The Southern Guards GC versus Ripper GC rivalry is set to heat up as the Southern Guards will host the first-ever LIV Golf event on the continent of Africa.
The Southern Hemisphere showdown between the all-South African team and all-Australian team has thus far been one-sided, with Ripper having won six times as a team on LIV Golf to the Southern Guards’ three. This season, Ripper began the season by winning back-to-back in Riyadh and on home soil in Adelaide.
“I think we're all really determined to keep the momentum going,” said Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith. “I think it's obviously a lot of hard work to do that and something that we're trying to do. But at the moment, we're all playing really good golf. We feel confident.”
Although they haven’t finished on the podium yet this season, the Southern Guards are getting better each week and rounding into form at just the right time. Branden Grace began his season with back-to-back top 10’s in Riyadh and Adelaide, Louis Oosthuizen finished T8 in Hong Kong, Dean Burmester has finished in the top 10 in three of four starts, and while Charl Schwartzel hasn’t had the high-end finishes like his teammates, he’s finished in the top 30 of all four tournaments this year.
“We know everybody has played some good golf,” said Grace. “We know that we're trending. So that is good. Obviously, the last couple of weeks Louis has really played well, Charl has been up there, Burmy has had three top 10s, I started off pretty decent this season, and we've been very solid."
THE RIVALRY WAS BORN
The rivalry truly began at LIV Golf Adelaide in 2024, when the teams faced off in the league's first team playoff. On Ripper home turf, it boiled down to a sudden death playoff: Smith and Leishman against Oosthuizen and Burmester. Ripper pulled it out on the second extra hole, snatching the team title in front of the raucous Aussie crowd.
If the two clubs find themselves duking it out at Steyn City, the Australians fully expect the partisan crowd to be rooting for the South Africans.
“I think there's definitely motivation for the Southern Guards. Obviously getting beaten in a playoff, they probably are after revenge,” said Leishman. “What a great place to try and get it, here in their home country ... We're definitely excited to try and take it up to the Southern Guards, and I'm sure they're ready for a big week, as well.”
That playoff represented a long-standing sporting rivalry between Australia and South Africa and set the stage for future battles between the prideful teams.
“Being part of that playoff was one of the best things I've ever done in the game of golf, obviously not coming out on top,” reflected Burmester. “I think the first playoff hole – Louis and I say it all the time – we had our chances and didn't take it.
"But it was an amazing stadium kind of atmosphere. It was like any other sport you'd play anywhere in the world; I think rugby for us and cricket and such the rivalry against the Australians for so long has been something that's come through generations.”
BATTLE FOR FANS
The rivalry extends beyond the golf course. While they have mutual respect, each nation wants to prove they have the best golf fan base in the world.
The Ripper boys have had the edge this season, but with a home course advantage and plenty of experience on South Africa’s unique agronomy, the Southern Guards are confident they’ll earn their first big blow in the rivalry this week.
“We grew up with kikuyu grass,” Grace explained. “The rest of the field has probably never even seen it the way that we know it. It's immaculate. It's in awesome condition. Obviously, the weather has not played its part so much, but I think the weather for the week looks good, so the course is just going to get firmer, faster, better, but we're all in for a hell of a treat.”
Burmester, who finished runner-up in the 2022 Steyn City Championship, put it more bluntly: "Get the crowd get behind us, and we expect a lot of great things, and pretty sure the Aussies might have a slightly harder time than they do in Adelaide.”
Courtesy: livgolf.com