The Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open returns this week and will be held across two courses at Royal Cape Golf Club and Rondebosch Golf Club. Here are three men to keep an eye out for when the action gets under way on Thursday…
Form Horse
New Zealander Daniel Hillier enjoyed a strong start to the Road to Mallorca season last week, finishing in third place at the Dimension Data Pro-Am. The 23-year-old shared the lead at the end of round one and remained in the mix throughout the week. However, he did not quite have his best stuff on Sunday, posting a one under par round of 71 and never really staked a claim for the title. The Kiwi is teeing it up in this event for the second time after finishing in a tie for 36th place after a four over par closing round, having entered day four just two shots off the lead.
Local Boy
There are several players who could claim the local boy tag this week, however we are picking out Jacques Blaauw. The South African, who now lives in Pretoria but grew up in the Mother City, is a man who could really be one to watch this week. In 2021, Blaauw lost out in a play-off to countryman JC Ritchie at Royal Cape Golf Club so knows how to post a score at the course which is set against the backdrop of Table Mountain. The 36-year-old had a solid start to the season at Fancourt Golf Estate last week, finishing in a tie for 19th place.
The Outsider
Poland’s Mateusz Gradecki will begin his Road to Mallorca season this week and will be ready to make his mark after finishing in 68th position on the 2021 Rankings. The 27-year-old made 13 cuts from the 17 Challenge Tour events he teed it up in, including two top tens. Gradecki, a good friend of Adrian Meronk, the first Polish player to earn full playing rights on the DP World Tour, has been in South Africa for a couple of weeks practicing, so will be ready to attack his first event of the year this week.
