ON TOUR WITH TANDI
Tandi on Tour The re-launch of the local ladies professional tour under the new banner of the Sunshine Ladies Tour was to say the least a huge success. Now, many of our young, up and coming Professional’s will head overseas for the European and Asian Tours, hopefully well prepared and ready to burn it up. The Sunshine Ladies Tour has been massively supported by the men’s Sunshine Tour, Investec, Super Sport, Sun International and Dimension Data with a great big well done and thank you to each and every one of them and especially the Woman’s PGA for all their hard work and effort.
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t is so exciting to have Ladies Professional Golf back on the map again here in South Africa. With many of the events re-signed up for next season and the promise of even more events forecast, it is a sign that the support for woman’s Professional golf is gaining momentum. All very good news for us players and even more so for the local teaching Lady Professionals who still have so much to offer the game yet cannot compete overseas due to financial or work constraints. Hopefully, as time goes by, the events will increase in prize money and start to attract big names from Europe to help improve the Tour’s status and marketability. For us local players, myself included, the Sunshine Ladies Tour is a spring board to get back on the international tours, brimming with confidence gained from home soil competitive golf. Another spin off is the prospect of many of the new players gaining sponsorships through successful performances locally, a facet that has been a sore point for many years. Most of our talented young ladies have had to turn the hat in early and return home to find other ways of earning a living, sometimes when on the brink of success or a break through win, financial constraints being the main reason and the lack of adequate sponsorship or support. May/June 2014
I am positive the resurgence of the Sunshine Ladies Tour will change all this and bring forth a new chapter for woman’s Professional Golf and our talented young lady amateurs wanting to pursue golf as a career. Players to watch out for this year: Ashley Simon will be playing on the LPGA this year as she managed to successfully secure her full tour card at the 2013 LPGA Tour School. Lee Ann Pace has a conditional card but will nonetheless get many starts. Hopefully our girls can manage a win! Ladies European Tour Rookies: Nombuhle Dlamini, Kim Williams and Nicole Garcia. Seasoned campaigner’s Stacy Bregman and Connie Chen are looking in fine form. Come on girlsbring home some silverware! On the following pages, you will find the results for the last 2 events of the Sunshine Ladies Tour, Chase to the Investec Cup and the final Order of Merit as well as results for the Inaugural Ladies Zambian Open held at Ndola Golf Club in March. (Continued on p 78)
www.sagolftrader.co.za
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