Casandra a birdie machine at Randpark

Talk about hot golf! South Africa’s talented Casandra Alexander this week blitzed Randpark’s Firethorn course with a brilliant nine-under-par first round 63 on her way to victory in the last of eight events in the 2022 Standard Bank Pro-Am Series.

The 23-year-old, who plays out of Glendower and campaigns on the Ladies European Tour, added a 70 on day two for an impressive 11-under 133 aggregate to win by eight from Michelle Leigh on 141, with Lara Weinstein and Stacy Bregman next best on 142.

Former SA Open champion Tandi McCallum, who was a teaching pro at Randpark for a number of years, tops the Order of Merit for 2022. She won three times, two of these wins in the seven events that counted for the Order of Merit in the Pro-Am Series, run under the umbrella of the Women’s PGA of SA. Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann finished second and Lindi Coetzee third in the Order of Merit.

Alexander also won the Houghton leg, again with hot golf, by shooting 73-64, but this was her only other appearance in the Series because of her European commitments.

Her superb 63 at Randpark? Alexander parred the first hole and then made eagle at Firethorn’s par-5 second, hitting the green with a colossal drive followed by a nine-iron and then holing a mammoth 45-footer for her three.

“I bogeyed the next hole but after that I made eight birdies with no drops, holing putts from all over the place. I only had 24 putts for the round so there were a bunch of one putts out there,” said Casandra who is one of the longest hitters on the Ladies European Tour and can boom 280 metre drives.

She now admits to being exhausted after a very full year. “I played 40 weeks in all which is an awful lot of golf. So I’m going to take two weeks off and have a good rest.” She plans to play part of the 2023 Sunshine Ladies Tour, taking in the SuperSport Challenge at Sun City in February, and in March the Joburg Open at Modderfontein and SA Open at Steenberg. Then it’s back to Europe for this birdie queen as she bids to make an impact on the world stage.

Alexander campaigned as Casandra Hall before marrying bodybuilder Adrian Alexander in 2022. Highlights of her pro career to date include winning the 2021 Joburg Open (edging Lee-Ann Pace by a shot), and finishing fourth behind winner Pace in last year’s SA Open. Recently she won a team event on the Ladies European Tour, staged in Saudi Arabia, with fellow South African Nicole Garcia the team captain.