Williams charges back to winning ways

After three seasons without a victory, Kim Willliams, the 30-year-old former top-ranked Pretoria golfer, marched to victory in the opening tournament of the 2017 Sunshine Ladies Tour season on 6 January.

Williams silenced her critics with a one-stroke victory in the SuperSport Ladies Challenge played at Huddle Park Golf Club in Linksfield, after firing a final round three-under-par 69 for a winning total of seven-under-par 209.

This was her first success since a maiden victory in her pro debut in 2014.

Starting the final round, Williams was three shots behind three-time Sunshine Ladies Tour winner Monique Smit and a stroke ahead of Kiran Matharu from England.

Smit fell away after a double bogey at 10, but Williams three-putted from 10 feet while Matharu surrendered a shot. Williams gained a shot at hole 14 and back-to-back birdies at holes 16 and 17 which saw her head to the final hole with a two-shot lead at eight-under.

Williams said, “I was happy to three-putt and take the win. My last competitive outing was 10 months ago. Now that the monkey is off my back, I’m eager to see what I can do for the rest of the season.”

Next up for the tour is Cape Town for the South African Women’s Masters and then on to KwaZulu-Natal for the SA Women’s Open.

“It’s awesome to take this momentum into the two national championships and to start the chase to the Investec Cup for Ladies on a winning note. The last three years have been tough, but I’ve always felt that if I could get in the mix, I could win again.”

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