Tristen Strydom is relishing the opportunity to compete with the stars of the European Challenge Tour in the Dimension Data Pro-Am, the final event of the 2021 South African Swing, which takes place at Fancourt Golf Estate from May 6-9.
The three co-sanctioned events give additional experience to Challenge Tour members while providing Sunshine Tour players with a potential pathway to the European Tour through the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and Strydom is one of South Africa’s rising stars who is looking to take full advantage of the opportunity presented to him.
The 24-year-old missed the cut at last week’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open but finished in a tie for fifth place at the Limpopo Championship the week prior as he showcased his potential against his European counterparts.
“For us South African guys, it’s a big challenge but so is it for them,” he said. “They’ve got to play on our turf and on our grass and conditions, but these guys are also really good at golf, so I think it lifts our game and theirs. I know a bunch of the guys on the Challenge Tour so it’s nice to see some familiar faces.
“I had a good start to the season. I’ve been playing really well but last week was a very odd week. I went from playing superb to absolutely rubbish in the space of one day, but that’s golf. I’ve been having a lot of fun, the courses we’ve played are unreal and also the spots we’ve been - Cape Town last week, this week we’re in the beautiful George and Limpopo is also beautiful on its own - so I’ve been having a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to this final week of it.”
The 2021 Dimension Data Pro-Am will be played across two of the Estate’s three courses – Outeniqua and Montagu – and Strydom believes each course presents its own challenges.
“Every time we come here the players are treated very well,” he said. “Both courses I’ve played, Outeniqua and Montagu, are in unbelievable condition and the greens are running at a rapid speed, so I’m looking forward to the week.
“I feel like Montagu is a little longer than Outeniqua, so you have a few holes where you have mid to long irons into the par fours which makes it a bit tougher. Outeniqua is pretty short and if you’re hitting it well off the tee then you’re going to have a lot of birdie putts. With how well these guys hit their wedges, that’s probably going to be the scoring side, then Montagu, if you get it round here in par or a couple under then you’ve done really well.”
A strong field has assembled for this week’s event in George, including Limpopo Champion and World Number 84 Brandon Stone, 2016 Dimension Data Pro-Am winner George Coetzee and last week’s Cape Town Open Champion and Road to Mallorca Rankings leader JC Ritchie.
As well as invaluable Road to Mallorca Rankings points, this week’s winner will receive an exemption into the WGC – FedEx St Jude Invitational in August, the third World Golf Championships event of the year.
The Dimension Data Pro-Am will begin at 7:15am local time on Thursday May 6, with Strydom teeing it up at that time alongside MJ Viljoen and Aron Zemmer on the Outeniqua.
