Mansfield motors to Boland Amateur Open lead
KwaZulu-Natal’s Clayton Mansfield fired a flawless nine-under-par 63 to open up a three shot lead on Boland amateur Christiaan Basson in Wednesday’s first round of the Boland Amateur Open at Stellenbosch Golf Club.
Western Province’s Greg Sheard showed his prowess on the stage of his 2013 South African Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Championship victory with a five under 67. The Milnerton mid-amateur shares third with Emilio Pera from Central Gauteng and Phillip Swanepoel from neighbouring De Zalze Golf Club.
Western Province senior Francois le Roux and mid-amateur Gerlou Roux threw down the gauntlet to the country’s rising stars with superb opening round performances.
Le Roux from de Zalze – already a two-time winner on the senior amateur circuit this season with victories in the Western Province Senior Open and the Boland Senior Open – erased a lone birdie on his way to a four under 68 and sole sixth.
Rouz, a two-time SA Mid-Amateur Stroke Play champion and the current number one ranked player in the Mid-Amateur rankings, finished a further stroke back in joint seventh with 10 players, including GolfRSA National Squad players Albert Venter and Marco Steyn.
However, the opening day honours in Stellenbosch undoubtedly belonged to Mansfield.
The Durban Country Club golfer eagled the par-five eighth and racked up an impressive seven birdies to lay the groundwork for what could be a breakthrough victory on the South African Golf Association’s Open Amateur circuit come Friday.
ROUND ONE LEADERBOARD (top 20)
63 Clayton Mansfield
66 Christian Basson
67 Emilio Pera; Greg Sheard; Phillip Swanepoel
68 Francois le Roux
69 Uli Boezaart; Albert Venter; Theunie Bezuidenhout; Marco Steyn; Dandre Spies; Keaton Slatter; Dalan Tait; Gerlou Roux; Therion Nel; Dawid Opperman; Hennie O’Kennedy
70 Jaco Spies; Clifford Thompson; Luan Boshoff; Matt Saulez; Tom Watson; Neswill Croy; EJ Langner
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of GolfRSA, a SAGA and WGSA Not-For-Profit company.