Houghton is proving an excellent choice of venue for the Joburg Open, and this year’s, the third it has hosted, was the best yet, with a thrilling chain of events on the last day culminating in a 3-way playoff. Interestingly, the winning score has gone from 21-under in 2022, to 18-under in 2023, and now 14-under. That may have something to do with it being played in March rather than November. It indicates how challenging yet fair this Nicklaus design can be as a par 70. However, the average score this year was 70.08 compared to 70.57 when Dean Burmester won in November 2023. Houghton was tricky on Saturday averaging 71.22 but set up for birdies on Sunday when the average fell to 69.63. We had a final round 62 from winner Calum Hill (two bogeys), and five 63s in all. Shaun Norris had 25 birdies and couldn’t get over the line to win. The par 3s at Houghton are a relatively easy set for the pros, other than No 16 (playing between 180 and 210) which averaged 3.14. The others (7-9-14) were all under par, conceding 249 birdies. Norris, though, was foxed by No 9, playing it one-over. Wilco Nienaber had a fluctuating start of 65-75 to miss the cut by one. Six players shot 4 rounds in the 60s, all finishing in the top 10 bar Luke Brown who had four 69s.
