SOUTHBROOM, KwaZulu-Natal – Merrick Bremner’s front nine was littered with birdies and bogeys as he took the route less travelled into a share of the lead after the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf San Lameer on Thursday.

Bremner finished with an excellent 66 to share the lead on six-under-par with six other golfers, but none of Wynand Dingle, Ockie Strydom, Herman Loubser, Matthew Spacey, Doug McGuigan or Sean Bradley made quite as dramatic a start to their round as Bremner.

The 36-year-old from Bremner made par on the 498-metre par-five first hole, but then the rollercoaster ride began with two birdies being followed by a bogey at the par-three fourth, another pair of birdies before a second dropped shot on the par-four seventh, and then a birdie-four and a birdie-two to go out in just 32 strokes.

Bremner’s back nine was far more sedate as he was bogey-free and picked up back-to-back birdies on the par-four 12^th and par-five 13th holes.

“It was definitely quite an eventful front nine,” Bremner agreed. “But it was tricky because I would hit a good shot and still end up with bogey, but I gave myself lots of chances.

“I’m definitely very pleased with the round because I had a couple of weeks off and it was nice to return in a rich vein of form,” Bremner said.

A man as experienced in coastal conditions as Bremner, who grew up in Durban and has won down the road at the Wild Coast Sun and in the 2019 Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event at Humewood, was not going to be troubled by the wind on Thursday, which in any case was more predictable than the blustery gales that blew on Wednesday.

“I wasn’t too fazed by the wind blowing, even though it was weird – it felt stronger than it was. But I like it when it blows a bit, it separates the field.

“I just execute my game-plan and take what comes. I definitely feel like my game is trending in the right direction, and it seems I now have the right mix in terms of when to play and when to rest,” Bremner said.

Strydom had the chance to finish the day as the sole leader on seven-under-par, but he bogeyed the par-three ninth hole, his last.

Spacey, the 31-year-old from Dainfern, started birdie-birdie but then finished twice as well with four successive birdies from the 15^th hole to shoot up the leaderboard into the seven-way tie for the lead.

There were so many birdies, a couple of eagles and very nearly an albatross for the red-hot Danie van Tonder on Wednesday that one half-expected the Rise Up Series order of merit leader to shoot something new and extraordinary like a gosling in the first round of the Vodacom Championship Reloaded at Huddle Park Golf Club.

Van Tonder instead settled for a wonderful nine-under-par 63 in a superb round of golf that meant the baby Egyptian Geese in danger were the ones way down the fairway and certainly not those around the water hazards. The 29-year-old collected six birdies and two eagles as he basically overwhelmed the course from the tees. He very nearly scored an albatross two at the 438-metre par-five 14^th hole, when his approach lipped out of the hole.

“I’m very happy, the Driver gave me lots of chances with wedges to get really close to the pins. On 14, I hit a five-wood off the tee and then had 110 to the pin, I took my lob-wedge and said to my caddy that I must go for some spin, and I spun it back almost into the hole for a two. But almost all the holes are birdie holes, you can attack the pins and there are lots of chances on every hole.

“I’m quite happy about everything in my game, it’s great to see my hard work paying off and I’m just going to keep on practising and trying to get better. It’s a new day tomorrow and I will try and make a 10-under 62, you never know. I’ll go home now and wait for the rain to come – the greens are already very receptive and rolling nicely,” Van Tonder said after starting his hunt for a third Rise Up Series title in perfect fashion.

Four-time Sunshine Tour winner Christiaan Basson has had a disappointing Rise Up Series, only making the cut at the African Bank Championship at Glendower, but on Wednesday he played like he had a personal grudge against Huddle Park as he fired an eight-under-par 64.

He was joined on that score soon afterwards when Louis de Jager, playing in the same three-ball as Van Tonder, finished with three 3s to also sign for a brilliant 64.

It was also a good day for the experienced and consistent Jacques Blaauw, who also had two eagles on his way to a 65, and Musiwalo Nethunzwi, who also finished on seven-under alongside rookie Malcolm Mitchell.

Young Jayden Schaper produced one of the more exciting rounds of the day as he eagled the first three par-fives on his way to a 66 that gave him seventh place all by himself.

On a day when one golfer was heard to enquire “where is the rest of the par-five?”, it was a very disappointing first round for Darren Fichardt, Van Tonder’s only rival for the Rise Up Series order of merit title, as he let himself down by coming home in 38 shots (the back nine was tougher on Wednesday) to finish with a 72. With 64 golfers shooting under-par on the first day, Fichardt’s battle is now to make the cut.

A quarter of the Fancourt Links is made up of par-threes and Nicolas Colsaerts birdied them all on his way to a commanding four-shot lead in the first round of the Volvo Golf Champions on Thursday.

Colsaerts is known for his no-holds-barred driving off the tee, but his brilliant nine-under-par 64 was actually set apart by his superb iron-play and clinical putting as he birdied the par-three second, eighth, 11th and 17th holes.

“I’ve never birdied all the par-threes on a course before and you don’t see that on a scorecard that often. You’re not really looking for birdies on the par-threes, I’m thinking more that I can reach most of the par-fives in two, so it was a bonus,” Colsaerts said after shattering the Fancourt Links course record.

The Belgian was level-par through seven holes after bogeying the par-four sixth hole after a three-putt, but Colsaerts, playing his first competitive round at Fancourt, began to work out the intricacies of the course as he finished the front nine with successive birdies. His final stretch was nothing short of magnificent as he closed with four straight birdies – 3-4-2-4.

“I’m very happy, to have the course record on a course like this is quite a thing. I’ve heard about this place for a long time, after the President’s Cup was played here and it being the number one course in South Africa,” Colsaerts said.

Although the wind played a relatively minor part for Fancourt, Colsaerts said he still had to be watchful.

“It was moving a little bit, it switched at times. It was pretty calm at the start but then there was a bit more wind after the ninth. You still had to look at it. I hope it stays like this because the course will be pretty difficult if the wind gets up,” Colsaerts, who was in the fourth two-ball off the first tee at 10am, said.

Apart from the irritating three-putt on the sixth, the only time the 29-year-old was semi-concerned was on the short par-four 14th hole, when he found the fairway bunker. Colsaerts chipped out to just short of the green and then made his up-and-down for par.

The world number 76 seems to have a thing for Volvo-sponsored tournaments, having won the Volvo China Open in April and then reaching the semifinals of the Volvo World Matchplay Championships in Andalucia before losing to Ian Poulter.

“I like to think I’m having a love affair with Volvo, but there are still three rounds to go!” Colsaerts laughed. “But the Matchplay – beating Goosen, McIlroy, Vegas and McDowell – was when I really understood that I can be a top-class golfer.”

The quality of his golf on Thursday was immaculate and the big-hitting lover of house music was still enjoying the feeling when he spoke to the media.

“I just seemed to hole out all day, every birdie was from close range and I took every chance from six-to-eight feet. I was hitting my irons very close and, after you’ve done that three or four times, you just keep firing at the pins. I kept hitting the fairways as well and it was probably one of the best rounds I’ve played, if not the best,” Colsaerts said.