Christiaan Bezuidenhout carded an opening-round 61 on Thursday to hold a two-shot lead after day one of the Dimension Data Pro-Am, played at Fancourt, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
Bezuidenhout, who played the Outeniqua Golf Course in the first round, shot a bogey-free round that included 11 birdies to give him the perfect start to the competition.
The Outeniqua layout seemed to set the early pace on Thursday as majority of the early leaders took advantage of the low-scoring opportunities, including Ernie Els, who is making his first appearance at the competition this week.
Just before Bezuidenhout went in front, it was Els, who held the clubhouse lead after a first-round 64 to finish on eight under par. He would finish the day in T3, alongside Stephen Ferreira, who had an excellent outing on the Montage Golf Course.
Spaniard Santiago Tarrio Ben also enjoyed his day on the Montagu course with a nine-under-par 63 to take up second position on the leaderboard, heading into Friday’s action.
A bunch of South Africans, who made early surges up the leaderboard, are in T5 on seven under par. They include Haydn Porteous, George Coetzee, JC Ritchie, Jean Hugo and Deon Germishuys.
The large local contingent also made the most of the opportunities that the Outeniqua course presented, building an excellent platform to put pressure on the likes of Bezuidenhout and Ben on Friday.
