Ulrich van den Berg is not resting on his laurels as he aims for a first win in four years at this week’s Mopani Redpath Zambia Open.
He has had some good finishes in the first few events of the new season – the highlight being that 10th position finish at the Lombard Insurance Classic.
He says that he has been playing well of late, but he will be careful not to allow complacency to creep in on him.
‘I have been hitting the ball a little bit better the last few weeks and I feel rather confident of my game,’ he told the Sunshine Tour website.
‘But, this is the type of golf course that will really penalise poor golf shots, so one will need to keep the ball in play.’
And, while Van den Berg will want to navigate this course with caution, he knows his long game has enabled him to play himself into better positions.
‘I’m starting to hit the ball a lot better and I’m starting to get more and more comfortable with the putter.
‘We’ve been putting on a bunch of grainy greens the last few weeks, and I’m feeling a lot more comfortable on the grainy greens right now, so let’s see if we can make those low scores.’
Van den Berg has some memories of Nkana Golf Club and says those memories will come in handy when his quest for an eighth Sunshine Tour win kicks into gear on Thursday.
‘Well, what I remember about this course, is that if you don’t get the ball in play, you are going to shoot up a big number really quick.
‘So, for me really, the key is to get the ball on the fairways and from there you can do the talking.’
Ulrich Van den Berg best results this season:
26th – Zimbabwe Open
18th – Zambia Sugar Open
36th – Investec Royal Swazi Open
10th – Lombard Insurance Open
Photo: Sunshine Tour website
