27.02.2022:
I have kicked of 2022 with a great African tournament schedule. Three Sunshine events in South Africa and the LET season opener in Kenya is now complete!
The Ladies Sunshine Tour
The first event I played was the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape first, the weather was crazy, and we experienced all the seasons with stormy cold winds, rain, and the warm sunny day without a cloud on the sky.
We unfortunately contracted some stomach bug that was going around in the water in Cape Town. In the days ahead of the event we were in bed and not practicing as we had hoped and planned for.
This event was supposed to be used as a “warm up” for the first LET event in Kenya the week after. Despite everything I finished decent with an 8th place there with the scores 78, 73, 80 (par 74) and a plus 9 for the event.
The second event was at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City outside of Johannesburg, the SuperSport Ladies Challenge. The course is beautiful and the nature around it is stunning. I was here last year also, and I might have loved it even more this time! After a tough first round of 77 the next two rounds got me back to par with a 69 and a 70 to finish with a 7th place. The day after Knud Andreas and I went on a game drive. We had an incredible time and we saw the most amazing animals in the beautiful nature at Sun City.
The third and final Sunshine Tour event I played was in Johannesburg at the beautiful Glendower Golf Club. The course is Knud Andreas and my favorite in South Africa, and the quality is unique. After two rounds of 73 (+1) where I had to fight for every stroke gained I unfortunately fell through on the last round and shot a 78 to finish +8 on 22. place.
All the events in South Africa were great, I had fun and learned a lot! The game is already improving from last year. I love seeing how my hard work is paying off in form of skills and knowledge. My focus has been on tee shots and short game, and I am noticing big differences already. I am feeling much more comfortable on these type of shots now.
LET Season Opener
The LET event the Magical Kenya Ladies Open was held the 10. – 13. February, which was in between the first and second Sunshine Tour.
The season opener in Kenya was a good experience, except for the low energy we both had after the last week in Cape Town and the sickness, but we did our very best.
The 34 km or 2 hour long bus ride from the airport showed the poverty of Kenya, and was a grim reality check. Even though I have seen poverty before and came straight from South Africa, I was not prepared for the sightings. When we arrived at the Vipingo Ridge Golf Club, every trace of poverty was gone, and the Coca-Cola we had seen sold for 20 Kenyan shillings could be bought for 300 Kenyan shillings at the golf club.
I am fortunate and lucky, and I try to use and enjoy this life of mine as well as I can.
The Vipingo Ridge Golf Club played difficult as the wind was opposite of what the course is made for, but it was a fun challenge. The greens were firm and slow, which was an extra level of toughness as we had long clubs into the greens.
My first round showed signs of nerves and rusty shots and was not the opening round I had wished for. But I knew that if I was struggling others might also find it hard. I played a great second round with much more confidence and the nerves were pushed aside. With a bit of luck the cut ended up just below me, and I was right. The struggle was real, that was shown when the cut fell at a shocking +11 after two rounds.
My third round was great and everything worked out, 70 (-2), while the final fourth round was again a battle against the course and I finished at 78 (+6).
51. place 81, 74, 70, 78 (+15) and the season has officially begun. There were a lot of positives to take with me from the first event, so that is what I did, and went back to South Africa for the last two events described above.
