Ken Borland

JOHANNESBURG – England-based James Mack shot a six-under-par 66 on Wednesday to lead the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge after the first round at Kyalami Country Club, but there is a hunk of prime South African Sunshine Tour talent chasing him down just one stroke behind.

Simon du Plooy, Jacques P. de Villiers, Ruan de Smidt, Christiaan Burke, Martin Rohwer and Jonathan Broomhead all posted five-under-par 67s on Wednesday to ensure Mack has plenty of challengers in his rearview mirror.

De Villiers, whose only bogey came on the par-five 13^th when he three-putted, said the key to doing well at Kyalami Country Club on Wednesday was shaping the ball on the 6631m course with tight fairways.

“The fairways are very hard and they’re tight, so it’s tough to hit them with the ball bouncing so much. You’ve got to be able to shape the ball off the tee and I did that well today,” De Villiers said.

“I also putted really well and even though I made four birdies and an eagle, I still had a few horseshoes, including one that came right back at me. But it was a really solid round, I played well today in conditions that were very nice. It wasn’t too cold this morning and the wind didn’t blow too much either.”

The highlight of De Villiers’ season thus far has been finishing third in the FBC Zambia Open, which was then followed by a long break. His finishes since the Sunshine Tour returned to action have been 20^th, 43^rd, 35^th and 37^th, but the Schoeman Park golfer still feels his game is well-toned as he looks towards the co-sanctioned events in the summer.

“I’ve been working hard on my swing with Doug Wood and the changes are there or thereabouts. But the game has been trending in the right direction for sure over the last couple of weeks. It’s all preparation now for the big events on the summer swing,” the 34-year-old said.

Mack started his round on the par-four 10^th hole and immediately picked up a birdie. Two more birdies in a faultless back nine saw him go out in three-under, and he collected four more birdies on the front nine, although a bogey on the par-three fourth hole was a hiccup.

Ten other golfers are two shots behind on four-under-par.

PRETORIA – Thriston Lawrence and Jacques Blaauw both fired outstanding 10-under-par 62s to share the lead in a meeting of two of South African golf’s most in-form stars in the first round of the SunBet Challenge Times Square Casino at Wingate Park Country Club on Wednesday.

Lawrence, who is currently sixth on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, is back in South Africa to complete his rehabilitation from a back injury he suffered after the Open Championship a month ago. His first competitive round since then could barely have gone better as he plundered eight birdies and an eagle on the 6740m course in south-eastern Pretoria.

The winner of eight professional events, including four on the DP World Tour, was part of the morning field, while Blaauw, who is leading the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy and is eager to return full-time to the European tour, was off at 11.50am.

The 38-year-old Blaauw made a blazing start to his round as he set out to catch Lawrence, reaching the turn in six-under-par, which included an eagle on the 381m par-four sixth hole. Although he bogeyed the par-four 11^th, Blaauw finished strong with five birdies in the last seven holes.

“I’ve had four weeks off since hurting my back a bit at the Open and I’m not a big fan of hitting lots of balls on the range, so I felt playing this tournament would help my rehab more. And I love to compete,” Lawrence said.

“But I was still quite surprised how well it went because I’ve only played two practice rounds in the last few weeks, I didn’t expect 10-under. But the back is good and game is solid.

“I started on 10 and the eagle came on 18 after I hit a nice drive and had a good number for a nine-iron in; I hit it to three feet for a simple eagle. That got my momentum going, I had four birdies in a row to start the front nine, I was on fire,” Lawrence said.

Blaauw, who is enjoying his best season in nearly a decade with five successive top-10 finishes on the Sunshine Tour, including victory in the SunBet Challenge Sun City event, admitted the presence of Lawrence, and the fact he had shot 62, motivated him.

“What Thriston shot told me there was obviously a low score out there. I started quickly so I knew something was up. I’ve been playing good golf of late and it all came together today,” Blaauw said.

“When our DP World Tour stars play here you always want to beat them and Thriston has been playing some unbelievable golf lately. But I’ve showed I can play great golf at home, hopefully I can do the same elsewhere. Getting full status in Europe has been my plan from January and now it’s just about keeping things going.

“It’s about sticking to the processes, just letting it happen and not trying to force things. Just keep giving myself opportunities because the putter is working,” Blaauw said.

The six-time Sunshine Tour winner’s eagle came when he followed a 300m drive on the sixth with a 90m lob-wedge into the hole.

Another multiple winner on the DP World Tour, George Coetzee, is also making his way back from long-term injury, and he will certainly have a say in where the title goes this week as he shot an eight-under-par 64 on Wednesday.

Young Yurav Premlall also made his presence known with a 66, a score matched by Quintin Wilsnach.

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Darkness fell over Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate at a terrible time for the leaders in the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Highland Gate Mpumalanga event, with Louis Albertse, Kyle de Beer and Louis de Jager all being within two shots of each other with three holes left when play was suspended on Friday.

The start of play was delayed on Friday morning due to frost on the greens, and although the weather soon improved into a lovely, warm sunny day, the backlog meant the last dozen three-balls were not able to finish their opening rounds.

But Albertse played some awesome golf in the 15 holes he did get in, storming to nine-under-par with seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth hole. The three-time Sunshine Tour winner, who played some fine golf in winning the pro-am that preceded the R2 million professional event, was taking an awful toll on the back nine before the sun set on his charge. Albertse birdied four of the first five holes after the turn.

De Beer, currently leading the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings, was on eight-under-par. The 26-year-old started his round on the 10^th and made a hat-trick of birdies from the 11^th hole, before bogeying the par-five 14^th. But De Beer bounced back superbly with an eagle on the par-five 18^th and further birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth holes.

The experienced De Jager birdied four of his first five holes, with a bogey on the par-three third, and had just collected his second birdie of the back nine, on the 15^th, to go to seven-under-par when play was called off for the day.

Another seasoned campaigner, Jacques Blaauw, had a marvellous start to his round, going four-under after six holes. He could only collect two more birdies thereafter, but a six-under 66 was still enough for a share of the clubhouse lead and continues his stunning season thus far as he is top of the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Nikhil Rama also shot a splendid 66, while it was also a good day for a quartet of up-and-coming stars in Kyle McClatchie, Englishman Joe Long, Luke Brown and Martin Rohwer, who all completed their rounds on five-under-par.

Three of the nine Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals who are competing in this Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event are in line to make the cut. Young Gabrielle Venter led the way for the women on Friday with a one-under-par 71, while Lora Assad was one-over and Danielle du Toit shot two-over 74.

The completion of the first round and the start of the second round will take place concurrently on Saturday, with the action resuming at 7.10am.

PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Given his lack of joy with his putter recently, Jaco Ahlers made sure he was sinking birdie putts with rapacious intent when the short stick joined the party on the back nine on Wednesday as he soared to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun with a six-under-par 64.

Ahlers came home in a tremendous 30 strokes, making five birdies on the back nine. He leads Trevor Mahoney, who came home in 31 shots to post a 65, by one stroke, with Keegan McLachlan a shot further back after a 66 that included an eagle-two on the short, 315m par-four second hole.

The 41-year-old Ahlers has been playing solidly recently, but has not been getting reward on the greens. His last four finishes have been ties for 13^th, fifth, 23^rd and 10^th.

“I finally made some putts today. The putter was the catalyst for my 64. Not so much on the front nine, where I had 16 putts, including sinking one from off the green for birdie on the fifth. But on the back nine I had just 12 putts, so I capitalised on some pretty good golf and sank nice putts on the 13^th and 17^th holes,” Ahlers said.

“I played two weeks ago in Morocco on the Asian Tour, and the putter was very cold, that probably cost me the win. But I’ve been playing decent golf lately and in the last few months my acceptance of things on the course has been a bit better.

“That’s a big thing at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club where conditions are always different one day to the other. The greens can be bumpy and there are normally strong winds, you just have to not get too agitated. The wind was up today but it was just experience, having played here and done well many times before, that allowed me to manage it well,” Ahlers, who won the 2016 Wild Coast Sun Challenge and lost in a playoff in the 2014 Vodacom Origins Wild Coast event, said.

Mahoney, a former South African amateur star, was level-par after eight holes, but then collected back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10^th holes. He was then able to further massage his score with a strong finish, picking up further strokes on the 15^th, 16^th and 18^th holes.

McLachlan, from Silver Lakes Country Club, started his round on the 10^th and went out in level-par. But the 25-year-old was excellent on the front nine, birdieing the first and fourth holes to add to his eagle on the second.

Jacques P. de Villiers, Gerhard Pepler, Pieter Moolman, Jaco van Zyl, Matthew Spacey and Leon Vorster were all tied in fourth place after shooting three-under-par 67s.