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Johannesburg - It took one of the longest hitters on the Sunshine Tour to outmuscle Glendower Golf Club and the wind that protected it in the first round of the BMG Classic on Friday.
Merrick Bremner signed for a six-under-par 66, including an eagle on the par-five 13th hole, to lead by one over Oliver Bekker, and with Jean Hugo, Attie Schwartzel and Darren Fichardt all well-placed on four under.
"It was a good day, but tough and a little tricky with the wind," said Bremner, whose most costly error of the day came when he found the water on the 10th hole for a double bogey.
"I had a little mental error on the 10th, but other than that I played fantastic." Hugo shot a steady four-under-par 68 during the morning round to put him two shots behind the leader.
"If you were close to 70, or even par in the morning, you were playing very well," Hugo said.
"So I'll take 68 and see what happens tomorrow." With the wind eventually dying down, the afternoon field found scoring a lot easier and it reflected on the leaderboard.
Fichardt made the halfway turn in 31, after a flawless front nine which included five birdies.
He, however, also found trouble on the 10th where he made a double bogey.
"Two shots, even five shots is nothing with two rounds to go, it should be good," Fichardt said.
The outright second place came late in the day with Bekker signing for a five-under-par 67.
"My putting speed was very good and that was probably the main thing for me today," Bekker said.
"I've been going through some swing changes, and haven't been playing well, so it was nice to see a good round today."
Scores:
66 - Merrick Bremner (RSA)
67 - Oliver Bekker (RSA)
68 - Jean Hugo (RSA), Attie Schwartzel (RSA), Darren Fichardt (RSA)
69 - Pieter Moolman (RSA), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA), Le Roux Ferreira (RSA)
70 - Andre Cruse (RSA), Jaco Ahlers (RSA), Jaco Prinsloo (RSA), Jeff Inglis (ENG), James Kamte (RSA), Christiaan Basson (RSA), Danie van Tonder (RSA), Ross Wellington (RSA), Erik van Rooyen (RSA)
71 - Shaun Norris (RSA), Dean Burmester (RSA), JC Ritchie (RSA), Francesco Laporta (ITA), Jared Harvey (RSA), Michael Hollick (RSA), Neil Schietekat (RSA), Jack Harrison (ENG)
72 - Vaughn Groenewald (RSA), Thabang Simon (RSA), Bryce Bibby (RSA), Thriston Lawrence (RSA), Jacques Blaauw (RSA), Justin Harding (RSA), Grant Veenstra (RSA), Colin Nel (RSA), Anthony Michael (RSA), Dylan Frittelli (RSA)
73 - Morne Buys (RSA), Kevin Stone (RSA), Andrew Georgiou (RSA), Ruan Huysamen (NAM), Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA), Keenan Davidse (RSA), Doug McGuigan (RSA), Tyrone Mordt (RSA), Warren Abery (RSA), Ruan de Smidt (RSA), Jake Redman (RSA), Roberto Lupini (RSA), CJ du Plessis (RSA), Brett Liddle (RSA)
74 - Allister de Kock (RSA), Shaun Smith (RSA), Mark Murless (RSA), Louis de Jager (RSA), Dayne Moore (ZAM), Omar Sandys (RSA), Divan van den Heever (RSA), Desne van den Bergh (RSA), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Grant Muller (RSA)
75 - Mark Williams (ZIM), Makhetha Mazibuko (RSA), Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM), Callum Mowat (RSA), Drikus Bruyns (RSA), Brandon Stone (RSA), Keith Horne (RSA), Sipho Bujela (RSA), Lindani Ndwandwe (RSA), Ulrich van den Berg (RSA), Michiel Bothma (RSA), Ockie Strydom (RSA)
76 - Stuart Smith (BOT), Toto Thimba (Jnr), Lyle Rowe (RSA), Eddie Taylor (RSA), Andrew Curlewis (RSA), Heinrich Bruiners (RSA), Derik Ferreira (RSA), Gert Myburgh (RSA), Desvonde Botes (RSA), Steven Ferreira (RSA), JJ Senekal (RSA), Theunis Spangenberg (RSA), Ryan Tipping (RSA), Alex Haindl (RSA), Torben Baumann (GER), Martin du Toit (RSA)
77 - Allan Versfeld (RSA), Riekus Nortje (RSA), John Bele (RSA), Neil Cheetham (ENG), Bennie van der Merwe (RSA), Tyrone Ryan (RSA), Wynand Dingle (RSA), Charl Coetzee (RSA), Clifford Howes (RSA)
78 - Kevin Stinson (CAN), Teboho Sefatsa (RSA), Jean-Paul Strydom (RSA), Kenneth Dube (RSA), Roux Jeffery (NAM), Maritz Wessels (RSA), Dean O'Riley (RSA), Arthur Horne (SWZ), Ryan Strauss (RSA), Louis Calitz (RSA), Derick Petersen (RSA), Tyrone Ferreira (RSA), Titch Moore (RSA), Peter Karmis (RSA)
79 - Terence Salo (RSA), Steve Surry (ENG), Sheldon Steyn (ZIM), Juan Langeveld (RSA), JG Claassen (RSA), Gideon Pienaar (RSA), Rudy Whitfield (RSA), Matthew Carvell (RSA), Mike Maile (RSA)
80 - Louis Botha (RSA), Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN), Mikhail Tewary (RSA), PH McIntyre (RSA), TJ Bekker (RSA), Paul de Beer (RSA), Daniel Greene (RSA), Drikus van der Walt (RSA)
81 - Johan Etsebeth (RSA), Shaun Jacobs (RSA), Mpho Mafishe (RSA), Nelson Mudanyi (KEN), Francois Coetzee (RSA), Tertius van den Berg (RSA), Wallie Coetsee (RSA)
82 - Greg Bentley (ZIM), Ruwan Combrink (RSA), Andrew Light (RSA), Nic Henning (RSA)
83 - Brandon Pieters (RSA)
84 - Coenie Stoop (RSA), Chris Swanepoel (RSA)
RTD - Bradford Vaughan (RSA)
DSQ - Irvin Mazibuko (RSA)
