Staff WriterThe Jonsson Workwear Durban Open turned from a Friday birdie-fest into a boating forecast on Saturday as the third round at Durban Country Club was wiped out by relentless overnight rain and the tournament was cut to 54 holes.
After a seven-and-a-half-hour delay in South Africa’s coastal humidity, not a single shot was struck in anger – unless you count the muttering in the players’ lounge.
Course underwater, schedule up in the air
What was meant to be moving day became no-moving day. Heavy rain on South Africa’s east coast dumped more than 100mm on the layout, leaving fairways, bunkers and several greens resembling shallow swimming pools rather than a championship golf course.
“We had over 100mm of rain. I received my first phone call from the club at just before 4 am. Several holes were compromised,” said Gary Todd, Tournament Director of the Sunshine Tour.
By the time dawn arrived, the scene was more coastal wetlands than classic parkland. Pumps were deployed in earnest, hoses snaked across the turf, and Durban Country Club’s greenkeeping team went into full emergency mode.
“The club has been excellent in terms of their help and we have the pumps going to try and drain those holes. But it just couldn’t happen quickly enough for today unfortunately. The team at DCC will work through the night to try and make sure we can resume again on Sunday.”
With that, the call was made: the third round of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open was abandoned, and the event reset as a 54-hole shootout with 18 holes to be played on Sunday, starting at 6:20 am local time.
Blomstrand and Tarrio on top – but stuck in neutral
While Mother Nature was racking up a scorecard of her own, the leaderboard remained frozen in time. Through 36 holes, Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand and Spain’s Santiago Tarrio share the lead on 13-under-par, one shot clear of England’s Alfie Plant.
Instead of the usual moving-day charge, the leaders spent the afternoon waiting, hydrating and trying not to doomscroll weather radar. For Blomstrand and Tarrio, Sunday at the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open has now become a straight sprint over one round instead of a gradual chess match over two. One hot nine – or one soggy mistake – could be the difference between hoisting the trophy and packing early.
Behind them, a tightly bunched chasing pack will turn up on Sunday knowing there’s no runway left for a patient climb. Reduced to 54 holes, this event suddenly looks a lot more like a one-round qualifier with a very large prize fund.
Tournament bosses: “Mother nature didn’t do us any favours”
If the players were frustrated, spare a thought for the officials trying to make a golf tournament happen on a course that’s auditioning to host canoe slalom.
Chris Wallace, Tournament Director, didn’t sugar-coat the situation.
“It’s always frustrating when you have to cancel a day’s play. Mother nature didn’t do us any favours last night with over 100 millilitres of rainfall and like the situation last time we were in Durban for the South African Open, we had several holes that were underwater.
“The grounds crews have been working all morning but unfortunately, we do not have a playable golf course at the minute. We’d gone through several scenarios and looked at shortening several holes, but it hasn’t come to fruition unfortunately.
“We are going to play 18 holes tomorrow, weather permitting. The grounds crews have been incredible all morning and can’t speak highly enough of the efforts that have been made this morning. To get 54 holes in tomorrow would be an absolute credit to them.”
In other words, every option was on the table – shortening holes, re-routing, you name it – but when entire landing areas are underwater, even the most creative course setup starts to look like wishful thinking.
Ground staff in the spotlight
If Sunday’s final round of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open does go ahead as planned, it will be thanks to a heroic overnight shift from Durban Country Club’s maintenance team. While the players enjoy dry hotel beds and room service, the staff will be out under floodlights, coaxing water off fairways and trying to convince stubborn puddles to relocate.
For the Sunshine Tour and its partners, getting 54 holes in the books is crucial. It protects the integrity of the competition, honours the efforts of the field, and ensures the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open delivers a proper champion rather than a weather-curtailed asterisk.
Sunday sprint for the title
So it all comes down to one round. Blomstrand and Tarrio will sleep on a share of the lead for a second straight night, Plant lurks just one back, and a hungry pack waits behind them knowing that on a softened golf course, flags will be there to be attacked – assuming the ground staff win their own battle with the elements.
The third and final round is scheduled to start at 6:20 am, with players hoping the only thing floating around Durban Country Club on Sunday morning is the smell of freshly cut grass and not the bunkers.
If the weather finally behaves, the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open is set for a chaotic, compelling finale: one drenched Saturday, one all-or-nothing Sunday, and one player who’ll walk away having navigated a week where the biggest hazard wasn’t a bunker or a bush, but the sky itself.
