Van den Bergh seeks main tour form at BET Champs

Desne van den Bergh needed a win or a second-place finish at last year’s Big Easy Tour Championship to earn himself a Sunshine Tour playing card and his objective was achieved as he came in a share of second with Bryandrew Roelofsz, two shots behind eventual winner Jason Viljoen.

“Last year it was tough out there,” said Van den Bergh ahead of the first round of this final event on the Big Easy Tour this season. “I had just changed my swing and I was trying a couple of things out. I went there with a goal because I needed to win that tournament or come second so that I could get my Sunshine Tour Card and I achieved that.”

He is teeing it up on Tuesday at the back of some really solid performances and most notably that share of 17^th at last week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Sishen Golf Club, and he feels his game has been improving ever since that result at Wanderers in September last year.

“I have been feeling good about my game,” he said, “I think I have been getting better and better with every tournament. And, the Sunshine Tour events I have played, I felt like I played well and I’m getting better with my golf.”

Like many other players, Van den Berg understands that because a player gets good results the one week does not mean they will enjoy the same success the next and is therefore realistic about his chances this week at Observatory Golf Club where the last event on the BET circuit is being played this year.

“You know in golf it’s always up and down,” he remarked. “I mean, this week might be better and next week is bad. So I try my best to win tournaments but I don’t always play under pressure because of that.”

Now, in a strong field such as the field assembled at Observatory this week, Van den Bergh will hope to emulate the big performances he has produced on the Sunshine Tour, where he has eight top-40 finishes this season. It will not be an easy feat, however, as players like Herman Loubser, Zack Byrd and Wynand Dingle, among others, aim for success on this tour.