Richards lifts Limpopo Championship title

Mpumalanga’s Monja Richards lifted the Limpopo Championship title with an emphatic 15-stroke victory at the Hans Merensky Golf Club on Sunday for her second regional title this season.

The Nelspruit golfer navigated the picturesque par-72 layout next to the celebrated Kruger National Park with in even-par and added a second 73 to open a large gap on Kaleigh Telfer and Izel Pieters in pursuit.

Richards closed with a one-under-par 71 to finish on a winning score of even-par 216.

Bryanston Country Club’s Telfer carded rounds of 82-74 and 75 to finish second on 15-over-par 231, while Pieters from Sabie River Bungalows took third place on 17 over 233 with rounds of 81-76-76.

Richards has been in threatening form since winning the Mpumalanga Open in November last year.

The 25-year-old tied for third at the Eastern Cape Championship and claimed a top 10 finish at the Boland Ladies Golf Championship in February.

In March, she finished second in the KwaZulu-Natal Ladies Amateur and tied for sixth Pam Golding Western Province Championship at Mowbray and collected another top 10 and two more top five finishes – SA Women’s Amateur Stroke Play (T9), the Free State & Northern Cape Womens Championship (T4) and the Gauteng Championship, where she tied for fifth.