Michael Kok has played 11 of 14 tournaments in the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour’s Chase to Sunshine Tour series so far, and a good performance in the IGT Chase to #15 at Centurion will set him up as the 2021 leg of the series gets underway on Monday.
He currently lies in sixth position on the series Order of Merit, and with the top three players earning Sunshine Tour cards for the 2022-23 season – after the disruptions of 2020 – he knows that in the absence of all five of the players above him on that list, a win would go a long way towards ensuring he wins one of those spots.
With 26 events left in the series before the final in December – also at Centurion Golf Estate – there is plenty of time for things to change, but Kok will take heart that he performed well on the course as recently as in early December when he had a share of 12th with Kyle McClatchie in fourth event on the Big Easy Road to the Sunshine Tour series. His rounds of 69-72-69 for his six-under-par final aggregate left him six strokes off the pace, but were a sign of an ability to keep things together.
Leon Vorster is also a player who will want to do exactly what Kok has in his sights. Vorster is the next player in the Order of Merit rankings, and he has played in all 14 of the series tournaments so far.
Franklin Manchest, who won the 10th event in the Chase to Sunshine Tour series at Modderfontein in November, is currently in 11th spot on the Order of Merit, and he said that victory late last year has given him a lot of confidence. He is in third place in the Transformation Order of Merit for the Chase to Sunshine Tour series, and with three from that list winning Sunshine Tour cards for the 2022-23 season, confidence will come in handy.
