LALI STANDER: Sopping wet but happy — it’s Buhai on fire, after all

So, there I was on Wednesday morning, wet to the bone but smiling widely as I walked with Ashleigh Buhai over the first nine holes of her opening round of the Investec SA Women’s Open at Steenberg Golf Club in Cape Town.

Sopping wet, because duck weather has been the signature of the 10th Sunshine Ladies Tour season as the local circuit toured SA from Sun City to Cape Town via Fancourt, Atlantic Beach Links, Glendower and Modderfontein Golf Club.

Smiling, because this is why we all got up at the crack of dawn ... to watch the world No 18 blitz through the first nine holes in 29 strokes and complete an outward loop book-ended by a trio of birdies at each end, with one thrown in the middle for good measure.

It’s the first time Buhai has teed it up in our national Open in three years, but she arrived in Cape Town in hot form, coming off a top seven in the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore. That followed a top 10 in the Honda LPGA Thailand in February and a tie for ninth in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January.

Ash jetted in to Cape Town late on Monday afternoon, and sat through an hour-long media conference before playing in the pro-am on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning she fired a shot across the bows of all the players with an opening eight-under-par 64 lead at Steenberg. Excitement lit up her eyes as she gushed: “I didn’t expect that. I woke up tired and I shot my best nine-hole score of my career; man, the putter was hot.”

I asked Buhai at the media conference whether she felt extra pressure to win this week, and she diplomatically answered that she knew everyone expects her to win, but in this game, there are no guarantees.

“I hope I can go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing. If it happens, it happens. But if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’ve won this three times. I don’t have to prove anything. I’m just here to enjoy and be around family and friends and have fun,” she said.

Shooting 64 is always fun, but there is no denying that the Ash Buhai who teed it up on Wednesday wants to win. She admitted as much during the presser. “I want to win. I mean, once you get that feeling, you just want to win more. The belief was always there, but after the British [Open] it’s become very real. Now, every time I tee it up, I feel like I can compete, And I am competing. I’ve shown that at the start of my season. I have never got off to a good start like this. I’ve had three top 10s in three LPGA events and that’s never happened before.”

During Tuesday’s media conference we talked form with Buhai and Lee-Anne Pace and adding to their past victories — Buhai, still the only amateur to win the national title twice as an amateur before her first pro win in 2018, is gunning for a fourth title, while Pace would love to get her sixth, having won number five in an epic six-hole sudden-death play-off at Steenberg last year.

With both players, the conversation swung to the growth and development of the Sunshine Ladies Tour. In its first year, the tour attracted eight foreigners and the players competed for total prize money of R1.075m. Ten years on, the 2023 Tour saw more than 130 international golfers from 31 countries tee it up and the total purse is more than R16m. With two Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned events, and a third one on the cards for 2024, the premier women’s professional tour in Africa is strong and healthy.

Yet, both Buhai and Pace would love to see the circuit extend past the six weeks in February and March.

“The growth of the Ladies Tour mirrors the growth of the women’s game worldwide and it has been amazing to be part of this journey,” Pace said.

Given explosion

“I love seeing all these youngsters coming through the ranks from SA. There are some long hitters and really good ball strikers and it’s great to see the young amateurs also stepping it up. Last week we had a couple of rookies in the top 10 in the Joburg Ladies Open and that’s fantastic.

“But given the explosion in women’s golf, and the financial constraints on our girls to compete abroad, we really need the tour to expand and become a year-long tour. That will give our girls, and players from the African continent a sustainable circuit that will properly prepare for the next level.”

Buhai echoed Pace’s assessment of current women’s golfing landscape in SA.

“It’s amazing to see how the sponsors are starting to get behind women’s golf in SA, how the purses have increased and how popular the Sunshine Ladies Tour has become on the international calendar.”

The women’s game is developing along similar lines to the men’s worldwide and it’s encouraging to see SA and the Sunshine Ladies Tour are keeping pace with this trend. Let’s hope they take the concerns of our top two players to heart and keep pushing the local circuit to greater heights.