Welcome to the Free Drop Sunshine Ladies Tour wrap where each day we recap the performances of our past Free Drop podcast guests.
Here is all you need to know from the final round of the Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club.
2. Cara Gorlei (-4)
Holding a share of the lead with Caitlyn Macnab heading into the final round, Gorlei made an assured start to her day with three consecutive pars. Dropped shots at the 4th and 6th, however, left her trailing Macnab by three shots after six holes. Macnab bounced back from an opening bogey with three consecutive birdies. Though she dropped a shot at the 6th, she had successfully created some early breathing room.
A Gorlei birdie at the 7th was followed by a dropped shot and a double-bogey at the 10th which meant she had some work to do over the closing holes to erase the deficit. Three birdies over the next five holes demonstrated the former amateur standout’s fighting spirit.
Gorlei and Manon Gidali were the beneficiaries of a back-nine stumble from Macnab who came home in 42 to finish in solo fourth.
A nail-biting end to regulation play saw Gorlei and Gidali tied on four-under par for the 54-holes. In the end it was a bit of magic from Gidali which separated the two after she holed a 25-footer for birdie at the first play-off hole to earn her maiden professional title.
Hats off to Gorlei on a fantastic week though – a maiden pro title of her own may not be far away.
9. Casandra Hall (+3)
Casandra Hall saved her best for last at Royal Cape – firing a round of two-under 72 to finish in 9th spot on her own.
The early part of Hall’s round consisted of birdies at the third and sixth to go along with a dropped shot at the 5th hole. Having turned in one-under par 36th, Hall erased a bogey at the 12th with a pair of birdies at the 14th and 15th holes respectively.
Three straight pars to finish helped Hall to a final-round two-under par 72. It is worth noting that the Ladies European Tour player got better each day – shooting 77, 76 and 72.
15. Nicole Garcia (+6)
Nicole Garcia’s front nine was characterised by a couple of superb bounce-backs. Having bogeyed the par-four opener, Garcia got the shot back at the 3rd hole. Two consecutive drops at the 5th and 6th were followed by two birdies in a row as Garcia turned in level-par.
Over the closing nine, Garcia mixed a birdie and a bogey with seven pars to post a six-over tournament tally, good enough for sole possession of 15th.
33. Ivanna Samu (+18)
It was a tough final round for Ivanna Samu who dropped three shots over her opening nine holes to turn in 49. Four bogeys in a five-hole stretch to begin the second-nine was certainly not what Samu was looking for and two further dropped shots at 14 and 17 compounded the damage unfortunately.
A double-bogey 6 at the final hole brought to an end a day which Samu will want to put in the rear-view mirror as quickly as possible.
Final thoughts
The first week of the Sunshine Ladies Tour season was certainly a mixed bag for our former podcast guests. That said – there is still a lot of golf to be played this season and best of luck to all of these legends for the season ahead.
To everyone who has read the Cape Town Ladies Open wraps this week – thank you for supporting Free Drop and more importantly these very talented women!
Be sure to keep an eye out for our reports on the Jabra Classic taking place at Glendower Golf Club next week!
Photo: Sunshine Ladies Tour
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