GOLFING NEWS - Divan Marais delighted the home crowds at Centurion Country Club as he fired a four-under-par 68 to grab a share of the first round lead in the Centurion Challenge on Monday.
The 26-year-old shares the top spot with Centurion resident and a three-time Sunshine Tour winner Louis de Jager and Randpark rookie Kyle Barker, who is in the mix for a second week running.
Amateur Eric Nel shot 69 at his home course, while Callum Mowat – a former IGT Race to Q-School winner campaigning on the Sunshine Tour – lurks a further shot adrift in fifth.
Sunshine Ladies Tour rookie Ivanna Samu also finished in red numbers.
The 18-year-old GFG Academy player joined Mpho Mafishe from the Gary Player Class of 2017, rookies Paul Boshoff and Estiaan Conradie, amateurs JP Cooper, Donald Thompson and Andrew Williamson in an eight-way tie at one under 71.
Barker claimed his maiden IGT Challenge Tour title in the season-opening Wanderers Betterball Challenge in March. He led the first two rounds of the Wingate Challenge, but his bid for a second victory faded with a battling 77 in the final round.
De Jager is no stranger on the country’s premier golf development circuit.
It’s been nearly 18 months since he went wire-to-wire in the Killarney Open, but the 30-year-old Els Club Copperleaf golfer came to Centurion with some good form, though, following a top 10 finish in Swaziland with a tie for 25th at the recent Mopani Redpath Zambia Open.
Marais might look more like a surfer than a golfer with his long beach-blonde locks, but don’t be deceived by the Billabong looks.
He used his sharp-shooting game to erase a bogey start with gains at three, five and six and rocketed to the top of the pile with an eagle at the par five 12th and birdie at 15. An untimely bogey at 16 spoiled what could have been the target-setting performance on day one, but with top 10s in two of his last four starts, Marais is a sure-fire candidate for a maiden win.
“My ball striking was really good, especially into the greens, and I made some great par-saving clutch putts that kept my round going,” said Marais. “This is not a very long or tight course, but there is plenty of water. Knowing the course definitely helps. If you hit the right spots off the tee, you can go low. I only missed a few fairways, but I was kept it in play for most of the round and that was key.”
Marais made a 20-footer for birdie at three, chipped in for birdie at five and a three-footer for birdie at six got him to the turn in red numbers.
“I hit a great tee shot at 12 and a seven-iron to 15 foot and made the putt for eagle and made a great up-and-down from the bunker at 15 to get to five under,” he said. “Unfortunately I pulled my tee shot at 16 too far left and the ball ran through and found the water, leading to the late drop.
First Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
68 - Louis de Jager, Kyle Barker, Divan Marais
69 - Eric Nel AMA
70 - Callum Mowat
71 - Paul Boshoff, JP Cooper AMA, Luke Brown AMA, Estiaan Conradie, Donald Thompson AMA, Ivanna Samu, Andrew Williamson AMA, Mpho Mafishe
72 - Tudor Bismark (ZIM), Bryce Myburgh, Thabi Ngcobo, Brett Berman AMA, Slade Pickering AMA
73 - Christopher Constantinou AMA, Marais Visagie, Deon Bredenkamp, WM Coetzee AMA, Dean Martin AMA, Marcus Smal AMA, Armand van Dyk AMA
74 - Eric Wower AMA, Nicol Kromhout AMA, Louis Albertse AMA, Ruan Conradie
75 - Jaco van der Merwe AMA, Simon Kruger, Nicklas van Wyk AMA, David McIntyre AMA, Ryan Wingrove AMA
76 - Cameron Gunning, Matthew Vogel
77 - Neville Mitchell AMA, Alex Krebs AMA, Ruhan van Dijk AMA, Mohit Mediratta AMA (KEN), Shaun van Tonder, Dougie Meijer, Terry Smith, Ruan Korb, Nicholas Wolak AMA
78 - Marc de Jager AMA (ENG), Lydon Charnley AMA, Duan Nagel AMA, Matthew Hands AMA, Ricardo Towell, Michael Schutz, Hendrikus Stoop AMA, Milton Maloon AMA
79 - Jay Dean Fourie, Malachi Schulz AMA, Andre van Heerden AMA
80 - Martinus Barnard
81 - Jacques Snyman AMA (NAM)
82 - Brian Chirowsky AMA
83 - Gareth Anderson AMA
84 - Donald Makhafola AMA, Neal Theart AMA
85 - Dean du Plessis AMA
86 - Andrej Skrbinsek AMA
90 - Alwyn Smith AMA
94 - Christopher de Beer AMA
96 - Jurie Roux
N/R - Phillip Kruse AMA
RTD - Valentin Graus (NLD), Eric Park (KOR)
DSQ - Dylan van Heerden AMA
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