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Ballito - This week the Sunshine Tour goes north of Durban for the Origins of Golf to be held at Zimbali Coastal Resort and Estate from Thursday, August 31 to Friday, September 1.
Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia won this event last year when it was played at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club where he defeated Hennie du Plessia and Ockie Strydom by two strokes after he shot a final round four-under-par 66 to total 11-under-par.
Muthiya won this title under some testing weather conditions and against a formidable field, so the resilience he showed last year will be very important going into this week.
He has missed four cuts in his seven starts this season, and he will be hoping last week's finish marked his return to form.
He goes into his first ever title-defence off the back of a solid finish of 12th in the Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge and he will be wary of the strong field chasing victory this week.
And among those to look out for will be Ockie Strydom.
Strydom has been in hot form this season, and by looking at his record this season, it is justifiable to think he might win something very soon.
In his last five starts, Strydom has finished in the top-10 three times, and has the top-20 finish he obtained at Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate and one missed cut from the Sun City Challenge.
He came second last week to Oliver Bekker at the Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge, came ninth at Arabella Hotel and Spa the week prior to that, and finished eighth in the Sun Carnival City Challenge at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate.
Bekker, too, is a natural contender this week because of his current form. Boasting three titles already and sitting pretty at the top of the Order of Merit standings, Bekker has often looked unstoppable up to now.
Not only has he been winning, Bekker has been putting together some solid fight-back rounds and therefore must be considered when looking at possible winners next week.
And, while it will always be difficult to predict who will win the event - due to the top quality competitors assembled this week - players like Neil Schietekat, Merrick Bremner and Vaughn Groenewald among others, have been playing solidly lately and will surely mount a serious challenge for the defending Muthiya.
The event at Zimbali is the third in a six-tournament series.
