Ruan de Smidt fired in a perfect six-under-par 66 opening round in this week’s 5th Betway Big Easy Tour event, taking a two-shot lead at Akasia Golf Club on Wednesday.
Scheduled to start on Tuesday, this fifth event was moved to start on Wednesday, owing to the nation-wide protests which have been widely publicised.
De Smidt started off with a birdie on one and then another on the third hole. He kept things steady in the next three holes, walking off with pars on all three in an effort to keep the big numbers off his card. He found joy on the seventh; birdieing that hole and the next two after that.
“It was a little bit of everything today,” said De Smidt, reflecting on his sparkling round. “Front nine, I had a couple of chip-ins, which helped. It felt like I plyed really nicely on the front nine.”
It was on the homeward stretch that De Smidt showed his quality as he battled hard to minimize all mistakes. That was clearly underlined by the seven straight pars he made after the turn. He made gains on the 17th with a birdie that sealed a bogey-free 66.
“On the back nine, it felt like I couldn’t get anything going. I hit nine putts in the first nine holes, and then 17 putts on the back nine, which is a big difference. But, it’s all good because six under par is always a decent round.
“I’ve had a couple of weeks now where I get a good start and then, unfortunately, I have no consistency. Hopefully, this week, that changes a bit and hopefully play the par-fives better than I did today.”
Leon Visser, Jordan Duminy and Werner Deyzel all signed for rounds of 68 to lie within two strokes of De Smidt’s lead.
“A very eventful round,” noted Visser after his round. “I struggled to get going today and then suddenly the putter heated up and I had four one-putts in a row. That helped quite a lot. I think there are some good scores out there.
“I did not start well in the last couple of events, so I’m happy to start well here. Starting well is key to having a solid tournament and I feel like I’m playing well. I am hungry and I want to be up there.”
Kian Coetzer, Wandre Snyman and Worcester Golf Club’s Keelan Africa share fifth on the leaderboard, thanks to respective rounds of 67.
Tied eighth after opening rounds of two-under 70 is the trio of Makhetha Mazibuko, England’s Daniel Smith, Joshua van der Wath, Noel Anderson and State Mines Country Club’s Vaughn Van Deventer.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.
SCORES:
66 - Ruan de Smidt
68 - Leon Visser
68 - Jordan Duminy, Werner Deyzel
69 - Wandre Snyman
69 - Keelan Africa, Kian Coetzer
70 - Makhetha Mazibuko
70 - Daniel Smith, Joshua Van der Wath, Noel Anderson, Vaughn van Deventer
71 - Jaco Anderson
71 - Philip Geerts, Travis Ladner, Toto Thimba Jnr, Jan-Hendrik Nieuwoudt, Thabiso Ngcobo, Romano Saincic, Matthew Bennett, Jacquin Hess
72 - LB Boshoff
72 - Rhys Enoch, Jacques Van der Merwe, Mandla Dlamini Jnr, Jordan Wessels, Jaden Deltel, Luke Joy, Christian Kriek, Matthew Dennis, Sean Cronje, Drikus Joubert
73 - TJ Sandys
73 - Luke Truter, Sentanio Minnie, Franklin Manchest, Jonathan Wilsenach, Minjun Heo, Ruben Van Der Berg, Wiehan Van der Walt, James Truter, Carl Mwale, Ethan Govender, Sean Howell, Keagan Crosbie, Christiaan Pretorius, Jastice Mashego
74 - Kass Muller
74 - Tristan Leonard, Ethan Gough, Manav Mohanlal, Brandon-Jude Rennie
75 - Shaydon Johnson
75 - Hannes Strooh, Eric Wowor, Ricco Motsa, Kyle Kistensamy, Louis Liebenberg, Ruan Groenewald, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Francois van Staden, Matthew Mortimer, Kael Strydom, Jarryd Govender
76 - Josh Hirsch
76 - Max Nicholls, Karabo Mokoena, Brandon-Lee Geere, Christopher Bagnall, Umar Davids, Maheshan Naidoo, Lwazi Gqira, Jonathan Ackerman, Daniel Palmquist
77 - Omar Sandys
77 - Brandon Gildenhuys, Richard Kruger, Austin Cherichella, Shaheed Patel, Leon van der Walt, Alphius Kelapile, Tumelo Molloyi
78 - Slade Pickering
78 - Marcel Steyn Scholtz, Steven Le Roux, Merrick Bremner, Gabriel Cruz, Jason Froneman
79 - Thabang Simon
79 - Khanya Mkhize
82 - Yusuf Dadoo
82 - Muhammad Dadoo
DSQ - Andrew Proctor