Sweden’s Adam Blommé uses his words with the same precision as a scalpel as he describes the course strategy that earned him a 63 and the first-round lead in the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship at Humewood Golf Club on Thursday.
“Keep the ball in play. Hit greens. Make putts. Nothing new”.
His round of nine under par puts him one stroke clear of South Africa’s Pieter Moolman, with the quartet of South African Anthony Michael, Frenchman Ugo Coussaud, Scotland’s Craig Howie, England’s Jack Singh Brar and Swede Henric Sturehed all well placed on seven under par in this Sunshine Tour and European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned tournament.
And then Blommé adds, “No links shots whatsoever today”. That was the most telling comment on day one of this tournament on South Africa’s most historic links golf course.
Blommé took full advantage of the ideal conditions and the lack of wind to entrench his No 1 status on the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca standings, and confirm his good form coming into this event.
“We were lucky with the draw. There was no wind out there in the morning,” he said on a day when one of his playing partners, Ireland’s Conor Purcell, remarked that it was hard to believe his own round of five under par was the worst score in their group.
“This course is built for wind. We need the wind to pick up to make it challenging. I wouldn’t mind a bit of wind to be honest,” said Moolman.
MEDIA DUTIES ??, clubhouse leader Adam Blomme reflects on his opening round of 63??#NMBChamps #NelsonMandelaBay#GreatnessBeginsHere #sunshinetour pic.twitter.com/vDBUZgZnlR
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) February 23, 2023
The first round certainly rewarded the in-form golfers in what is the fourth and final event on the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour’s South African Swing.
Blommé has finished second and tied seventh in his last two tournaments in South Africa. Behind him, Moolman has finished no worse than 14th in his last three tournaments.
And in the group on seven under, Coussaud has finished no worse than 13th in his previous three tournaments in South Africa.
When you consider that further back on six under par lies JJ Senekal, last week’s SDC Open champion, and Casey Jarvis, who has finished in the top-10 in his last two tournaments, then it will take something to separate a group of golfers all playing very well at present. – Michael Vlismas
FIRST-ROUDN SCORES
63 - Adam Blomme
64 - Pieter Moolman
65 - Anthony Michael, Craig Howie, Ugo Coussaud, Jack Singh Brar, Henric Sturehed
66 - James Hart du Preez, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Casey Jarvis, JJ Senekal, Lorenzo Scalise, Javier Sainz, Ruaidhri McGee, Tom Vaillant, Luca Filippi, Benjamin Rusch, Manuel Elvira, Jaco Prinsloo, Sam Bairstow
67 - Jean Hugo, Yan Wei Liu, Liam Johnston, Niklas Regner, Alfie Plant, Brandon Stone, Conor Purcell, Kyle McClatchie, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Malcolm Mitchell, Robin Williams, Ryan Van Velzen, Doug McGuigan, Jbe Kruger, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Anton Karlsson, Gerard du Plooy
68 - Lyle Rowe, Dan Erickson, Lucas Vacarisas, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon, Borja Virto, Jamie Rutherford, James Kamte, Combrinck Smit, Kyle Barker, James Allan, Daniel O'Loughlin, Jaco Ahlers, Josh Hilleard, Jannik de Bruyn, Mikael Lundberg, Dylan Mostert, Christopher Mivis, Ruan Conradie, Elias Bertheussen, Adilson Da Silva, Eduard Rousaud, Ashley Chesters, Luke Brown, Tom Murray
69 - Joe Long, Ruan Korb, Gregorio De Leo, Yurav Premlall, Jean-Paul Strydom, Steven Brown, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez, Dylan Naidoo, Chris Paisley, Jacques Blaauw, Martin Vorster, Victor Riu, Nikhil Rama, Erhard Lambrechts, Marc Hammer, Wynand Dingle, Frederik Birkelund, Rhys Enoch, Joel Girrbach, Velten Meyer, OJ Farrell, Hennie O'Kennedy, Fredrik From
70 - Rupert Kaminski, Lars van Meijel, Christopher Feldborg, Paul Dunne, Gary Boyd, Danie Van Niekerk, Michael Palmer, Hennie Otto, Alex Haindl, Joel Sjoholm, Wilco Nienaber, Stuart Manley, Michael Stewart, Jared Harvey, Michael Hirmer, Stephen Ferreira, Richard Joubert, Christiaan Burke, Bradley Bawden
71 - Tristen Strydom, Luke Jerling, Steven Tiley, Philip Eriksson, Heinrich Bruiners, Julien Sale, Andrea Pavan, Victor Pastor, Robin Petersson, Zander Lombard, David Boote, Oscar Lengden, Toby Tree, Louis Albertse, Rhys West
72 - Paul Boshoff, Callan Barrow, Siyanda Mwandla, Keith Horne, Emilio Cuartero Blanco, Jean Bekirian, Adam Breen, Neil Schietekat, Matthew Spacey, Madalitso Muthiya, Jaco Van Zyl, Victor Garcia Broto, Marco Penge, Keagan Thomas, Steven Le Roux, Oliver Lindell, Jeppe Kristian Andersen
73 - Clayton Mansfield, Antoine Pouguet, Felix Mory, Aneurin Gounden, Estiaan Conradie, Jacquin Hess, Haydn Porteous, Clement Berardo, Keenan Davidse
74 - Tumelo Molloyi, Jonathan Thomson, Pavan Sagoo, Joachim B. Hansen
75 - Ruan de Smidt, Sebastian Friedrichsen, Tristin Galant, Jacques P de Villiers
76 - Karabo Mokoena, Herman Loubser, Sean Bradley, Pierre Pineau