Nothing beats playing at home and this week Cara Gorlei is afforded that luxury as she tees up in front of friends and family at the Investec South African Women’s Open.
The Cape Town native lives a short distance away from this year’s host venue, Erinvale Country & Golf Estate, making this week’s Ladies European Tour (LET) event a special one for the recent Sunshine Ladies Tour winner.
She said: “It’s great to have an event here. It means my parents can come watch as well, plus supporters from my club. It’s nice because they don’t often get to come and watch me. It’s nice that it’s an LET event too. It’s awesome that we’re getting such big coverage over here – to be able to show everyone what South Africa looks like. Especially Cape Town as Cape Town is so beautiful. It’s so cool.
“I’m from about an hour away but I always consider anywhere in Cape Town my home. Once I found out we were playing here I tried to get in a couple of rounds. I maybe played three rounds but I hadn’t played much before then.
“It’s a stunning course. Absolutely beautiful. But the greens are a little bit tricky. A lot of subtle breaks which you can’t really see. The ball tends to lip out here instead of lip in! So I think speed is pretty important. It’s a stunning course. The two nines are pretty different. The front nine is kind of straight forward and then the back nine is a bit more dog-leggy.”
As for her form, Gorlei has made a solid start to the Tour life after finishing second at Lalla Aicha Q-School to earn full playing rights. In the opening event at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, the South African made an impressive start in her home continent leading for the first two days before eventually finishing T11.
Since then she has missed just one cut and earned her first professional victory on the Sunshine Ladies Tour two weeks ago, firing three rounds of 68 (-4) to win the Jabra Ladies Classic.
“It was super nice to get the win,” Gorlei said. “Last week [at the Joburg Ladies Open] I kind of lost a lot of feel in the first round. I fixed it in the second round but unfortunately was still one shot short. But I still feel like my game is where it needs to be. I’ve been working very hard on it.
“The win was definitely a big confidence boost, but then your expectations increase a little bit. It’s all about just knowing how to handle that. But I’m still learning and the experience is helping a lot. I’m just going to go into this week the same way I went into Jabra.
“I’m finding the LET great. Last week was my first missed cut, but otherwise it’s been awesome to travel and we’ve got a big stretch coming up now, a long stretch with Korea [ATS – Seoul] and France [Jabra Ladies Open], but I’m super excited for the year.”
As for those visiting Cape Town this week, Gorlei also has a few recommendations… especially for the adrenaline junkies.
“Stellenbosch is so beautiful,” she said. “Lots of wineries. We’re right next to Lourensford Wine Estate where my parents went and ate yesterday. They said it was stunning so I would say check out all the wine farms if you’re here… and then if you want to go shark cage diving you can!”
The Investec South African Women’s Open gets underway on Thursday morning, with all four days broadcast around the world.
Follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame | #InvestecSAWomensOpen.
