Friday’s final round knowing she had to be aggressive to stand a chance.

“I am still struggling with flu but the body held up fine and it didn’t hold me back today. Coming into the back nine I was hitting great shots but wasn’t making any putts, but I stayed consistent and aggressive. I knew on the 18th hole I had to go for it and then hit a really good drive to give myself the opportunity to do so, and I made the birdie putt,” Venter said.

Playing the par-five 18th again in the playoff, her gameplan was the same.

“I almost hit it in the exact same place, but unfortunately it ended up in a divot. I was thinking about laying it up, but decided it’s now or never. I just hit my five-wood as hard as I could, and it made it up the hill, which Ieft me with a two-putt for birdie and the win,” Venter said.

The Sunshine Ladies Tour will next head to Royal Johannesburg for the ABSA Ladies Invitational that will take place from 26-28 March.

SCORES

WN – Gabrielle Venter 69 65 66 WN
KO – Madelene Stavnar (NOR) 63 69 68 KO
202 – Bobbi Brown 69 67 66
202 – Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (ISL) 69 66 67, Jordan Rothman 67 68 67
204 – Tina Mazarino (NOR) 68 67 69
204 – Sophie Witt (GER) 67 68 69, Ashley Chow (CAN) 69 66 69
205 – Louise Rydqvist (SWE) 70 67 68
205 – Rebecca Earl (ENG) 67 69 69, Lee-Anne Pace 68 68 69, Louisa Carlbom (SWE) 62 72 71
206 – Ellie Gower (ENG) 71 69 66
206 – Symone Henriques 67 68 71, Lorna McClymont (SCO) 68 65 73
207 – Elina Saksa (FIN) 66 71 70
207 – Anna Backman (FIN) 68 72 67, Danielle du Toit 66 69 72, Charlotte Liautier (FRA) 70 71 66, Kristyna Napoleaova (CZE) 67 67 73
208 – Verena Gimmy (GER) 68 70 70
208 – Emie Peronnin (FRA) 72 68 68, Theresa de Bochdanovits (GER) 66 70 72
209 – Tereza Melecka (CZE) 69 70 70
209 – Nadia van der Westhuizen 70 68 71, Thalia Martin (ENG) 69 68 72, Bronwyn Doeg 70 66 73, Olivia Mehaffey (NIR) 73 68 68, Sanna Nuutinen (FIN) 71 70 68
210 – Hanna Tauber (GER) 68 70 72
210 – Anais Meyssonnier (FRA) 70 68 72, Canice Screene (IRL) 72 68 70
211 – Sofie Bringner (SWE) 69 69 73
211 – Anita Uwadia (BRI) 72 67 72, Hulda Gestsdottir (ISL) 71 70 70
212 – Elina Nummenpaa (FIN) 68 70 74
212 – Ekaterina Malakhova (WHT) 67 72 73, Cara Gorlei 68 72 72, Lora Assad 72 68 72, Michaela Vavrova (SVK) 72 68 72, Doris Chen (TPE) 70 70 72, Zane Kleynhans 71 70 71
213 – Zethu Myeki 71 66 76
213 – Lois Lau (FRA) 73 68 72, Carolin Kauffmann (GER) 70 71 72
214 – Lianna Bailey (ENG) 68 69 77
214 – Lucie Malchirand (FRA) 71 70 73
216 – Gia Raad (a) 67 74 75

Issued By Michael Vlismas Media

The post Birdie blitz carries Venter to Platinum Ladies Open title appeared first on SportsClub.

The round will be completed on Friday morning before the start of the final round.

Stavnar managed to complete her second round on Thursday and signed for a 69 to lead by a single stroke over Scotland’s Lorna McClymont, who posted a 65.

The best placed South African after the second day is Gabrielle Venter (65), who had to navigate 27 holes to complete her first and second rounds. She is in joint third place on 10 under par with Kristyna Napoleaova (67), and Louisa Carlbom, who is through nine holes of her second round.

“I started off a bit slow today as I am a bit sick with flu. I wasn’t feeling my best at all,” said Venter.

“It was tough having to go out again today. But my second round was a great round. My ball striking was very good. I felt like I was playing very nicely and could have probably made a few more birdies. But all-in-all it was a really good round, especially for such a long day. I just battled it out today.”

Venter is hunting a third Sunshine Ladies Tour title this week.

“I will definitely stay aggressive, but I’ll keep taking it shot by shot. As I’m not feeling well, I don’t want to waste too much energy by thinking too much. So I will stay aggressive and see what happens,” Venter said.

SCORES (*incomplete round)

-12 – Madelene Stavnar (NOR) 63 69
-11 – Lorna McClymont (SCO) 68 65
-10 – Gabrielle Venter 69 65
-10 – Kristyna Napoleaova (CZE) 67 67, Louisa Carlbom (SWE) 62 (Par) [10]
-9 – Ashley Chow (CAN) 69 66
-9 – Jordan Rothman 67 68, Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (ISL) 69 66, Danielle du Toit 66 69, Sophie Witt (GER) 67 68, Tina Mazarino (NOR) 68 67, Symone Henriques 67 68
-8 – Lee-Anne Pace 68 68
-8 – Bronwyn Doeg 70 66, Elina Nummenpaa (FIN) 68 (-4) [14], Theresa de Bochdanovits (GER) 66 (-2) [13], Rebecca Earl (ENG) 67 (-3) [9]
-7 – Zethu Myeki 71 66
-7 – Thalia Martin (ENG) 69 68, Elina Saksa (FIN) 66 (-1) [12], Bobbi Brown 69 (-4) [12], Sofie Bringner (SWE) 69 (-4) [11]
-6 – Anais Meyssonnier (FRA) 70 68
-6 – Nadia van der Westhuizen 70 68, Verena Gimmy (GER) 68 70, Hanna Tauber (GER) 68 (-2) [13], Charlotte Liautier (FRA) 70 (-4) [10]
-5 – Anita Uwadia (BRI) 72 67
-5 – Tereza Melecka (CZE) 69 70, Ekaterina Malakhova (WHT) 67 (Par) [16], Lindi Coetzee 68 (-1) [11], Lianna Bailey (ENG) 68 (-1) [10]
-4 – Cara Gorlei 68 72
-4 – Ellie Gower (ENG) 71 69, Emie Peronnin (FRA) 72 68, Lora Assad 72 68, Anna Backman (FIN) 68 (Par) [14], Canice Screene (IRL) 72 (-4) [13], Clara Pietri (SUI) 70 (-2) [11]
-3 – Olivia Mehaffey (NIR) 73 68
-3 – Lois Lau (FRA) 73 68, Lucie Malchirand (FRA) 71 70, Carolin Kauffmann (GER) 70 71, Zane Kleynhans 71 70, Gia Raad (a) 67 (+2) [14], Louise Rydqvist (SWE) 70 (-1) [12], Doris Chen (TPE) 70 (-1) [10]

Issued By Michael Vlismas Media

The post Stavnar holds clubhouse lead in Platinum Ladies Open appeared first on SportsClub.

Titan Secure has contributed a further R650 000 to this week’s tournament prize fund, boosting the overall prize money by R300 000 from R1.2 to R1.5 million. There is also a further cash incentive, with the professional who has scored the lowest round by the end of the tournament earning a R10 000 bonus.

Danielle du Toit is one of the clear favourites this week after narrowly missing out on securing back-to-back victories during last week’s Jabra Ladies Classic, where she lost to France’s Lois Lau in a playoff.

Lau, who defeated Du Toit and Scotland’s Lorna McClymont to claim her maiden win in her rookie season, heads to Blair Atholl feeling equally confident about her own game.

“It’s been great. I’ve been travelling a lot and I love travelling. I usually travel with my family or my friends, and it is a lot of fun being able to compete around the world and see other countries, cultures, people and food. It’s been great. I’ve been living the dream. It has always been my dream to play pro golf,” she said.

Although the French professional is unsure of what to expect from the course during this week’s tournament, Lau says she is ready for the challenge.

“This is my first time on the Sunshine Ladies Tour and in South Africa so I have no idea what the course will look like, but I am very positive and I am really confident in my game.”

A strong field will battle it out this week including 2025 defending champion Kiera Floyd as well as Nobuhle Dlamini and Nadia van der Westhuizen who finished fifth and 10th respectively in last week’s tournament.

Germany’s Cellina Sattelkau claimed back-to-back wins in the first two tournaments on this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour in the NTT Data Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank followed by the SuperSport Ladies Challenge. Danielle du Toit then became the first South African winner this season by claiming the Standard Bank Ladies Open hosted by the City of Cape Town in early March.

Issued by Michael Vlismas Media

The post Plenty to play for in Platinum Ladies Open appeared first on SportsClub.