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South Africans will be eager to reclaim the Investec SA Women’s Open on a course that has suited home players 

By BRENDAN BARRATT 

When the Investec South African Women’s Open teed off at Erinvale last year, you could have been forgiven for expecting to see a South African flag at the pointy end of leaderboard come the end of 72 holes of strokeplay golf around one of the Cape’s finest estate courses.


For starters, while the field was made up of predominantly international players who ply their trade on the Ladies European Tour (LET), the locals have been loathe to give up the trophy and the title of South African champion. At seven of the preceding 10 editions of the event, a South African – in the form of either Lee-Anne Pace (5) or Ashleigh Buhai (2) – has emerged victorious.


Even Erinvale has been something of a happy hunting ground for South African players, albeit for the men. In 1996, only a year after the estate officially opened, Ernie Els and the late Wayne Westner blew away the field by a staggering 18 strokes to claim the World Cup of Golf. Unsurprisingly, Els also took home individual honours, with Westner close behind in second.


Then, at the 2003 and 2004 South African Opens, which were both played at Erinvale, it was Trevor Immelman who completed the double – and launched a career that would reach the dizzying heights of a Masters win.

DID YOU KNOW?


Earlier this year the Sunshine Ladies Tour announced its first Rookie the Year award supported by The R&A and including valuable incentives for the winner.

The winner of The R&A Rookie of the Year award at the end of the Sunshine Ladies Tour season will, if not already exempt, receive automatic exemptions into the 2026 Joburg Ladies Open and the 2026 Investec South African Women’s Open, both of which are co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour (LET).


The award will be a fiercely contested one, with 45 rookies competing on this year’s Tour.

This brings us to the 2024 SA Women’s Open, and a rather surprising victory by Belgium’s Manon De Roey, given the aforementioned stats.


De Roey navigated the breezy conditions to finish on 14 under par and claim her second LET title and her first on the Sunshine Ladies Tour. The win would kick off a spectacular 12 months for the two-time Olympian, with the Belgian going on to earn her 2025 LPGA Tour card by finishing fourth at the LPGA Qualifying School. In mid-March, she racked up her third LET title in Australia and is looking in good form before a big season on the LPGA Tour.


This year we once again have a full field of 120 players, including at least three amateurs, representing 36 nations, gunning for the title on the Gary Player-designed course in Somerset West from 10-13 April.


The course will test players in different ways. It’s also one of the more interesting layouts, with two distinctly different nines. The front nine feels tighter, weaving between the houses on the lower part of the golf estate, while the back nine seems to head up into the mountains where there are fewer houses and the views are more impressive. The closing stretch, looking down over False Bay, is particularly memorable.

TROPHY TIME

Catch up on final-round action from the 2024 Investec SA Women’s Open at Erinvale won by Manon De Roey.

watch now

Lee-Anne Pace

Casandra Alexander

Nicole Garcia

Danielle du Toit

The South African contingent, led by five-time champion Lee-Anne Pace and current Investec Order of Merit leader Casandra Alexander, includes LET campaigners Nicole Garcia and Danielle du Toit, as well as a large group of Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals.


They will be competing for their share of €340 000 (over R6-million) in what is the season finale – and the most lucrative event – of the 2025 Sunshine Ladies Tour.


With just two events to play, Alexander has opened up a commanding lead in the 2025 Investec Order of Merit, courtesy of four top-three finishes out of four events this season. This includes a four-stroke victory at the Jabra Ladies Classic at Westlake Golf Club in February. She’ll be hoping for a strong finish to guarantee her the top spot – and with it a healthy R200 000 bonus.


Should a South African win the SA Women’s Open, they would also bank a bonus cheque of R100 000 courtesy of the Investec Homegrown Award Bonus Prize.


Although pre-qualifying could see more make the field, there are three amateurs in the field, with two-time South African Amateur champion Gia Raad set to tee it up alongside the top two players on the GolfRSA rankings, Kesha Louw and Lisa Coetzer.

FAST FACTS

  • The Investec SA Women’s Open is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Ladies Tour and the Ladies European Tour. This means players earn ranking points on both Tours.
  • In 2024, Nicole Garcia finished as the leading South African in fourth place on eight under par. This also secured her second place on the Investec Order of Merit behind England’s Gabriella Cowley, and, as the leading South African, she won herself a Renault for the year.
  • This is the 32nd edition of the SA Women’s Open, which was first played in 1988 at Germiston Country Club and was won by Zimbabwe’s Elizabeth Glass.
  • The title sponsor is Investec and the host sponsor is the City of Cape Town.

TROY WINFIELD/SUNSHINE TOUR/TRISTAN JONES/LET