Share

Van Tonder goes low to take Limpopo Championship lead

Cape Town – Daniel van Tonder says every aspect of his game was solid on day one of the Limpopo Championship, and that was evident on Thursday because he blitzed around the Koro Creek Bushveld and Golf Estate expertly, to sign for a bogey-free nine-under-par 63.

“I enjoyed it quite a lot,” he says of his round, “I played well and I listened to my caddie. We gelled and it worked today. I was pleased about every aspect of my game today; driver off the tee, second shots with the irons or a wood.  And, even on the par-threes, it’s irons off the tees and I was chipping and putting well, so everything was quite solid.”

He opened his round with an eagle and made two more birdies on the fifth and sixth holes to turn in 32. Back-to-back pars on the 1nth and 11th were soon followed by another birdie and one hole later, on the 15th and 16t holes, Van Tonder picked up two more birdies. He made further gains on his last two holes, closing off with two birdies to sign for a 63.

He says he’s done some work on a few aspects of his game over the last few months, and the results are beginning to show. “Putting is the name of the game,” he says.

“If you putt well, you play well and that’s what I’ve worked on.”

Rookie Wilco Nienaber, Peter Karmis, Hennie du Plessis and MJ Viljoen are in a share of second on seven-under-par and trailing by two shots after the opening round.

“I played nicely and because the front nine was so calm, I tried to take advantage of that,” said Nienaber, “and on the back nine, the wind started blowing a bit, but not much, not more than a club. I made a few adjustments with my putter, and it’s starting to pay off nicely. I enjoyed the course.

“This is my second Sunshine Tour-only event,” he notes, “the first one (Eye of Africa PGA Championship) I forgot to sign my scorecard and that got me disqualified. I’m enjoying it here and it’s nice to play on home soil.”

Defending champion JC Ritchie, Anton Haig, the German duo of Jonas Kolbing and Bernd Ritthammer, England’s Todd Clements and Philip Eriksson of Sweden share the sixth position on six-under-par.

Scores:

63 - Daniel van Tonder
65 - Wilco Nienaber, Peter Karmis, Hennie du Plessis, MJ Viljoen
66 - Anton Haig, Jonas Kolbing, Bernd Ritthammer, JC Ritchie, Todd Clements, Philip Eriksson
67 - Andre Nel, Bryce Easton, Garth Mulroy, Toto Thimba, Jean Hugo, Jacques Kruyswijk, Lorenzo Scalise, Louis de Jager, Pep Angles, Wynand Dingle, Craig Howie, Kyle Barker, Marcel Schneider, Laurie Canter, Jake Redman, Rourke van der Spuy
68 - Chase Hanna, Neil Schietekat, Pelle Edberg, Jens Dantorp, Nicolai Hojgaard, Jaco Prinsloo, Minkyu Kim, Federico Maccario, Raphael de Sousa, Aron Zemmer, Breyten Meyer, Stephen Ferreira, Oliver Lindell, David Dixon, Eirik Tage Johansen, Stuart Manley, Jaco Van Zyl, Ross Mcgowan, Anton Karlsson, Deon Germishuys, Anthony Michael, Clement Sordet
69 - Teboho Sefatsa, Santiago Tarrio Ben, Chris Cannon, Fredrik From, Louis Albertse, Jack Floydd, Steve Surry, Herman Loubser, Lyle Rowe, Ulrich van den Berg, Damien Perrier, James Allan, Ruan Conradie
70 - Christopher Mivis, Hennie Otto, Ockie Strydom, Jaco Ahlers, Thriston Lawrence, Matias Calderon, Dylan Naidoo, Chris Swanepoel, Heinrich Bruiners, Stanislav Matus, Jordan Wrisdale, Jack Harrison, Garrick Higgo, Mathieu Fenasse, Martin Rohwer, Steven Tiley, Jonathan Thomson, Keith Horne, Sipho Bujela, Richard Mansell
71 - James Kamte, Jacob Glennemo, Hurly Long, Bennie van der Merwe, Daan Huizing, Jayden Schaper, Emilio Cuartero Blanco, Makhetha Mazibuko, Alex Haindl, Andrew van der Knaap, Callum Mowat, Teaghan Gauche, Robin Petersson, CJ du Plessis, Ben Stow, Kyle McClatchie, Ruan de Smidt, Jacques Blaauw, Jake Roos, Clinton Grobler, Juran Dreyer, Ewen Ferguson
72 - Peetie van der Merwe, Niklas Norgaard Moller, Clancy Waugh, Toby Tree, Gavin Moynihan, Christiaan Basson, Moritz Lampert, Keenan Davidse, Enrico Di Nitto, Hayden Griffiths, Henric Sturehed, Daniel Young, Gudmundur Kristjansson, Nathan Kimsey, James Hart du Preez, Matthew Baldwin, Daniel Gavins, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Mark Williams, Luke Jerling, Kristoffer Reitan
73 - Christofer Blomstrand, Nicolai Kristensen, Mitch Waite, Vaughn Groenewald, Merrick Bremner, Jean-Paul Strydom, Jens Fahrbring, Euan Walker, Lauri Ruuska, Benjamin Rusch, Robin Dawson, Dylan Kok, Michael Hoey, Robbie Van West, Jbe' Kruger, Adilson Da Silva, Joel Stalter, Oscar Lengden, Deyen Lawson, Thomas Linard, Jonathan Waschefort, Wallie Coetsee
74 - Haraldur Magnus, Paul Boshoff, Allen John, Harry Ellis, Doug McGuigan, Espen Kofstad, Bradley Neil, Dominic Foos, Marcel Siem, Derick Petersen, Niall Kearney, David Boote, Kim Koivu, Rhys Enoch, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Madalitso Muthiya, Tyrone Ryan, Titch Moore, Rupert Kaminski, Frederic Lacroix
75 - Michael Hollick, Alfie Plant, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Liam Johnston, David Borda, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Philip Geerts, David McIntyre, Conor O'Rourke, Matt Ford, Martin Simonsen, Gary Stal, Ugo Coussaud, Felix Mory
76 - Ryan Tipping, Martin Wiegele, Riekus Nortje, Darren Fichardt, Ricardo Gouveia, Andre De Decker, Ryan Cairns, Alexander Knappe
77 - Hendrikus Stoop, Jacques P de Villiers, Mikael Lundberg, Daniel Brooks, Alpheus Kelapile, Christopher Sahlstrom
78 - Hinrich Arkenau, DK Kim, Oliver Bekker
79 - Fritz Orren
80 - Timon Baltl, Irvin Mazibuko, Martin Ovesen
82 - Michael Palmer
RTD - Estiaan Conradie

- Sunshine Tour

 

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1272 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1469 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2240 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE