Dean Burmester goes hat-trick hunting this week as the DP World Tour heads to Leopard Creek fro teh 2023 edition of the Alfred Dunhill Championship. Damien Kayat previews.
2023/2024 DP World Tour
Alfred Dunhill Championship
Leopard Creek Country Club, Malelane, South Africa
7th-10th December
Dean Burmester made it back-to-back victories with a three-shot triumph at last week’s SA Open. It was a pretty remarkable achievement considering he was vomiting on course during his second round due to a stomach bug.
The big-hitting South African will be looking to make it a hometown hat-trick this week as the tour moves to the last of its three consecutive Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned events: the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
This will be the penultimate event of this year’s schedule, with next week’s trip to stunning Mauritius the last official event of 2023. This week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship has attracted the best assortment of SA golfers seen during this year’s SA swing.
The Alfred Dunhill Championship
The Alfred Dunhill Championship debuted in 2000 and the first six editions were held at Houghton Golf Club (host of this year’s Joburg Open).
The stunning Leopard Creek Country Club took over hosting duties in 2005 and every edition since has been held there. There was no event in 2017 due to renovations while 2021’s event was cancelled due to Covid travel restrictions.
Leopard Creek Country Club
Opened in 1996, Leopard Creek Country Club is a stunning course that is set on the edge of the iconic Kruger National Park. It underwent an extensive renovation in 2017, with the course re-turfed, bunkers repositioned and many landing areas widened.
Also, the rough and fairways were changed from Kikuyu to Bermuda. Despite the widening of certain landing areas, the course is still most notable for its tight, tree-lined fairways.
It isn’t a beast at just a shade over 7,200 yards, but players do need to find the correct section of fairways due to encroaching tree issues. The relatively new surfaces are very firm and players will need to be wary of this with strategically placed bunkers scattered throughout the course.
Basically, players will need to play well from tee-to-green this week. Also, the greens around Leopard Creek can be quite treacherous, with devilish little runoff areas that will test the player’s scrambling abilities.
They actually remind me somewhat of Augusta (little wonder that Charl Schwartzel has been victorious at both venues).
The Contenders
Burmester has been playing sensationally in recent weeks and I truly think that he has every chance of making it a threepeat in this SA-heavy field.
Still, this event requires plenty of finesse and Burmester’s more ballistic approach may not best suited to the occasion. LIV practitioner and perennial Major bridesmaid Louis Oosthuizen will obviously be a huge draw with fans this week.
Similarly, Branden Grace will also be of interest to local supporters. Christiaan Bezuidenhout has played beautifully here before while Thriston Lawrence will want to end this rather disappointing SA stretch with his head held high.
Past Winners
2022: Ockie Strydom (-18)
2021: event cancelled
2020: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-14)
2019: Pablo Larrazabal (-8)
2018: David Lipsky (-14)
2017: event cancelled
To Win Outright:
Dean Burmester 13/2 | Louis Oosthuizen 14/1 | Branden Grace 14/1 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout 14/1 | Thriston Lawrence 16/1
Value Bets
Jeff Winther- To Win 40/1
Jeff Winther has come good during the last couple of months after what had been a largely disappointing 2022/2023 campaign. He finished T2 at the Cazoo Open de France, T10 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, sixth at the Andalucia Masters and T9 at the DP World Tour Championship. Sure, he has never broken into the top 30 in this particular event. But he has found some real consistency in his game ofl ate and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him in the mix this week.
Andy Sullivan- To Win 50/1
Mercurial Englishman Andy Sullivan has always played well in South Africa. That form can actually be traced back to a T3 finish at Leopard Creek in 2013 (his first-ever top 10 on the DP World Tour). He followed a strong T12 finish at the Joburg Open with a decent T38 at Blair Atholl. To be fair, the monstrous Blair Atholl layout was never going to suit him. He has always played well at relatively tight layouts (just look at his performances in Paris and at Valderrama).
The Man to Beat- Christiaan Bezuidenhout- To Win 14/1
Bezuidenhout just seems to have the perfect game for this modern Leopard Creek. The course used to suit the longer hitters but the switch to faster-running grass has put a far greater premium on driving accuracy. Also, the slippery greens require true precision with the irons. And this combination of accuracy and sound approach play makes Bezuidenhout so appealing. He won by four stokes here in 2020. He has finished inside the top 20 in his last two events and I think he is nicely positioned for a run at this title. He is also a PGA Tour regular now, with a 6th place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October.
