Defending champs make solid start in Durban
Defending champions Ekurhuleni picked up where they left off and marched to an overwhelming lead in the first round of the Nomads South African U-13 Championship at Royal Durban Golf Club on Monday.
Ekurhuleni’s finest young prospects might light work of the blustery conditions to combine for an opening total 382 to finish 18 strokes clear of Central Gauteng and 20 strokes ahead of KwaZulu-Natal.
Casey Jarvis, who returned for duty alongside Zama Nxasana and Yurav Premlall, set the tone for Ekurhuleni with an opening one-over-par 73.
Nxasana carded a 75, Premlall posted a 76 John-William Blomerus returned a 78 and Kiera Floyd added an 80 to put the defending champions in pole position.
“The conditions were really tough in the strong wind, but the players stuck to their strategy and it paid off for the team,” said Ekurhuleni manager, Jack Turton.
“It’s a very challenging layout and, with the strong wind this morning, we decided to play defensively on the holes against the wind and attack the holes playing with the wind.
“They executed the game plan well to put us in a very promising position early in the championship.”
Jarvis also grabbed a share of the first round lead in the Individual Competition alongside Southern Cape’s Jan Human.
The 12-year-old from State Mines reversed a bogey start with a birdie at the second, and collected more gains at four, five, nine and 17 to offset a double bogey at the par-three 11th and further drops at six, 13 and 18.
“The holes around 10, 11, 12 and 13 played into the teeth of the wind,” Jarvis said. “I four-putted at 11 and got a bad lie off my drive at 13. I punched out short of the green, but didn’t up-and-down for par.
“The course is not very long, but the holes playing into the wind were really long. It was nice to have a couple of holes that played with the wind to shave a few shots off.”
Human from Albertinia Golf Club enjoyed a hat-trick of birdies and an eagle at the par-four ninth on his way to a 73 that boosted Southern Cape to fifth on 408. The Garden Route side trail Gauteng North by one stroke.
Click HERE to view the Team Scoring
Click HERE to view the Individual Scoring
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.