Out of the Rough: Alfred Dunhill Championship (2025)

The DP World Tour enters the penultimate week of the ‘Opening Swing’ with a second consecutive stop in South Africa for this week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship.

This event has been a mainstay on the schedule since 2000 where it was first played at Houghton Golf Club through 2004. It was then staged at Leopard Creek from 2005 through 2024 (outside of 2017 for course renovations and 2020 due to COVID19.)

Now, for the 19th edition of the event, the Alfred Dunhill Championship had found a new home this season in the Royal Johannesburg Club.

This week’s event is co-sanctioned between the DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour.

The Field

We’ll get our first look at a true DP World Tour field this week as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf regulars depart after playing part in each of the first three events.

The likes of Junghwan Lee, Grant Forrest, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Martin Couvra, Eugenio Chacarra, Laurie Canter, Ewen Ferguson, John Parry, Antoine Rozner, Angel Ayora and others highlight this week’s field.

Being played in South Africa, there of course will be a strong home contingent looking to claim victory on home soil.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Thriston Lawrence, Dylan Frittelli, Dylan Naidoo, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Daniel Van Tonder, Shaun Norris, Jacques Kruyswijk, Aldrich Potgieter and Jayden Schaper lead a strong South African field.

Norris comes in as the defending champion, having topped a trio of Marcus Kinhult, Parry and Ryan van Velzen by a stroke a season ago.

Other former winners of this event teeing it up this week include Oosthuizen (2023,) Ockie Strydom (2022,) Bezuidenhout (2020,) Pablo Larrazabal (2019,) Brandon Stone (2018,) Grace (2014,) Richard Sterne (2008) and Marcel Siem (2004.)

The Course

The East Championship Course at Royal Johannesburg Club will play host for the first time this week.

Although new to this event, this historic venue has previously hosted the Joburg Open from 2007 through 2017 and has hosted various stagings of the South African Open Championship.

It plays as a par-72 at 7,592 yards.

As with most golf courses we talk about in South Africa, the large distance number on the scorecard plays roughly 10-percent less due to the venue sitting at elevation. 

Royal Johannesburg was designed by Robert Grimsdell and opened in 1933. Reconstructions took place in both 1999 after merging with Kennsington Golf Club and again in 2017.

The reconstructions did not change the course much, outside of modernizing it, re-constructing bunkers with new sand and drainage systems and pruning of mature trees.

This venue is a tree-lined parkland layout that features gentle undulations rather than drastic slopes.

Royal Johannesburg Club is known for its pristine conditions and is annually regarded as one of the best golf courses in all of South Africa.

Golfers will be challenged by strategically placed bunkers off-the-tee amongst the gently undulating fairways.

From there, golfers will attack greens that too feature gentle undulations.

This course is known for its challenging back-nine opening holes.

Both holes 10 and 11 are par-fours that play over 500 yards. 

Hole 11 is the more challenging of the two, playing downhill off-the-tee to a right dogleg where the approach will then carry across water before finding the green. Hole 11 at Royal Johannesburg is regarded as one of the most challenging golf holes in South Africa.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a 25-percent chance of precipitation on Thursday and a ten-percent chance on Friday. Forecasts currently call for a 55-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms on Saturday and a 50-percent chance on Sunday. Temperatures will begin the week at 74-degrees on Thursday before increasing to 76-degrees on Friday. Temperatures will decrease to 73-degrees on Saturday and finish the week at 76-degrees on Sunday. Winds are set for 11 miles-per-hour on Thursday before increasing to 13 miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will return to 11 miles-per-hour on Saturday before finishing the week at ten miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Average Driving Distance

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Par-Five Average Scoring

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Scrambling

• Greens in Regulation Percentage GIR%)

Betting Card

John Parry (+3300)

Leading off my card this week is John Parry. He finished last season fifth on Tour in SG: APP, 18th in GIR%, 28th in scrambling, 37th in par-five average scoring, 64th in SG: OTT, 110th in average driving distance and 112th in SG: PUTT. He’s played once so far this season, placing 18th last week at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Prior to that he placed 28th at the DP World Tour Championship, 17th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, missed the cut at the DP World Tour India Championship, 23rd at the Open by Espana and third at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. He was part of a three-way runner-up tie at this event a season ago (although at a different venue.)

Jacob Skov Olesen (+5500)

We saw one of the young Danes in Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen claim his maiden DP World Tour at the Crown Australian Open last week. Now, it’s time for a second to claim victory this week in Jacob Skov Olesen. Olesen played last week, placing T40th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Prior to that he placed 11th at the DP World Tour Championship, 23rd at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, 38th at the Genesis Championship, 47th at the Open de Espana and fifth at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He finished last season 32nd on Tour in GIR%, 35th in par-five average scoring, 38th in SG: APP, 53rd in SG: PUTT, 66th in SG: OTT, 105th in average driving distance and 118th in scrambling. 

Sam Bairstow (+6600)

Bairstow finished last season 32nd in average driving distance, 50th in par-five average scoring, 51st in SG: OTT, 59th in SG: PUTT, 69th in GIR%, 77th in SG: APP and 116th in scrambling. He’s played twice so far this season, placing tenth at the BMW Australian PGA Championship and missed the cut at last week’s Crown Australian Open. He did play this event a season ago at Leopard Creek where he missed the cut. 

Brandon Stone (+6600)

As this has been an event dominated by the South Africans across the last 11 editions (winning nine-of-the-last-11 editions,) I had to make sure I had at least one on my betting card. Stone also won this event back in 2016 at Leopard Creek. He’s yet to play this season and last appeared at the Fitch and Leedes PGA Championship of the Sunshine Tour where he placed T31st. Stone finished last season tenth on Tour in SG: APP, 14th in SG: OTT, 20th in GIR%, 33rd in both average driving distance and par-five average scoring, 145th in scrambling and 172nd in SG: PUTT. The putting has and will always be Stone’s downfall so he’ll need to find a hot putter on home soil to compete this week. 

Brandon Robinson-Thompson (+8000)

Robinson-Thompson was off to a hot start during the 2025 DP World Tour season but quickly fizzled out during the heart of the schedule. He did find some form to finish the season, placing 34th at the DP World Tour Championship, 49th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, 15th at the DP World Tour India Championship, 44th at the Open de Espana and 50th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He has yet to play this season. He finished last season 29th in GIR%, 42nd in scrambling, 47th in par-five average scoring, 63rd in average driving distance, 66th in both SG: APP and SG: PUTT and 89th in SG: OTT. 

2024 Betting Card

• Tom McKibbin (+3300) - T24th

• Angel Ayora (+6600) - T5th

• John Parry (+7500) - T2nd

• Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (+10000) - MC

• Matthew Southgate (+15000) - T11th

2023 Betting Card

• Thriston Lawrence (+1400) - T11th

• Ewen Ferguson (+3000) - W/D

• Antoine Rozner (+3500) - T15th

• Aaron Cockerill (+8000) - T15th

• Matthew Southgate (+9000) - MC