After a long and successful association with BCX as the title sponsor, 2024 saw Absa come on board in that capacity, having already been involved with the Shootout for many years as Superskills sponsor. The gifting experience ahead of the tournament once again proved to be a treat for all players, with sponsors going to great lengths to ensure that the players looked the part on and off the course. Friday afternoon saw the now traditional ‘Captain’s Challenge’ in which Team Absa captain, Faizal Mkhize, took on newly appointed SuperSport captain, Rendani Ramovha, with the first point on offer in the team competition. Both captains handled the long, curling putt challenge superbly, with Team Absa’s captain almost holing out to take the point. That in turn led to some friendly but competitive banter at Friday evening’s welcome function, both captains appearing confident of victory. Oscar Chalupsky, who returned to the Shootout after many years’ absence as he continues to bravely battle cancer, also gave Friday’s event an emotional edge with a passionate and inspirational address. On the course, there were once again three separate competitions within the tournament: an individual nett medal competition, a better-ball competition between pairings from Team Absa and Team SuperSport. So each player was able to contribute two points per day to the team effort, while competing for the individual and better-ball trophies. Day one saw former Proteas batsman Ashwell Prince come out firing in the individual competition, his 5-under par net medal score enough to give him a two-shot advantage over businessman Alex Maditsi and former Springbok loose forward Schalk Burger, both of whom carded 3-under par. A further two behind them were Richard Cooper and two more regulars on SuperSport’s screens, football presenter Thomas Mlambo and former Springbok fly-half, Butch James. Given that Burger and James were both near the top of the individual leaderboard, it was little surprise that they were in contention for the better-ball competition as well at 7-under par, good enough for a tie for third at the end of day one with Maditsi and his partner Josiah Mashigo, as well as Prince and his partner, fellow former Protea Shaun Pollock. They trailed second placed pair Richard Cooper and Matthew Harcourt by a single shot, but setting the pace for the better-ball title were Keneilwe Moloko and Teko Mojaki, who put together a superb 10-under par score in the colours of Team Absa. In the team competition, Absa led 49-48 at the end of the first day, captain Mkhize’s point in the Captain’s Challenge proving to be the only difference between the teams. Saturday night at the Absa SuperSport Shootout is always a highlight, as auctioneer Dave Usendorff works his magic – and the room – to raise vast sums of money for the tournament’s beneficiaries, which for the 2024 event included LIV Village, Gift of the Givers, Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and The African Turf Academy. 2024 proved to be no different… the generosity flowed once again, with a total of more than R1.1 million being raised. Conditions for day two were slightly tougher and with the added ‘final round’ pressure, scores reflected that. The biggest mover up the leaderboard on day two in the individual competition was Nazeer Camaroodeen, who improved on his day one score by 13 shots with a net 66, moving 39 places up the rankings to finish in eighth place. But he was one shot off the best nett round of the day, a 65 from Oscar Chalupsky who practised the positivity he preached on Friday evening to finish on a two round total of 4-under par for the tournament after an opening round of 75. Oscar had an anxious wait in the clubhouse to see Mlambo add a second round 69 to his opening 71 to tie the lead at 4-under over the two days. A count-out ensued, with Mlambo being declared the winner of the individual net medal contest. Alex Maditsi finished alone in third place, one shot back. The better-ball competition produced some incredible scoring on the second day, with some highly effective ‘dove-tailing’ among a number of the pairings. Chalupsky’s brilliance was supplemented by his partner Gary Teichmann as they posted a joint-best of the day with 11-under par 61 after only managing 71 on day one. The pairings of Moloko and Mojaki, and Harcourt and Cooper posted 66 and 64 respectively to continue their consistent form, but this was only good enough for a share of second place on 16-under par with the Sharks’ rugby pairing of Curwin Bosch and Coenie Oosthuizen, who raced through the field with a wonderful 10-under par 62. But even that was not enough to catch the irrepressible Burger and James, who improved on their opening 65 with an 11-under par 61 in which they racked up the birdies and eagles to secure a two shot victory. And although the winners of the individual and better-ball competitions came from Team SuperSport, consistency across the board won the day for Faizal Mkhize’s Team Absa, as they took the Jabu Mabuza Memorial Trophy by an aggregate score over the two rounds of 97.5 to 94.5. Once again, the competitive juices flowed at a pace matched only by the generosity of the sponsors and donors, as South Africa’s Tournament of Champions came of age in style at beautiful Zimbali.