This week, our betting angle for punters here at SA Tour Golf comes home. We bring you tips for the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open from Gary Lemke (three-time SA Sports Writer of the Year and golf magazine editor) and Mike Green (former Sunshine Tour communications manager).
GARY LEMKE says:
Local is lekker as they say and although there are a number of foreigners teeing up at this week’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open, it will be tough for them to prevent a South African from taking the title.
JC Ritchie won the last two instalments of this Challenge Tour event held at Royal Cape, but he’s not around to try to make it a rare hat-trick. But there’s plenty of back-up if you’re looking for a South African to triumph this week.
My three choices for this week are perhaps on personal grounds and not necessarily because they are in red-hot form., However, in golf betting sometimes you just have to go with your gut feel and I’ve gone for a 16/1 choice, an 18/1 selection and an 80/1 outsider as my three for the week.
At 16/1 is Jayden Schaper. A gifted amateur, he has taken time to find his feet in the pro ranks, but I really liked the way he finished off 2022. He posted totals of 9-under (three times) and 7-under in his last four starts and had two top 10s in the process on the DP World Tour. That kind of consistency is sure to get his due rewards sooner rather than later.
Brandon Stone is a three-time DP World Tour winner but has lost out on his Tour card and has relocated to South Africa to reset. He remains a brilliant talent and, on his day, can beat the very best in the business. His mindset will be important, but he’s a strong character and will be working hard to get back to where he should be and regain his DP World Tour card.
The 80/1 outsider is Casey Jarvis. He turned pro only last year, but will know this layout well from his amateur days and he has an old head on young shoulders.
Favourite for the event is the huge-hitting Wilco Nienaber, who will have spectators gasping at his length off the tee, despite it being at sea level.
MIKE GREEN says:
Pieter Moolman shot the round of the week in the tournament last year when he carded an eight-under-par 62 at Royal Cape on his way to a share of 15th. His closing two-under 74 was disappointing, but he’s grown a lot in a year, with a maiden Sunshine Tour win and five top-10s in the current season. He will take a lot from that 62, and perhaps even more from the pain of the double-bogey and the three bogeys of the final round. At 51/1, he’s a heck of a good proposition, and his placing odds will be attractive too.
Also at 51/1 is Neil Schietekat. He finished in a share of sixth last year, and he will bring a focus to the tournament at the beginning of a year during which he really wants results to go his way.
Incredibly, last year’s runner-up Christopher Mivis of Belgium is quoted at 91/1. While the rest of his 2022 Challenge Tour record is uninspiring, he clearly loved his time in South Africa, with another second coming in the Jonsson Workwear Open in Durban a week after Cape Town. After an opening 72 at Royal Cape last year, he had rounds of 66-67-66. Worth a flutter, no?
