Lejan Lewthwaite and Stacy Bregman have taken a combined one-shot lead after the opening round of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge hosted by Sun International at Sun City.
The pair carded rounds of 66 to hold a slender lead over 2014 champion Tandi McCallum, who came home in a round of 67 and will start Wednesday’s second round in second place on five under par.
‘I have been striking the ball really well since last year, but I was just not holing putts in Cape Town. Thankfully that changed. The time I spent with the flat-stick definitely paid off,’ said 28-year-old Lewthwaite.
Her putter was certainly certainly on song on Tuesday as she made a total of eight birdies during her round.
An unfortunate double-bogey on the par-four 14th prevented her from an even lower score but she did well to respond from the drop shot, making three of her eight birdies on the final four holes.
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‘I started off slowly with a couple of pars, but once the first birdie putt dropped, I started thinking I’ve got this. I holed some long putts; I holed some short ones. The birdies just kept on coming,’ Lewthwaite said.
Bregman, who won the competition in 2015, is hoping she can replicate her first-round showing on Wednesday when she plays at the Gary Player Country Club.
She also delivered a brilliant putting display at the Lost City Golf Course on Tuesday.
‘Both courses are superb. You can’t fault them. The greens at the Lost City are probably not as quick as the Gary Player Country Club, but on both courses they run very true. The Gary Player is just always that little bit more challenging off the tees, but I’m looking forward to it.’
Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
