Ken Borland

Millvale Private Retreat is a little-known championship course hidden away in the fertile bushveld between the Magaliesburg and Pilanesberg ranges and there is very limited access for golfers, which is maybe not such a bad thing considering how darn difficult it was to play on the opening day of the Chase to the Investec Cup final on Thursday.

With slick greens, numerous bunkers and a gusting, awkward wind, Millvale put the top 30 golfers on the Sunshine Tour to the test and it was no surprise the two who came out tops were class performers in Charl Schwartzel and George Coetzee.

They both shot four-under-par 68s and were three shots ahead of Justin Harding and Shaun Norris, the only other golfers to break par.

Schwartzel is trying to groove his swing ahead of the Masters, which starts at Augusta on April 9, and he seems to be making rapid progress in that regard, as well as cracking the code for how to succeed at Millvale.

“For a while now I’ve been working out my swing and it’s getting better and better. It’s a matter of trusting it out on the course, because it doesn’t matter on the range. So today was a good round in hard conditions, it was challenging and anything under par was good,” Schwartzel said.

In terms of Masters preparation, the greens were also to Schwartzel’s liking, although he said Augusta would ask even more of his putter.

“The greens definitely had speed and they’re up with the best I’ve seen here. You don’t often get greens at this speed in South Africa and I was very pleased to see that. We’re not used to having that in South Africa and when I played Lost City on Tuesday, the greens there were very slow, so I hope they speed them up for our two rounds there on Saturday and Sunday.

“But today was more than good enough practice for Augusta, although the greens there have even more slope and the ball just doesn’t stop,” Schwartzel said.

While Schwartzel was fairly consistent with six birdies and just two dropped shots, Coetzee had a round which he described as “all over the show” – two bogeys, an eagle, six birdies and a double-bogey were all crammed into his wild round in the Limpopo River watershed.

“I don’t know how I shot four-under because my game was all over the show. This is not the easiest course to play in the wind and the speed of the greens was very fast and the placement of the pins meant you had to really plot your way around the course, it was hard work,” Coetzee said.

A run of eagle and four successive birdies from the par-five seventh hole was key to Coetzee’s success and, being sponsored by Investec, the owners of Millvale, he admitted some local knowledge really helped.

“The eagle on seven was a bit of local knowledge because I know there is a small gap on the left and you’re able to take it on with driver. For my second I hit a seven-iron to three feet,” Coetzee said.

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George Coetzee’s game may have been “all over the show” but the Tshwane Open winner will go into the second round of the Chase to the Investec Cup final in pole position after the opening day at Millvale Private Retreat near Koster outside Rustenburg on Thursday.

Coetzee is the co-leader after the first round with South Africa’s top-ranked golfer, Charl Schwartzel, after both fired brilliant four-under-par 68s on a tough course in a gusty wind.

An incredible run of eagle at the par-five seventh, followed by four straight birdies saw Coetzee go into the lead on five-under-par, but a bogey on 12 followed by a double-bogey on the par-three 13^th saw him slip behind Schwartzel, before drawing level with the 2011 Masters champion with birdies on the 15^th and 16^th holes.

The 28-year-old Coetzee was in 11^th place in the Chase to the Investec Cup standings, but with none of the top-10 able to break par at Millvale, he is now projected to finish first and win the bonus pool if the leaderboard remains the same.

“I don’t know how I shot four-under because my game was all over the show. This is not the easiest course to play in the wind and the speed of the greens was very fast and the placement of the pins meant you had to really plot your way around the course, it was hard work,” Coetzee said.

Schwartzel is chasing a consistent swing ahead of the Masters from April 9 and his game was looking almost spot-on under the testing conditions at Millvale.

“For a while now I’ve been working out my swing and it’s getting better and better. It’s a matter of trusting it out on the course, because it doesn’t matter on the range. So today was a good round in hard conditions, it was challenging and anything under par was good,” Schwartzel said.

European golfers have dominated the opening day of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club, with an Irishman, seven Englishmen, a Frenchman and a Spaniard all in the top 13 in what is certainly a bad joke for the local contingent.

South African golfers have won all seven previous editions of the Africa Open, but they are going to have a hard time keeping the trophy at home this time around, with just three golfers – Neil Schietekat, Oliver Bekker and Trevor Fisher Junior featuring high up the leaderboard.

Ireland’s Kevin Phelan, who has been tipped as one of the rising stars of European golf, claimed three successive birdies from the fifth hole, having started on the ninth, to post a five-under-par 67 and claim the lead. The 24-year-old has been in good form in his second full season on tour, finishing in a tie for second in last week’s Joburg Open after shooting a 66 on the final day.

He was joined late in the day by Matt Ford, who had been to qualifying school nine times before finally claiming his card last year. The Englishman posted a 66 on the opening day of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, and yesterday he was arguably even more impressive in shooting a bogey-free 67 in blustery conditions on the East Coast.

The English dominance of the summer continued with Richard Bland, David Howell and John Parry all in the tie for third on four-under-par, alongside Schietekat, the leading South African, and Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva, who started in the most brilliant fashion with an eagle at the first and three more birdies before a double-bogey at the ninth halted the momentum.

Bekker and Fisher Junior are in the group on three-under, with England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, the former world number one amateur, his compatriots Tom Lewis and Chris Lloyd, and Frenchman Gregory Havret.

The bizhub Highveld Lions had their number seven and eight to thank for converting a dominant opening day into a commanding position on the second day of their Sunfoil Series match against the Unlimited Titans at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Friday.

The Lions resumed on 264 for two and centurion Stephen Cook and Neil McKenzie quickly rattled up a fifty partnership off just 54 balls before the second new ball allowed the Titans to strike back.

With JP de Villiers showing good pace and claiming three wickets in five balls, the Lions crashed from 311 for two to 313 for six, with Cook departing for a tremendously solid 122 and McKenzie for 47.

But Dwaine Pretorius and Dale Deeb kept their heads and took the Lions to 396 for six at lunch. Their progress thereafter was interrupted for nearly three hours by heavy thundershowers, but they had managed to both reach their half-centuries within two balls of each other shortly before the delay.

They took their partnership to 137 in 140 minutes before Pretorius was bowled by a Roelof van der Merwe arm-ball for a highly-creditable 67.

Deeb and Vusi Mazibuko (10*) then combined for a quickfire 35-run stand, Deeb finishing with a well-struck 89 not out, before the declaration on 485 for seven.

De Villiers was the pick of the Titans bowlers with three for 75 in 18 overs, while Rowan Richards was less consistent but claimed three for 118 in 26 overs.

Having spent an age off the field due to the weather, it was highly disappointing that the umpires did not extend the playing hours, taking the reluctant players off the field in bright sunshine at 5.30pm with the Titans on 27 without loss. The players were told it was because the allotted overs for the day had been bowled, which is laughable because only 64 overs were actually bowled.

Jacques Rudolph, who was a late inclusion in the Titans team after making himself available for four-day cricket, was looking solid on 18 not out, while Heino Kuhn was on seven.