Coert Groenewald, Ruan de Smidt and Samuel Simpson carded respective rounds of six-under-par 66 on day one of the Altron Big Easy Tour event held at Kyalami Country Club to co-lead by two shots after Monday’s outing.
This 54-hole event is the seventh tournament of the season and with the first 18 holes done and dusted, both players were satisfied with their respective efforts in the opening round.
Having started his round from the 10th tee, Groenewald was three-under-par through his first six holes, thanks to birdies on the 10th, 13th and 15th holes. That progress was derailed on the 16th, however, as Groenewald made an unwelcome double-bogey on the par-four 16th. He steadied himself on the next hole before closing off that front nine with a birdie to turn in 32.
Coming home, Groenewald kept things steady, refusing to give away shots, even as birdies were hard to come by. And then it all clicked. A hat-trick of birdies from four through six – his 13th, 14th and 15th holes – solidified what was already a beautiful round of golf. To seal his spot among the top three leading players after day one here at Kyalami, Groenewald closed off with yet another birdie for good measure.
“I played nicely and the greens were really good,” Groenewald remarked. “the wind began to pick up a bit but I could keep my cool and just keep going. I trusted in my abilities to put together a decent score and it happened. I don’t want to lie though; it was a bit tricky on some of the tee shots; the course is tight. It proved difficult to find fairways on some holes but other than that, it was pretty good.”
De Smidt’s round consisted of an eagle on four, five birdies and a solitary drop.
“It was a good round,” said De Smidt. “I was quite happy with the putter, especially on the front nine. The eagle helped a lot because in the first three or four holes, I didn’t hit one green and when I had the opportunity to make an eagle, it brought me into it and I could play my game from there. But, it was an excellent round of golf.”
Ryan Tipping finished the first round solo third, on five-under, while members of the Papwa Sewgolum Class Franklin Manchest and Makhetha Mazibuko along with Matthew Rushton, DK Kim -and Ricky Hendler share the fifth spot on the leaderboard on four-under-par.
SCORES:
-6 - Coert Groenewald 66, Ruan de Smidt 66, Samuel Simpson 66
-5 - Matthew Rushton 68 (-1) [3], Ryan Tipping 67
-4 - Franklin Manchest 68, Makhetha Mazibuko 68, Ricky Hendler 68, DK Kim 68
-3 - Zabastian de Jager 69, Andrew Williamson 69, Andrew McLardy 69, Thabang Simon 69, Slade Pickering 69, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 69, Gerard du Plooy 69, Leon Vorster 69
-2 - Allister de Kock 70 (Par) [3], Thabiso Ngcobo 70 (Par) [3], Greg Bentley 70, Andre De Decker 70, Philip Geerts 70, Brandon Gildenhuys 70, Dayne Moore 70, Francois Van der Walt 70
-1 - Alphius Kelapile 71 (Par) [3], Reece Mc Kain 71 (Par) [3], Jack Buchanan 71, Amilkar Bhana 71, Gregory Mckay 71, Jason Froneman 71, Lyle Pedro 71, Nicholaus Frade 71, Andre Van Dyk 71, Ronald Rugumayo 71
Missed the cut:-
Par - Elliot Bradley 72, Christian Kriek 72, Carlos Laranja 72, Sentanio Minnie 72, Paul Boshoff 72, Mutahi Kibugu 72, Carlo Heunis 72, Stals Swart 72, Travis Ladner 72, Keanu Pestana 72, Rigardt Albertse 72, Jason Roets 72, Kayle Wykes 72
+1 - Luan Steenkamp 74 (-1) [3], Harry Konig 73, Jordan Duminy 73, Werner Deyzel 73, Steven Le Roux 73, Caden Sanders 73, Irvin Mazibuko 73, LB Boshoff 73, Jabulane Mabilane 73, Noel Anderson 73, James Pennington 73, Janko van der Merwe 73, Leon Visser 73
+2 - Therion Nel 74 (Par) [3], Christopher Long 74, Ruan Groenewald 74, Henning du Plooy 74, Dylan O'Leary 74, Jonathan Waschefort 74, Sipho Bujela 74, Willie Olivier 74
+3 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 75 (Par) [3], Callum Mowat 74 (+1) [3], Ricco Motsa 76 (-1) [3], Adriel Poonan 73 (+2) [3], Caylum Boon 74 (+1) [3], Xander Basson 72 (+3) [3], Burt Gildenhuys 75, Keelan Africa 75, Lwazi Gqira 75, Tristin Galant 75, Shaheed Patel 75, Vaughn van Deventer 75
+4 - Siphiwe Siphayi 73 (+3) [3], Fezekile Kana 76, Sabelo Xolani Majola 76, Darren Gerrard 76, Tumelo Molloyi 76
+5 - Slenda Sithebe 75 (+2) [3], Warwick Purchase 76 (+1) [3], Mike Saxer 77, Johan Theron 77, Songz Sonamzi 77, Evance Vukeya 77
+6 - Otto Van Buynder 78, Cameron Moralee 78
+7 - Mark Maart 79
+9 - Brandon Moodley 81
+10 - Brandon-Jude Rennie 82
+11 - TJ Sandys 81 (+2) [3], Boeta Nasie 82 (+1) [3]
+12 - Gerard Moodley 84
WDN - Umar Davids 78 WDN, Conner Mackenzie 71 WDN
RTD - Luke Trocado RTD RTD
DSQ - Darren Slingers DSQ