Judging by her two previous appearances on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, one could tell young Gabrielle Venter was poised for big things and the 19-year-old duly delivered on Friday when she won the Standard Bank Ladies Open in a thrilling battle with the experienced Kylie Henry at Royal Cape Golf Club.
Venter had finished tied-fifth in the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am and second in the SuperSport Ladies Challenge earlier this season, and on Friday she showed her enormous talent and mettle by shooting a superb four-under-par 70 to finish on nine under par.
It was enough to overtake 37-year-old Henry, a two-time Ladies European Tour winner, who had led after the first two rounds but could only post a level-par 74 on the final day, finishing on eight under.
While the victory might not have been a big surprise for followers of the Sunshine Ladies Tour, Venter said afterwards she had no inkling her maiden professional win was on the cards until she was on the 18th green.
“Honestly I was not focusing on the win at all because if you do that too much then you lose focus on the actual golf,” Venter said. “So I didn’t know what the scores were at all, I was just focused on my own game. I felt my game was in place to win, but if it didn’t happen then I would just wait for the next time.
“The first time I saw a scoreboard was when I was putting on 18, I missed the birdie putt and then you expect the best from your opponent and I was ready for a playoff with Kylie.”
While Henry had the misfortune to bogey the last two holes, she had played a full part in cultivating an exceptional final day in the R600,000 event. The Scotswoman recovered from a a double-bogey on the par-four 1st hole, while Venter made birdie to immediately catch up with the leader; Henry regained the sole lead with a birdie on the 3rd hole and she matched Venter’s four on the par-five 5th.
The lead switched on the 6th hole, however, as Venter birdied the par-four and Henry dropped a shot. Both golfers birdied the par-five 7th, but they were level again when the Bloemfontein Golf Club representative three-putted the par-three 8th.
But she regained the lead with a birdie on the 9th, before Henry pulled level again with a birdie on the par-five 11th. Venter struck back with a birdie on the 12th, but another three-putt on a par-three followed as both golfers left the 13th green on nine under par.
Henry birdied the par-five 14th to lead again, but Venter’s birdie-bogey-par finish was enough to pip the Investec Order of Merit leader, who closed par-bogey-bogey.
While Venter’s pure ball striking off the tee deserted her a bit in the closing stages, she made a lot of key putts and her short game was amazing. While the back nine was a little unkind to her, she showed impressive patience to pull off the win.
“It was quite a struggle on the back nine, but for the entire season my all-round game has been good. This win really means a lot to me because it puts me into a position to win the Order of Merit, which I really want to do.
“I will also take a lot of confidence into the co-sanctioned events – the SA Open and the Joburg Open – and I’ve learned that every shot counts at this level. Now I know I can win here. This Tour is a great tool to do well enough to be invited overseas and play against the best.”
Emie Peronnin of France shared second with Henry after shooting a fantastic 70 that kept the pressure on the two leaders to not slip up.
Photo: Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour
