Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Hennie Otto overcame a rainy day at Royal Cape Golf Club on Thursday and shot 66 to lead round one of the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open by one stroke.
"It’s nice to be home and to visit Cape Town again.
"It was difficult today because it was rainy and windy, but I played well," said the three-time European Tour winner.
The Cape weather brought out raincoats and umbrellas, but Otto rode the storm and birdied two of his final three holes for a one-shot lead over Omar Sandys.
"The greens are very soft," said Otto.
"You have to play shots a little differently and hit it past the flag.
"The rough is up as well, so I’m happy with a start like this."
The in-form 37-year-old had no trouble starting up the round and birdied four of his first six holes to reach the turn at four-under.
A birdie at the 10th looked to spark a seriously low round, but his charge ended with a lone bogey, which came at the 13th.
Otto, now in his 16th year on the Sunshine Tour, switched on the magic over his closing holes and birdied the 16th and 17th for the outright lead.
"We’ll take it day by day, but it’s been going good for the last two months.
"Let’s try and ride the wave and see how far we go," he said.
Fellow veteran Sandys started on the 10th and bogeyed his first two holes, but recovered the shots with birdies at the 12th and 15th, which are the two par-threes of the back nine.
The 36-year-old blew through his second nine in 31 strokes to reach the clubhouse in sole second.
"I was very positive the whole week, but I had a bad start today and didn’t know where this round was going to go.
"I began to hit good shots and tried to play fairway and green and soon I was scoring.
"I birdied all four of the par-threes today and that was because I was hitting it so well," he said.
Sandys aimed to turn around his disappointing season over the summer and his start at Royal Cape was a step in the right direction.
"Good memories always come back.
"When I walked down the ninth, which was my last hole, and I saw myself on the leaderboard it inspired me.
"I’m looking forward to the next three days, but I have to focus on staying in the moment," he said.
Anthony Michael set the clubhouse lead at four-under-par early in the day, but slipped back to tied third alongside Peter Karmis by the close of play.
13 players shared fifth on three-under-par.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
66 - Hennie Otto
67 - Omar Sandys
68 - Anthony Michael, Peter Karmis
69 - James Kingston, Michael Hollick, Tyrone Mordt, Clifford Howes, Drikus van der Walt, Peter Wilson (ENG), Tjaart van der Walt,Lyle Rowe, Jbe' Kruger, Justin Walters, Desvonde Botes, Toto Thimba (Jnr), Reggie Adams
70 - Wynand Dingle, Erik van Rooyen, Allan Versfeld, Andrew Curlewis, Stuart Smith (BOT), Maritz Wessels, Makgetha Mazibuko,Danie van Tonder, Jared Harvey, Keith Horne, Bradford Vaughan, Jake Roos, Doug McGuigan, Jeff Inglis (ENG), Gregg Upton
71 - Johan du Buisson, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Anton Haig, Charl Coetzee, James Kamte, Shaun Norris, Adrian Ford,Kyle Stevens, Neil Schietekat, Warren Abery, Justin Harding, Ross Wellington, JJ Senekal, Divan Gerber, Ryan Tipping,Shaun Smith, Johan de Beer
72 - Morne Buys, Alan Michell, Heinrich Bruiners, Jean Hugo, Keenan Davidse, Mark Williams, Dean Burmester,Bennie van der Merwe, Prinavin Nelson, T I Mazibuko, Jonathan Raphunga, Kenneth Dube, Kevin Stone, Derick Petersen,Drikus Bruyns, Alan McLean (SCO), PH McIntyre, Steve Surry (ENG), Henk Alberts, Jacquin Hess
73 - Johan Bekker, Pieter Moolman, Louis Calitz, Derik Ferreira, JG Claassen, Christiaan Basson, Matthew Carvell,Jacques Kruyswijk, Titch Moore, Mark Murless, Martin du Toit, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Wallie Coetsee, Ockie Strydom, Juan Langeveld
74 - Mikhail Tewary, Desne van den Bergh, Oliver Bekker, Tyrone Ferreira, Ulrich van den Berg, Theunis Spangenberg,Steven Ferreira, Attie Schwartzel, Riekus Nortje, Nic Henning, Hendrik Buhrmann, Grant Veenstra, Grant Muller,Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN), Greg Bentley (ZIM)
75 - Ryan Strauss, Chris Erasmus, Dawie Van der Walt, Jacques Blaauw, Alex Haindl, Le Roux Ferreira, Ryan Thompson,Tyrone Ryan, Jake Redman, Micky Hough (ZIM), Duane Keun
76 - Brandon Detweiler (USA), CJ du Plessis, Graham van der Merwe, Bryce Easton, Daniel Greene, John Bele, JP van der Walt,Brett Liddle, Paul Bradshaw, Colin Nel, Teboho Sefatsa, Daniel Hammond, Nelson Mudanyi (KEN), Arthur Horne (SWZ)
77 - Francois Coetzee, Yubin Jung, Wandile Gininda, Torben Baumann (GER), Ruan de Smidt, Coenie Stoop, Callie Swart,Zuko Sangqu, Musiwalo Nethunzwi
78 - Thabang Simon, Thabo Maseko, Gert Myburgh, Blanche Lamprecht, Raymond Mathonsi (SWZ), Sipho Bujela, Chris Swanepoel
79 - Stuart Clark (WAL), Michael du Toit, Lindani Ndwandwe, Dean O'Riley, Ruan Huysamen (NAM), Vaughn Groenewald, Bradley Sinnett
80 - Ben Fouchee, Andre Cruse, Sergio Dias, Jean-Paul Strydom, Mark Mahoney
81 - James Wade
82 - Joshua Cunliffe
83 - Beyers Smith
84 - Thomas Lovett
"It’s nice to be home and to visit Cape Town again.
"It was difficult today because it was rainy and windy, but I played well," said the three-time European Tour winner.
The Cape weather brought out raincoats and umbrellas, but Otto rode the storm and birdied two of his final three holes for a one-shot lead over Omar Sandys.
"The greens are very soft," said Otto.
"You have to play shots a little differently and hit it past the flag.
"The rough is up as well, so I’m happy with a start like this."
The in-form 37-year-old had no trouble starting up the round and birdied four of his first six holes to reach the turn at four-under.
A birdie at the 10th looked to spark a seriously low round, but his charge ended with a lone bogey, which came at the 13th.
Otto, now in his 16th year on the Sunshine Tour, switched on the magic over his closing holes and birdied the 16th and 17th for the outright lead.
"We’ll take it day by day, but it’s been going good for the last two months.
"Let’s try and ride the wave and see how far we go," he said.
Fellow veteran Sandys started on the 10th and bogeyed his first two holes, but recovered the shots with birdies at the 12th and 15th, which are the two par-threes of the back nine.
The 36-year-old blew through his second nine in 31 strokes to reach the clubhouse in sole second.
"I was very positive the whole week, but I had a bad start today and didn’t know where this round was going to go.
"I began to hit good shots and tried to play fairway and green and soon I was scoring.
"I birdied all four of the par-threes today and that was because I was hitting it so well," he said.
Sandys aimed to turn around his disappointing season over the summer and his start at Royal Cape was a step in the right direction.
"Good memories always come back.
"When I walked down the ninth, which was my last hole, and I saw myself on the leaderboard it inspired me.
"I’m looking forward to the next three days, but I have to focus on staying in the moment," he said.
Anthony Michael set the clubhouse lead at four-under-par early in the day, but slipped back to tied third alongside Peter Karmis by the close of play.
13 players shared fifth on three-under-par.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
66 - Hennie Otto
67 - Omar Sandys
68 - Anthony Michael, Peter Karmis
69 - James Kingston, Michael Hollick, Tyrone Mordt, Clifford Howes, Drikus van der Walt, Peter Wilson (ENG), Tjaart van der Walt,Lyle Rowe, Jbe' Kruger, Justin Walters, Desvonde Botes, Toto Thimba (Jnr), Reggie Adams
70 - Wynand Dingle, Erik van Rooyen, Allan Versfeld, Andrew Curlewis, Stuart Smith (BOT), Maritz Wessels, Makgetha Mazibuko,Danie van Tonder, Jared Harvey, Keith Horne, Bradford Vaughan, Jake Roos, Doug McGuigan, Jeff Inglis (ENG), Gregg Upton
71 - Johan du Buisson, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Anton Haig, Charl Coetzee, James Kamte, Shaun Norris, Adrian Ford,Kyle Stevens, Neil Schietekat, Warren Abery, Justin Harding, Ross Wellington, JJ Senekal, Divan Gerber, Ryan Tipping,Shaun Smith, Johan de Beer
72 - Morne Buys, Alan Michell, Heinrich Bruiners, Jean Hugo, Keenan Davidse, Mark Williams, Dean Burmester,Bennie van der Merwe, Prinavin Nelson, T I Mazibuko, Jonathan Raphunga, Kenneth Dube, Kevin Stone, Derick Petersen,Drikus Bruyns, Alan McLean (SCO), PH McIntyre, Steve Surry (ENG), Henk Alberts, Jacquin Hess
73 - Johan Bekker, Pieter Moolman, Louis Calitz, Derik Ferreira, JG Claassen, Christiaan Basson, Matthew Carvell,Jacques Kruyswijk, Titch Moore, Mark Murless, Martin du Toit, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Wallie Coetsee, Ockie Strydom, Juan Langeveld
74 - Mikhail Tewary, Desne van den Bergh, Oliver Bekker, Tyrone Ferreira, Ulrich van den Berg, Theunis Spangenberg,Steven Ferreira, Attie Schwartzel, Riekus Nortje, Nic Henning, Hendrik Buhrmann, Grant Veenstra, Grant Muller,Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN), Greg Bentley (ZIM)
75 - Ryan Strauss, Chris Erasmus, Dawie Van der Walt, Jacques Blaauw, Alex Haindl, Le Roux Ferreira, Ryan Thompson,Tyrone Ryan, Jake Redman, Micky Hough (ZIM), Duane Keun
76 - Brandon Detweiler (USA), CJ du Plessis, Graham van der Merwe, Bryce Easton, Daniel Greene, John Bele, JP van der Walt,Brett Liddle, Paul Bradshaw, Colin Nel, Teboho Sefatsa, Daniel Hammond, Nelson Mudanyi (KEN), Arthur Horne (SWZ)
77 - Francois Coetzee, Yubin Jung, Wandile Gininda, Torben Baumann (GER), Ruan de Smidt, Coenie Stoop, Callie Swart,Zuko Sangqu, Musiwalo Nethunzwi
78 - Thabang Simon, Thabo Maseko, Gert Myburgh, Blanche Lamprecht, Raymond Mathonsi (SWZ), Sipho Bujela, Chris Swanepoel
79 - Stuart Clark (WAL), Michael du Toit, Lindani Ndwandwe, Dean O'Riley, Ruan Huysamen (NAM), Vaughn Groenewald, Bradley Sinnett
80 - Ben Fouchee, Andre Cruse, Sergio Dias, Jean-Paul Strydom, Mark Mahoney
81 - James Wade
82 - Joshua Cunliffe
83 - Beyers Smith
84 - Thomas Lovett
