Ballito’s newest Sunshine Tour professional, Gerhard Pepler, secured his first top-10 finish of the season at the weekend after an impressive comeback performance at the Zimbabwe Open.

The 26-year-old recovered from a slow start to card rounds of 74, 69, 66 and 68 for a total of 277 (-11), finishing tied seventh alongside GolfRSA amateur Andries van der Vyver, the Zimbabwe Junior Open champion.

Despite a challenging opening round, Pepler showed composure and resilience over the final three days, steadily climbing the leaderboard.

“I didn’t have the best start to the week, but I learned from previous experiences at the tournament,” he said.

“I trusted my golf and my mindset, which is in a good place, and focused on regrouping and finishing the tournament well.”

The result builds on his tied-23rd finish at last month’s Mediclinic Invitational at Heron Banks Golf and River Estate and lifts him to 10th on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.

Pepler now heads to Pretoria for the Kit Kat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at Irene Country Club from May 14-17, an event won last year by Mexico’s Luis Carrera. Carrera recently made headlines after stepping in for Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau at LIV Golf Mexico in April.

Despite the strength of the field, Irene has proven a favourable venue for Pepler. He finished tied second behind Carrera there last year and sixth in 2024.

“The Zim Open was my first top 10 of the season. It’s a great confidence booster going into the next tournament at Irene,” added Pepler.