Sam Jones is looking to replicate last year’s success when he tees it up at the NTT Data Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank at Fancourt Golf Estate, the third of four co-sanctioned events between the HotelPlanner Tour and Sunshine Tour.
The New Zealander finished last year’s edition of the competition tied third, just two shots behind runner-up Jean-Paul Strydom, with Wilco Nienaber cruising to a comfortable seven stroke victory in George.
Jones, who signed off last week’s CIRCA Cape Town Open by carding a five under par round of 67 to climb into a share of 22nd, is hoping to build on that when he tees off on Thursday, at a place that holds fond memories.
“I'm really excited to get going” he said. “To come back to a place that I've played well is always nice.
“I played 18 on the Montagu yesterday and then played the front nine at The Links today.
“So, I’ve looked at half of the holes, and hopefully the course will be playing pretty similar come tomorrow.
“It’s lucky that I played last year, so I didn't feel like I had to go out and play all 54 holes. I had a good last round last week, so I feel like I'm building into some decent golf.
“My game was a little bit rusty in week one, to be honest. My swing wasn't quite there, but I feel like I’ve slowly improved, and I’ve started to hit a few more quality shots.
“What I've learnt over the last few years is that you've just got to enjoy it, regardless of what happens.”
Jones is one of the 156-strong field in this week’s NTT Data Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank, which is the only competition on the HotelPlanner Tour schedule played across three courses.
The 29-year-old narrowly missed out on promotion to the DP World tour last year, finishing 34th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and hopes that this year he will be in contention again for a spot on Golf’s Global Tour.
“I knew that my game was good enough to do it, and being there the whole year was a good positive sign.
I feel like I'm getting better, so there's no reason why I can't go out there and go one step better this year.”
Jones tees it up for round one of the NTT Data Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank at 8:02am local time, alongside South African Luke Brown on The Links course.
