Staff WriterGermany’s Celina Sattelkau treated the opening round of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge like one long stress test – fog delays, frying-pan heat, sideways wind – and still walked off Humewood Golf Club with a three-under-par 69 and a one-shot lead in the first Sunshine Ladies Tour event of the year.
On a links course that usually behaves like a mischievous border collie, only two players broke par on Wednesday: Sattelkau at three-under and Norway’s Tina Mazarino at two-under 70. Everyone else got a gentle reminder that Humewood is not in the business of handing out comfort birdies.
Fog delays, 4:30 am alarms and a very grumpy links
For Sattelkau, the day started in the dark and never really stopped being awkward.
“It was a pretty eventful day for everyone. I got up at 4:30 am for the first tee time at 7 am, but the fog and mist made things difficult as I had to warm up multiple times. Thankfully the fog lifted, but then it got really hot and windy. The course played really difficult today and you can see it looking at the scores,” she said.
If you’re looking for the romance of links golf, this was it: a 4:30am alarm, stop-start warm-ups in pea soup, then straight into gusts that turned club selection into a guessing game. The fact that Sattelkau not only survived but led after day one of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge tells you exactly how tidy her game – and her temperament – were.
“The German was however satisfied with her own game in the difficult conditions.”
“I did a good job finding the fairway and most of the good spots on the greens. I didn’t have too many misses with my approach shots, and where I did I was able to make up-and-downs. It was really difficult with the wind. You had to club up or down three to four clubs. I am however happy with the round, especially how I handled the situations mentally,” Sattelkau said.
Three to four clubs either way is the sort of thing that gives launch monitors nightmares. Yet Sattelkau navigated it with the kind of patience that doesn’t show up on ShotLink but wins tournaments. Fairways, sensible targets, no drama – just the occasional up-and-down to keep the card clean and the rest of the field at arm’s length.
Sunshine, mindset and a German escape from winter
While everyone else was trying to remember what a solid strike felt like in that breeze, Sattelkau looked like someone who has absolutely no intention of letting the week get inside her head.
“For the next two days I am just hoping to stay committed and confident, and we will see what happens. I try not to think too much about it and just try and enjoy it here. In Germany it’s very cold now, so it’s nice to have some sun and develop my game,” Sattelkau said.
It’s a simple formula: stay committed, stay confident, enjoy the walk. Not bad ingredients if you’re trying to hang on to the lead of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International on a links course with a mind of its own.
The contrast helps, too. Back home it’s freezing; here, she’s in the South African sun, sharpening her game against a strong Sunshine Ladies Tour field and a course that demands every shot shape in the book.
Mazarino in pursuit, Alexander lurking in the pack
Behind her, Mazarino’s two-under-par 70 is the kind of round that usually earns you a share of the spotlight, if someone else hadn’t just posted 69 in those conditions. The Norwegian sits just one back, very much in the slipstream heading into the second round at Humewood.
Lurking a little further down, but very much still in the conversation, is the defending champion. The 2023 SuperSport Ladies Challenge winner – and last year’s runner-up – Casandra Alexander opened with a one-over-par 73 and is part of a seven-strong group in a tie for third.
On a day when red numbers were rarer than flat lies, that cluster at +1 represents a very real threat. One calm morning or a slight softening of the breeze and the entire leaderboard could compress like a concertina.
Two more rounds, one very tenacious leader
With two rounds to play, the equation is brutally simple for Sattelkau: keep doing exactly what she did on Wednesday. Find the fairways, trust the yardages (even when the wind is howling “don’t you dare”), and lean on the mental composure that turned a chaotic, fog-delayed start into a three-under 69.
The SuperSport Ladies Challenge has a habit of producing tight finishes and dramatic momentum swings, and Humewood is not likely to calm down out of politeness. But after one wild opening day on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, Celina Sattelkau has shown she’s perfectly happy to be the one holding on to the steering wheel.
