The man who shot the Sunshine Tour’s first 59 is working hard to become a force again 

BY GARY LEMKE 

Peter Karmis remembers making the final putt that resulted in the first 59 in Sunshine Tour history as if it were yesterday. That’s only because he gets reminded of it so frequently. ‘It actually wouldn’t cross my mind much, but I often get asked to talk about it, so it’s still quite vivid.’

Karmis closed out with a par on the short 18th at Royal Swazi Spa Golf Course at the Lombard Insurance Classic in June 2009, making this month the 16th anniversary of the landmark. It took 14 years for the second sub-60 – Casey Jarvis’ 59 at the 2023 Stella Artois Championship at Dainfern.

‘I’m obviously very proud of that achievement, but the best thing about the 59 is that I won the tournament,’ Karmis says of the round that went into the history books, three days before he turned 28. Now celebrating his 44th birthday in June, he sits back on another rainy winter’s day in Cape Town to reflect.

‘My playing partner, Shaun Norris, had to get a ruling before I putted, so I waited for about three minutes to hole out. It turned out to be a good thing because I had a chance to think it through.

‘The irony is that I had opened with a 64 and then shot a 72 and spent all my time on the driving range. When it came to getting ready for the third round I couldn’t get the ball in the hole. I warmed up by trying to hole one- and two-footers.’

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‘In this game driving is everything. Say what you like about the putting aspect, but you have to drive well. You have to get the ball in play to be able to hit your irons and wedges. The guys are driving the ball monster distances these days.

‘I played with Gerhard Pepler and he’s huge off the tee. There are a lot of fine young players coming through on the Tour and they’re all long hitters. And that’s where this game starts. I was on the range with Kyle Barker in Zimbabwe recently and stood and watched him hit his driver. He’s another long hitter.’

Pepler was third longest in terms of average distance on last season’s Sunshine Tour (341.91 yards), with James Hart du Preez (349.91) and Wilco Nienaber (347.00) leading the charts.

With all that in play, the obvious question to ask Karmis is, why has there only been one more 59 in 16 years of Sunshine Tour evolution?

‘While driving is everything, it all has to come together. You have to hit your irons and wedges well, chip and putt well. And in a four-round tournament so much comes into play. I do think, though, that the coaching has got better over the years, which is why we are seeing so much talent come through.

‘There’s a lot of data which is analysed and obviously the equipment has improved. But, what you are seeing is a drop-off in the number of beautiful golf swings. We all look at Adam Scott and Ernie Els and say, “Wow, I’d love to swing like that,” but this generation of golfers isn’t being taught to swing “pretty”.

‘Coaching has become more data-orientated and swings are more functional. Coaching has also become more individual in that what works for player X might not work for player Y. Years ago swings looked similar because they were coming from a manual.’

Karmis maintains that ‘golf is the greatest game’ because it’s not all about the size of a player. ‘If you’re 6ft 8in you won’t necessarily beat someone who is 5ft 2in.’ He should know. Standing in his socks in an old-fashioned 5ft 6in, the Simons Town resident who plays out of Covelly Country Club, has slayed a number of giants along the way.

And, there’s more to come. ‘I’m driving the ball better again and have re-evaluated some things that weren’t working. I definitely haven’t finished winning trophies on the Sunshine Tour.’

‘I’m driving the ball better again and have re-evaluated some things that weren’t working’