Former Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Branden Grace labeled the Sunshine Tour’s decision to play this year’s event in short pants as ‘awesome’, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN at Leopard Creek.
Grace, who finished his first round on four under par on Thursday, was full of credit for the organizers of the competition, emphasizing it’s a decision that will benefit every player on the course this week.
‘It is boiling out there. Eddie (Pepperell) and I spoke about it on the third hole, which was at 10:00 and our twelfth hole of the day, how are the guys going to tee off at 14:00 feeling how we are feeling?’ he said.
The European Tour, who co-sanction this event with theSunshine Tour, announced on Wednesday that the players will be allowed to don shorts for this year’s edition of the competition due to an extreme heatwave, becoming the first professional golfing event ever to make this call.
Temperatures were in the high 30’s on Thursday for the start of the action but are expected to surge even more over the weekend with a maximum temperature of 41 degrees expected on Saturday.
Grace admitted that it was a rather strange feeling starting a competitive event not in long pants.
‘It doesn’t feel right but it is a great thing for everybody this week,’ added Grace.
The 31-year-old won the event back in 2015 with seven strokes and will have one eye on Sunday’s big prize after a solid and confident first round.
