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Knysna - Bryce Easton gave himself plenty of chances as he carded a six-under-par 66 on Wednesday to join in a three-way share of the lead in the first round of the R600 000 Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Simola Golf and Country Estate.
He shared the top of the leaderboard with qualifier David Ryan and Albert Pistorius, and they take a one-stroke lead over Vaughn Groenewald into the second round of the 54-hole event.
“Quite a lot of my putts seemed to just sit on the edge and have a look and didn’t go,” said Easton. “The greens are rolling nicely but they’re tricky to read with some subtle breaks, but I’m obviously very chuffed with six-under.”
He didn’t start all that promisingly with a bogey on the 11th after he got his round underway on the 10th, but he rectified things immediately with a birdie on 12, and then two more on 15 and 17.
“I had a nice little chip-in for three on 18, which helped,” he said of the eagle on the 468m par-five as he turned in four-under 32.
He held things together with two more birdies on his inward nine, and came close a few more times too: he had a birdie putt lip out on the ninth as he attempted to break a sequence of four consecutive pars ahead of his closing hole.
Pistorius closed his error-free round - six birdies and no birdies - with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th as he took a late share of the lead.
He will be looking to get his year going after two 11th-place finishes so far in the Telkom PGA Championship and the Investec Royal Swazi Open last week. He also had a 12th in the Platinum Classic.
Ryan’s accuracy was the key to his score. He hit 17 greens in regulation, but 29 putts, including a three-putt at the fifth for bogey, kept him from making a lower score.
One shot behind Groenewald was a group of three players on four-under, which included rookie Ruan de Smidt. He carded the first ace of his life when he holed out on the 157m 17th with a nine-iron.
That won him eight VIP tickets to a Springbok rugby Test match in South Africa later this year courtesy of promoters SAIL - and he’s never seen the national team in action.
He was joined on 68 by Titch Moore and Neil Schietekat, while defending champion Jean Hugo battled his way to a one-under 71.
Scores (RSA unless specified):
Note: Two players will complete their rounds on Thursday morning
-6 - David Ryan, Bryce Easton, Albert Pistorius
-5 - Vaughn Groenewald
-4 - Ruan de Smidt, Neil Schietekat, Titch Moore
-3 - Andrew Georgiou, Keenan Davidse, Merrick Bremner, Peter Karmis, Ross Wellington, Jake Redman, Justin Harding
-2 - Ryan Tipping, Branden Grace, Jacques Blaauw, Louis de Jager, Riekus Nortje, Christiaan Basson, James Kamte, Anthony Michael
-1 - JJ Senekal, Jean Hugo, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Ulrich van den Berg, Louis Calitz, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Blanche Lamprecht, Johan du Buisson, Doug McGuigan, Lyle Rowe, Colin Nel
Par - Heinrich Bruiners, Ryan Strauss, Steven Ferreira, Mark Williams, Grant Veenstra, Mark Fensham, Chris Swanepoel, PH McIntyre, Charl Coetzee, Oliver Bekker, Des Terblanche [15]
+1 - Divan Gerber, Matthew Carvell, Mark Murless, Jaco Ahlers, Desvonde Botes, Andrew Curlewis, Nic Henning, Alan Michell [15]
+2 - Graham van der Merwe, Dean Burmester, Derik Ferreira, Lean Boezaart, Danie van Tonder
+3 - Ryan Thompson, Dean O'Riley, Theunis Spangenberg, Brandon Pieters, Bruce McDonald (ZIM), Grant Muller, Ockie Strydom
+4 - Morne Buys, Alan McLean (SCO), Callie Swart
+5 - Hendrik Buhrmann, Lindani Ndwandwe, Andre Cruse
+6 - Drikus van der Walt
+9 - Divan van den Heever
He shared the top of the leaderboard with qualifier David Ryan and Albert Pistorius, and they take a one-stroke lead over Vaughn Groenewald into the second round of the 54-hole event.
“Quite a lot of my putts seemed to just sit on the edge and have a look and didn’t go,” said Easton. “The greens are rolling nicely but they’re tricky to read with some subtle breaks, but I’m obviously very chuffed with six-under.”
He didn’t start all that promisingly with a bogey on the 11th after he got his round underway on the 10th, but he rectified things immediately with a birdie on 12, and then two more on 15 and 17.
“I had a nice little chip-in for three on 18, which helped,” he said of the eagle on the 468m par-five as he turned in four-under 32.
He held things together with two more birdies on his inward nine, and came close a few more times too: he had a birdie putt lip out on the ninth as he attempted to break a sequence of four consecutive pars ahead of his closing hole.
Pistorius closed his error-free round - six birdies and no birdies - with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th as he took a late share of the lead.
He will be looking to get his year going after two 11th-place finishes so far in the Telkom PGA Championship and the Investec Royal Swazi Open last week. He also had a 12th in the Platinum Classic.
Ryan’s accuracy was the key to his score. He hit 17 greens in regulation, but 29 putts, including a three-putt at the fifth for bogey, kept him from making a lower score.
One shot behind Groenewald was a group of three players on four-under, which included rookie Ruan de Smidt. He carded the first ace of his life when he holed out on the 157m 17th with a nine-iron.
That won him eight VIP tickets to a Springbok rugby Test match in South Africa later this year courtesy of promoters SAIL - and he’s never seen the national team in action.
He was joined on 68 by Titch Moore and Neil Schietekat, while defending champion Jean Hugo battled his way to a one-under 71.
Scores (RSA unless specified):
Note: Two players will complete their rounds on Thursday morning
-6 - David Ryan, Bryce Easton, Albert Pistorius
-5 - Vaughn Groenewald
-4 - Ruan de Smidt, Neil Schietekat, Titch Moore
-3 - Andrew Georgiou, Keenan Davidse, Merrick Bremner, Peter Karmis, Ross Wellington, Jake Redman, Justin Harding
-2 - Ryan Tipping, Branden Grace, Jacques Blaauw, Louis de Jager, Riekus Nortje, Christiaan Basson, James Kamte, Anthony Michael
-1 - JJ Senekal, Jean Hugo, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Ulrich van den Berg, Louis Calitz, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Blanche Lamprecht, Johan du Buisson, Doug McGuigan, Lyle Rowe, Colin Nel
Par - Heinrich Bruiners, Ryan Strauss, Steven Ferreira, Mark Williams, Grant Veenstra, Mark Fensham, Chris Swanepoel, PH McIntyre, Charl Coetzee, Oliver Bekker, Des Terblanche [15]
+1 - Divan Gerber, Matthew Carvell, Mark Murless, Jaco Ahlers, Desvonde Botes, Andrew Curlewis, Nic Henning, Alan Michell [15]
+2 - Graham van der Merwe, Dean Burmester, Derik Ferreira, Lean Boezaart, Danie van Tonder
+3 - Ryan Thompson, Dean O'Riley, Theunis Spangenberg, Brandon Pieters, Bruce McDonald (ZIM), Grant Muller, Ockie Strydom
+4 - Morne Buys, Alan McLean (SCO), Callie Swart
+5 - Hendrik Buhrmann, Lindani Ndwandwe, Andre Cruse
+6 - Drikus van der Walt
+9 - Divan van den Heever
