Cairns in Jo’burg Open
RYAN CAIRNS will lead the Zimbabwe contingent in the rescheduled Jo’burg Open qualifiers at Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg, South Africa, this morning.
The event, which was supposed to get underway yesterday, was badly affected by massive rains that hit Johannesburg rendering the course unplayable.
The Royal Harare member will be one of the only four local professional golfers who will be fighting for a ticket for the Sunshine Tour events.
Cairns will be seeking to make the cut in the event that has 95 players and will be joined by Greg Bentley, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu and Brian Gondo in the tournament.
So far Mark Williams is the only local player exempted for the Joburg Open.
Williams now ranked 15th on the current order of merit.
Reports from the Sunshine Tour said heavy rains left Houghton Golf Club under water during pre-qualifying for the Joburg Open and after two suspensions, early in the day, play was called off just after midday.
Rules officials and green keeping staff at Houghton Golf Club were put to the test due to inclement weather.
The decision to move the pre-qualifying to yesterday was made in order to give all participants as equal a chance as possible to qualify.
Dirk Cloete, Operations Manager and Rules Official on the Sunshine Tour, worked alongside Tournament Director Ludwick Manyama in assessing the playing conditions at Houghton Golf Club.