When the Supersport Shootout sprung to life at the Champagne Sports Resort in 2004, founder Kevin Curren could surely not have envisaged how the tournament would evolve and grow over the next two decades.

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But in 2023 it returned to its province of origin, KwaZulu-Natal and, in Zimbali Estate, to a venue that had previously hosted the event. A key element of the event since BCX came on board as a co-title sponsor has been the Ryder Cup-style team competition between Team BCX and Team Supersport and, after a nail-biting draw at the 19th tournament at Fancourt in 2022, both captains were eager to take the spoils at the 20thanniversary event.

The day before the majority of the players and guests arrived, the traditional ABSA Superskills event took place, with teams of two representing various sporting codes and the sponsors, ABSA, took to the fairways for nine holes of competitive greensomes golf incorporating some key disciplines including long driving, nearest the pin on one of the short holes and putting.

The cricketers have often prevailed in the ABSA Superskills and 2023 was no different. Vernon Philander and Ashwell Prince showed the consistency required to win, with Ashwell also picking up additional points for coming out on top in the putting contest.

Alex Darko, representing one of the ABSA teams, collected the nearest the pin prize, while former Springbok hooker Schalk Brits took the honours for the longest drive. Together with his partner, Bryan Habana, Brits came closest to toppling the cricketers, finishing on 21 points, six shy of the mark set by Prince and Philander. Mark Williams and Neil Tovey, representing the football fraternity, came in third, just two points shy of the rugby team.