Go back to Here for Her

LET’s top golfer impressed with growing strength of Sunshine Ladies Tour

golf02 April 2025 13:30
By:Michael Vlismas
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Cara Gainer © Sunshine Ladies Tour

England’s Cara Gainer is ready for a strong challenge in this week’s €300 000 Joburg Ladies Open, with the top-ranked player on the Ladies European Tour saying she’s been impressed with the standard of golf on the Sunshine Ladies Tour this year.

Gainer forms part of a highly competitive field gathered at Modderfontein Golf Club for this co-sanctioned tournament, which tees off on Thursday.

The English professional, who heads into this event with a win and second place in her last five tournaments, says the growing competitiveness of the Sunshine Ladies Tour has created an excellent pathway onto the Ladies European Tour.

“The standard is definitely rising out here. The Sunshine Ladies Tour is a really good pathway to the Ladies European Tour. A lot of players play this tour and then these co-sanctioned events, which are really good for them to see what standard they’re at compared to the rest of the Ladies European Tour. You can see the scores over the last few weeks on the Sunshine Ladies Tour have been low, so you can tell the standard is good out here. And the field this week is a strong one. It’s great to have so many great players here this week,” said Gainer.

The English professional makes her first appearance in the Joburg Ladies Open since 2023, and is looking forward to continuing her good start to the year.

“I’m really excited. I was last here in 2023 and it’s nice to be back in Johannesburg. The golf course is slightly different to when I last saw it. It’s playing a lot softer. It’s quite fun having to work out different clubs and yardages to what I was used to.

“I had a really good start to the year with a win and second place. I think I’m bringing in a different mentality this year. Last season I had a wrist injury so I was sort of up-and-down. I promised myself this year that I was going to really enjoy my golf and not put as much pressure on myself as I did last year. That’s what I’m looking forward to – enjoying myself and letting the golf take care of itself.”

This week’s field includes defending champion Chiara Tamburlini from Switzerland, and also feels the course will present a different challenge this week.

“It’s playing a little different this year, but there are really good memories here and I’m excited to be back,” she said.

The field is one of the strongest in the history of the Joburg Ladies Open, with every one of the top 10 players on the Investec Order of Merit playing – led by the top-ranked Casandra Alexander from South Africa – and seven of the current top 10 on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit.

“It’s a tough field out here, so you’ll definitely need your A game to win,” said Tamburlini.

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