Richard Joubert shrugged off a bogey on the first hole and carded an opening round of 65 to take a slim lead in the first event of the season at Dainfern Golf Estate on Tuesday.
“I hit two good shots on one; just got a little bit unlucky with my second shot,” said Joubert of his start on day one. “It was just a bad bunker shot, and I made a drop. I knew the swing was good; I’ve been working so hard.
"To be honest, I feel like I shouldn’t even be standing here. I played so well at Q-School, and to miss my card by one was very bad.
“But, we got the mindset back on track, and I think the golf is really looking good and putting very well too. Today, I made a few nice ones. The greens are rolling great and hopefully, we can keep it up tomorrow and it’s going to be a lekker week ahead.”
Following that bogey on the first, Joubert made birdie on two, four, seven and nine to turn in 33. Then, two more birdies – on 12 and 13 – made their way onto his card and then two more on 17 and 18 to seal a round of 65.
“The course is quite tight off the tee, I think,” added Joubert. “There are a lot of houses everywhere, so it’s not like it’s wide open. But, it is gettable and you can hit some irons off the tee if you’re not comfortable with the driver. I hit the driver very well today.”
A shot adrift lies Musiwalo Nethunzwi, whose 66 consisted of five birdies, an eagle and a solitary drop.
“I’m happy with my start,” said Nethunzwi. “First tournament of the season; 6-under, I can’t complain. I started with a bogey, but I thought it’s the first hole of the first tournament of the season, so I didn’t put any pressure on myself after that drop.
“You can’t give up. You need to trust your process and the work you’ve done during the off-season. So, I’m happy with y score today and I’m looking forward to the next two days.”
Daniel Cronje, Haydn Porteous and Reece McKain carded respective rounds of 67 to share the third spot on the leaderboard while veterans Ulrich Van Den Berg and Ryan Tipping carded rounds of 68 to share the sixth spot with American Austin Cherichella, Drikus Joubert and Travis Ladner.
Scores:
65 - Richard Joubert
66 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi
67 - Daniel Cronje, Haydn Porteous, Reece Mc Kain
68 - Ulrich van den Berg, Austin Cherichella, Drikus Joubert, Travis Ladner, Ryan Tipping
69 - Tiger Adams, Ruan Groenewald, Travis Procter, Joe Sullivan, Andrew Williamson, Oliver Goldhill
70 - Jaden Deltel, Adam Breen, Karabo Mokoena, Regan Steyn, Gary Kemp, Harry Konig, Jason Froneman, DK Kim
71 - Tristan Leonard, Brandon Gildenhuys, Thanda Mavundla, Thabiso Ngcobo, Lyle Pedro, Philip Geerts, Marcel Steyn Scholtz
72 - Jarryd Elliott, Carl Mwale, Sentanio Minnie, Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko, Andre Van Zyl, Siyanda Mwandla, James Pennington, Brandon Pieters, Liam Ross, Richard Kruger, Jastice Mashego, Jonathan Waschefort, Wade Jacobs
73 - Khanya Mkhize, Jarryd Govender, LB Boshoff, Dillon Germshuys, Johnathan Ackerman, Vaughn van Deventer, Matthew Rushton, Wandre Snyman, Makhetha Mazibuko
74 - Shaunak Rama, Tumelo Molloyi, Nicko Venter, Logan Leisher, Louis Liebenberg, Keagan Crosbie, Shaheed Patel, Thabang Simon, Mandla Dlamini Jnr, Luke Mayo, Steven Le Roux, Johan Theron, Lwazi Gqira, Jacques Van der Merwe
75 - Matthew Dennis, Therion Nel, Mitch Phigeland, Alphius Kelapile, Teboho Sefatsa, Kayle Wykes
76 - Jabulane Mabilane, Kyle Kistensamy
77 - Allister de Kock
78 - Josh Hirsch, John Palm, Merrick Bremner, John Bele, Evance Vukeya
80 - Ricco Motsa
81 - Austin Mashego
82 - Hayden Garcia
84 - Mark Maart, Sipho Bujela
85 - Tawriq Abrahams, Kael Strydom