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NewsDay

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I feel no pressure: Spangenberg

Sport
Defending champion, South African Theunis Spangenberg, said he was not feeling any pressure despite being the man to beat when the R1,5 million Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open roars into life at Royal Harare Golf Club this morning. The 29-year-old Northern Cape-born golfer beat compatriot Matthew Carvell — who is also in the field this week […]

Defending champion, South African Theunis Spangenberg, said he was not feeling any pressure despite being the man to beat when the R1,5 million Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open roars into life at Royal Harare Golf Club this morning.

The 29-year-old Northern Cape-born golfer beat compatriot Matthew Carvell — who is also in the field this week — by two strokes to win last year’s tournament for his maiden professional win. Spangenberg said although he had endured a difficult season on the Sunshine Tour so far, he was confident of regaining his form this week.

Born and bred in Kathu in the Northern Cape, Spangenberg, who is now based at Kalahari Golf and Hunting Club, grew up playing at the Sishen golf course which he said was very similar to the Royal Harare Golf Club course.

“Since my win last year I haven’t been playing well, but coming into this tournament I’m feeling confident that this could be my turning point. I have done well here in my last two tournaments since it returned on the Sunshine Tour calendar.

“I managed to finish in the top five in 2010 before winning it last year, so I hope this is the best opportunity to regain my confidence. I played in the Pro-Am to get used to the surroundings again. The course is looking great, the fairways are a bit tighter and the greens are nicely manicured and obviously the conditions are different from last year when there was a lot of rain.” he said.

According to the order of play released yesterday, Spangenberg was drawn alongside compatriots Charl Coetzee and Divan van den Heever at 07:47am.

While South African golfers have impressed in the last two editions of the tournament, local golfers such as Tongo Charamba, Ignatius Mketekete, Ryan Cairns and Bruce McDonald have found the going tough.

However, for US-based Bruce McDonald, the tournament could not have come at a better time as he has been doing very well.

Three weeks ago, McDonald came very close to securing his maiden professional win after falling short by one stroke at the eGolf Tour’s Pine Needles Classic in North Carolina.

“My season has gone well so far and I can say I have got off to a good start. I have played solidly, but I have been a little bit inconsistent. I had a couple of good tournaments on the Sunshine Tour early this year before I went back to America and I have been working very hard on my game. Obviously coming second at Pine Needles was a big confidence booster and hopefully I will play well this week,” said McDonald.

“I grew up watching our local golf heroes such as Nick Price and Mark McNulty winning this tournament. Ever since I was a junior golfer, winning the Zimbabwe Open has always been something that I have wanted to achieve,” he said.