Staff WriterAt Benoni Country Club today, the air was thick with that peculiar cocktail of tension and hope that only golf’s final holes can offer.
A gentle breeze teased the flags, but there was nothing gentle about the fight that unfolded on the par-five first playoff hole—Malcolm Mitchell’s stage to finally claim what had so often slipped just beyond his fingertips.
The Day Unfolds
Mitchell and Jonathan Broomhead finished regulation at 12 under par, one better than Graham van der Merwe and Conner Mackenzie.
Mitchell’s final-round 71 looked workmanlike against Broomhead’s 69, but scorecards are as honest as they come.
In a game where inches separate the hopeful from the hero, Mitchell’s day was defined by patience—and a birdie on the playoff hole that finally put his name on the trophy.
“Only afterwards did I realise what I’d done. It’s always nice to win an event, but when you have a name like Gary and Vivienne Player on the trophy, it’s just got a totally different feel to it. I’m very honoured and pleased to have won it,” Mitchell said, soaking up the weight of history in his hands.
A Course that Demands and Rewards
Benoni Country Club doesn’t shout—it whispers its challenges. Fairways that tempt the bold, greens that can break a man’s heart.
The par-fives offered the day’s richest drama: the first playoff hole, a par-five that Mitchell tamed with a birdie that had all the conviction of a man who finally knows how to finish.
Broomhead’s final-round 69 deserves its own bow—solid golf under the sternest of Friday tests.
But Mitchell’s fist pump after holing that birdie putt told you all you needed to know: he’d been here before, and he wasn’t about to let it slip away again.
A Personal Journey
Mitchell’s second Sunshine Tour title means more than just silverware. “I think it’s a bit of maturity. I’ve got a baby on the way. Your life changes and your priorities change.
I’m doing this for my family now. It’s no longer just for me and what I want. That is a big thing.
I’ve been doing a lot of work on being more patient. I struggled with that, and to actually do that today was big for me.”
The ghosts of near misses and what-ifs were banished with a single putt. “My coach and I always speak about how the second win is probably the biggest one.
Once you’ve got your first win you believe you can do it and your expectations increase. Sometimes it takes a while to get that second one. To finally get that monkey off my back is a big thing for me.”
Legacy and Next Steps
This event, a tribute to Gary Player’s tireless work on and off the course, deserved a final round like this.
Mitchell’s name joins the greats etched on that trophy—proof that tradition still matters, even as new names rise to claim their place.
So, was it worth your seat on a Friday? You bet your tartan trousers it was. Mitchell’s journey is one we’ll remember—and with that baby on the way and a swing honed by patience, don’t be surprised if he’s lifting more than just bottles in the months to come.
