Caitlyn Macnab may have only turned professional in 2025, but the past season’s R&A Rookie of the Year on the Sunshine Ladies Tour showed massive composure to win the Waterfall City Tournament of Champions supported by Attacq and WCMC by one shot on eight under par.
It was a tense finish though, with three players tied for the lead with only one hole to play on Royal Johannesburg’s East Course.
Macnab had to sink an eagle putt on the 18th hole to win the tournament outright, and she did just that for a 69 to win by one shot from the Sunshine Tour’s 2025/26 Fortress Rookie of the year, Luis Carrera (69).
“My caddie Matt (Saulez) did a good job of keeping me grounded and keeping me within the shot. I couldn’t really feel much so we decided on a line and thank goodness it went in,” a happy Macnab said. Saulez was awarded the Sunshine Tour Medallion for the winning caddie.
Macnab, who led from day one at Royal Johannesburg, started Sunday’s final round with six pars in a row before birdies on the seventh and ninth holes got her round going. Drop shots on the 11th and 14th holes however opened the door for Mexico’s Luis Carrera who took the outright lead on seven under par after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole.
“It was a tight leaderboard all week. I just tried to stay patient which was hard at times, but I was really hitting some great golf shots. I wasn’t really making putts today, but it felt good for that last one to drop,” Macnab said.
Pieter Moolman (66) ended in third place on six under par after finishing with four birdies over the last five holes, and one shot clear of Gabrielle Venter (70), who ended on five under par and secured fourth place.
SCORES
280 - Caitlyn Macnab 68 73 70 69
281 - Luis Carrera 71 76 65 69
282 - Pieter Moolman 71 72 73 66
283 - Gabrielle Venter 72 70 71 70
285 - Jaco Prinsloo 72 76 70 67
285 - Joe Sullivan 75 68 71 71, Jacques Kruyswijk 76 72 66 71
286 - Malcolm Mitchell 74 71 69 72
286 - Herman Loubser 71 73 69 73, Altin van der Merwe 74 71 68 73, Deon Germishuys 72 73 68 73
287 - Samuel Simpson 72 73 70 72
287 - Justin Walters 72 70 70 75
288 - Cara Gorlei 69 74 74 71
288 - Daniel van Tonder 73 74 69 72
289 - Austin Bautista 75 73 75 66
289 - Haydn Porteous 73 79 68 69, Christiaan Burke 75 76 65 73, Kyle De Beer 70 71 74 74
290 - Jean Hugo 72 74 72 72
293 - Nobuhle Dlamini 72 78 70 73
293 - Warwick Purchase 73 73 72 75
294 - Oliver Bekker 76 71 75 72
295 - Tandi McCallum 74 74 75 72
295 - Danielle du Toit 69 75 71 80
297 - Gerhard Pepler 71 73 73 80
298 - Nikhil Rama 79 77 68 74
300 - Nadia van der Westhuizen 81 69 76 74
301 - Charlotte Millard 74 75 77 75
301 - Doug McGuigan 72 76 71 82
304 - Lisa Coetzer 76 78 72 78
306 - Jannie Botha 77 77 81 71
310 - Joshua Koekemoer 83 80 73 74