A rare change of equipment benefitted South Africa’s Jared Harvey as he opened with a five-under-par 67 that placed him one stroke off the lead of Spain’s Manuel Elvira after Thursday’s first round of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open at Royal Cape Golf Club.
Harvey was delighted with a bogey-free start to this Sunshine Tour and European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned tournament following a round that started in calm conditions and finished in a stiff breeze.
“There was no breeze when we teed off early this morning, but it definitely picked up as the round went on and it was tricky at a stage. I also changed clubs recently which was a big thing for me. I’m not much of a changer. So to have no bogeys does give me confidence,” said Harvey.
" I love @CityofCT , the courses are great and there is so much to do ... I will try not to do all the extra mural activities Cape Town can offer.??" #BainsWhiskyCTOpen | #GreatnessBeginsHere | @CapeTownOpen | @BainsWhisky pic.twitter.com/KibzcD0voo
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) February 2, 2023
At the top of the leaderboard, Elvira also took advantage of the calmer morning conditions and produced a bogey-free 66 which he closed off with three consecutive birdies over the final three holes.
“It’s always nice to start the season with a low round. It’s completely different golf here now in South Africa compared with Spain in the winter. I’ve come from four or five degrees Celsius to 25 degrees. But I’ve always liked playing in the heat because you don’t have to wear layers of clothes. It’s a big adjustment but it’s nice,” he said.
England’s Bradley Bawden joined Harvey with a round of 67.
Former Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open champions Brandon Stone and Benjamin Follett-Smith both started well with rounds of four-under-par 68, while another pair of former champions in Rhys Enoch and Jacques Kruyswijk are five strokes off the lead.
It was certainly a case of the morning field having a distinct advantage. But as Harvey explained, it was also a surprise to tee off at a windstill Royal Cape.
“When you tee off so early and it’s calm, it’s almost a shock to the system. It can be tough because you’re so used to playing in the breeze here and playing those punch shots. So I felt like I needed to take advantage early on.
“When the wind picked up, there were a couple of tough flags tucked behind corners and downwind, and I just felt they really weren’t flags to go for. I just stayed within myself and kept telling myself that it’s not a bad thing to play for the middle of the green and keep the round together. I managed my game really well. On the holes where I could attack, I did. I feel like the course suits me with the demand on accuracy off the tee.”
The opening day was also a rewarding one for England’s Alfie Plant who scored the first hole-in-one of this year’s tournament on the par-three 13th on his way to a four-under-par 68.
?? Alfie Plant with the first hole-in-one of the 2023 #BainsWhiskyCTOpen ??
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) February 2, 2023
??Hole 13
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Congratulations on your ace @alf1e_p #GreatnessBeginsHere | #SunshineTour | @BainsWhisky | @CapeTownOpen | @royalcapegolf pic.twitter.com/YdMLBb9a4h
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
66 - Manuel Elvira
67 - Bradley Bawden, Jared Harvey
68 - Clancy Waugh, Victor Rufian, Victor Riu, Alfie Plant, Brandon Stone, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Conor Purcell, Velten Meyer
69 - Ugo Coussaud, Tom Murray, Ashley Chesters, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon, Martin Rohwer, David Boote, Yurav Premlall, Javier Sainz
70 - Daniel O'Loughlin, Lars van Meijel, Wilco Nienaber, Derek Ackerman, OJ Farrell, Darren Fichardt, JJ Senekal, Jonathan Thomson, Felix Mory, Pieter Moolman, Rupert Kaminski, Pavan Sagoo, Nikhil Rama, Albert Venter, Martin Vorster, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Jaco Van Zyl, Pierre Pineau, Jaco Prinsloo, Jamie Rutherford, Hennie Otto, Madalitso Muthiya, Gregg Upton
71 - Sam Bairstow, Oliver Farr, Rhys Enoch, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez, Benjamin Poke, David Drysdale, Francesco Laporta, Joel Sjoholm, Mateusz Gradecki, Elias Bertheussen, Eduard Rousaud, Yan Wei Liu, Dylan Mostert, Jacques Kruyswijk, James Hart du Preez, Hennie O'Kennedy, Steve Surry, Stephen Ferreira, Niklas Regner
72 - Doug McGuigan, Ruaidhri McGee, Dylan Naidoo, Andrea Pavan, Sean Bradley, Lorenzo Gagli, Keagan Thomas, Jayden Schaper, Alvaro Quiros, Philip Eriksson, Rhys West, Dwayne Basson, Siyanda Mwandla, Mikael Lundberg, Euan Walker, Lyle Rowe, Nicolai Kristensen, Chris Paisley
73 - Rourke van der Spuy, Jaco Ahlers, Tristen Strydom, Ryan Van Velzen, Victor Garcia Broto, Michael Palmer, Alejandro Canizares, Jovan Rebula, Jacques P de Villiers, Louis Albertse, Malcolm Mitchell, Casey Jarvis, Kyle Barker, Renato Paratore, Toby Tree, Ruan Korb, Henric Sturehed, Matteo Manassero, Borja Virto
74 - Dan Erickson, Toto Thimba Jnr, Neil Schietekat, Anton Karlsson, Jake Roos, Joe Long, Matthew Spacey, Chris Cannon, Luca Filippi, Joel Girrbach, Jean Hugo, Max Schmitt, Marco Penge, Anthony Michael, Jacques Blaauw, Keith Horne, MJ Viljoen, Ricardo Gouveia, CJ du Plessis, Clement Berardo
75 - Heinrich Bruiners, Stuart Manley, Herman Loubser, Emilio Cuartero Blanco, Estiaan Conradie, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Christopher Mivis, James Kamte
76 - Merrick Bremner, Callan Barrow, Kristoffer Reitan, Benjamin Rusch, Erhard Lambrechts, Robin Petersson, Alex Haindl, Luke Jerling, Luke Brown, Jake Redman, Keenan Davidse, Lorenzo Scalise, Christopher Feldborg Nielsen, Craig Howie
77 - Gerard du Plooy, Andre Van Dyk, Marc Hammer, Robin Roussel, Oscar Lengden, Keelan van Wyk, Adam Blomme
78 - Lucas Vacarisas, Chris Wood, Ruan Conradie, Gary Boyd
79 - Oliver Lindell, Wynand Dingle
80 - Combrinck Smit
81 - Danie Van Niekerk, Steven Tiley