KNYSNA NEWS - It seems to have become the norm for the annual Knysna Open to be affected by rain. For the second year in a row the weather had an impact on proceedings; more so this year, as the competition was cut down to 18 holes on Saturday 9 December at Knysna Golf Club.

The Knysna Open was held on 10 December last year, and while they didn't have to resort to shortening the competition from 36 to 18 holes, play was heavily affected by wet conditions. 

This year however, for the 44th edition of the Knysna Open, things were very heavily impacted as more than 30mm of rain descended on Knysna overnight from Friday 8 December into the morning on Saturday.

This meant there was a lot of standing water on the golf course, and play could not go ahead as initially planned in the early hours of the morning. 

Instead the powers that be had to put a hold on the start of proceedings, with tee-off times shifted to midday. 

The field was only marginally smaller than last year, but 94 golfers still took part in this year's edition, which was once again sponsored by PSG Wealth Knysna.

As per custom, the Knysna Open was the final event on the Southern Cape Golf Union's Order of Merit calendar - the competition has cemented its place at the tail-end of the region's golf calendar, making it a real gem to end off the year with. 

B Division winner Dave Meyer

There was fierce competition in the A Division this year with the top six golfers all finishing the day under par.

Two golfers in particular shone above the rest - Ryan Melville and Vukasin Suturovic, who both shot brilliant six-under-par rounds of 66, no mean feat on a wet course at Knysna Golf Club. 

The duo went into a play-off and it was Suturovic who triumphed on the 18th hole, the first play-off hole. In the B Division things were clear cut, where Dave Meyer carded a score of 80 - two strokes better than his handi-cap - to secure a three-shot victory over Leroy Bredenkamp.

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