When South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen teed off this morning in the DP World Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open at Regnum Carya in Antalya, Türkiye, he took some great encouragement from the feeling that the course feels similar to his home course in Benoni.
The 2023-24 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit champion, who played his way onto the DP World Tour with strong performances, including runner-up finishes in the 2023 Investec South African Open Championship and the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Championship, currently sits in 45th position on the Race to Dubai rankings.
Feeling relaxed and at home in his debut at the Regnum Carya championship course could go a long way in helping Van Velzen to another good scoring week.
“With the trees here, some tee-shots call for a right-to-left shape, which I’m pretty good at, so it suits my game,” he said.
“I’d say it’s actually quite similar to my home course, Benoni Country Club, and maybe also a little like Randpark, with the tree lines. And another plus is that the rough is not up; it’s very playable.”
The two-time Sunshine Tour winner is happy with his position as the DP World Tour begins its European Swing, which leads up to the climactic Final Swing with all it’s very biggest tournaments.
“I don’t usually take a break, because I get bored easily, but I skipped the Chinese events to have my wisdom teeth out, and I just didn’t fancy that long trip,” he said. “It’s great to get going again.”
He’s set himself up for the long run in Europe now, and after that break, will play in every tournament that he gets into.
And that’s because he knows he belongs at the higher level now.
“I’ve come close a couple of time,” he said. “I think I led the SA Open with eight holes to play, and I had a few other chances to win in the last year. If I can put a good week together, I can probably win if everything goes my way.”
Besides Van Velzen, 14 other top South African talents will be gunning for the lion’s share of the $2 750 000 prize money this week, including Dylan Frittelli, Jacques Kruyswijk, Zander Lombard, Justin Walters, Ockie Strydom, Justin Harding and young guns Dylan Naidoo, Casey Jarvis, Wilco Nienaber, Jayden Schaper, Robin Williams, Deon Germishuys, Louis Albertse and Yurav Premlall.