Jaco Prinsloo and Jacques Blaauw both opened with rounds of six-under-par 66 to share the clubhouse lead in the suspended first round of the Limpopo Championship at the Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate on Thursday.
The duo are two strokes clear of Wynand Dingle, who signed for a 68.
Neil Schietekat and Keenan Davidse were also both on six under par through 12 holes when play was called off because of poor light. Play was suspended earlier in the day because of dangerous weather conditions.
The first round will be completed on Friday morning before the start of the second round.
Prinsloo continued his solid form this season in a part of the world where he feels right at home.
“I grew up about 100km from here so it feels like home. I grew up on this kind of grass and it’s nice to be here and be in the bush,” he said.
Prinsloo has been incredibly consistent over the past few months. Since his top 10 finish in December’s Investec South African Open, he enjoyed an impressive run in the European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned tournaments in February where he finished third in the SDC Open and second in the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship. He also added a share of 14th in the SDC Championship, which was co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour.
“It’s always nice to get off to a good start and see if you can build on that. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week,” he said.
Blaauw was also delighted to be in contention on a golf course he has immense respect for.
“We were all talking about it earlier in the week and you need to keep it in play off the tee box here. You can’t miss a fairway here. If you miss a fairway it’s penalising. I mean I had to take two unplayable lies today, but I’m happy I made some putts which eased it the other way. I know I can make a score out here and I’m just going to go out and keep firing.”
By Michael Vlismas