Lester takes route 66 with his driver in South African Stroke Play
Rowan Lester en route to a first round 66 on day one of the South African Stroke Play Championship at Randpark Golf Club. Credit Ernest Blignault.
Hermitage's Rowan Lester found his driving mojo and built on a lightning start to shoot 66 and lie just two shots off the first-round lead in the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship at a rain-softened Randpark.
The Dubliner birdied five of his first six holes, then followed a bogey at the eighth with further birdies at the ninth and 14th to finish the day tied for third on six-under-par with South Africa's Casey Jarvis, two shots behind Scotland's James Wilson.
"I just got off to a very quick start," said Lester, a former North of Ireland champion and two-time South of Ireland runner-up. "I holed a lot of putts and six birdies in the first nine holes always helps."
The key was fixing his driving after last week's African Amateur Stroke Play at Leopard Creek, where he missed the cut by a shot after rounds of 79, 72 and 82 and took advantage of the practice facilities to work on his game.
"Last week was a little bit of a struggle,” he confessed. “The driving wasn't great but everything else was great, so I thought if I could get the driver going, I'd be doing well. And that proved right. The back nine was okay. I hung in there.
"[The golf course] is amazing. Last week and this week, we have been spoiled. I think I'd rather this one. I didn't play great last week but maybe the score today helps make the course feel a bit better.
"I've been in college in America, which is why I couldn't make the last few years, and it's really great to be back."
Wilson dropped just one shot and made an eagle and seven birdies in an eight-under 64 on the Firethorn Course to lead by one stroke from England's Haider Hussain.
Mallow's James Sugrue and Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty are joint 16th after two-under 70s with Holywood's Tom McKibbin and Naas' Robert Brazill 34th after one-under 71s.
Malone's Matthew McClean shot a level par 72 to share 45th as Massereene's Tiarnan McLarnon posted a 73 and Carton House's Keith Egan a 74 to finish the day in the top half of the field.
2020 #SAStrokePlay UPDATE
— GolfRSA (@GolfRSA) February 10, 2020
A sweet 6-under-par 66 at the home of the #SAOpen for @GUIGolf National Squad member Rowan Lester & that get's him in the top 3 on day 1 ...
The @Hermitagegolfc player is 2 behind leading Scot James Wilson at @RandparkGolf #golfrsa #AfricaSwing pic.twitter.com/byzr7MBzOV
Wilson fired some exceptional approach shots and used a hot putter to fire a stunning eight-under-par 64 for the first-round lead.
The Firethorn Course's best defence – its fast and challenging greens – were left soft after 144 mm of rain hit the South African Open venue over the weekend. The conditions favoured players with a firm control on their approach shots, and Wilson was able to play aggressively for the pins.
The Balmore golfer made a perfect start with short-range birdies on the 10th and 12th holes before he accelerated through the field with an eagle at the par-five 14th and birdies at the 18th, second, third, fourth and ninth.
He made his only mistake at the par-three fifth and will start the second round with a one-shot advantage over Hussain, who stole into second late in the afternoon.
"I played really nicely; hit a lot of fairways and most of the greens and I took advantage of the par fives," said Wilson. "The tees were up so just a lot of short irons in, and I played sensible on the tougher strokes."
Wilson managed to break par once at the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship last week, but like Lester, he's found the 5,902-metre Firethorn Course more to his liking.
"This course is way more forgiving than Leopard Creek," he joked. "It's cooler; the greens are not as grainy and less slopey, and it's not as penal off the tees. It's been more relaxing around here, and it's not as long."
Hussain was particularly impressive with a seven-under 65, which also featured an eagle on 14. He also lost just one shot to the field with a bogey at the scenic 402-metre closing hole.
Jarvis (16) fired a 64 at the Firethorn on his way to winning the Joburg Junior Open in December last year and might have shot 65 had he not shanked his seven-iron approach on the 18th and dropped a shot.
"I really played nicely and I got the putter going early on," said the GolfRSA National Squad member. "I didn't putt well at Leopard Creek, so I worked on it over the weekend, and I was rolling it well. I hit it just left of the fairway on 18 and had a perfect shot into the green, but I shanked it and had to get myself out of trouble.
“Came away with a good bogey. Shots like that happen some times. I'm not going to dwell on it too much. Still, 54 holes to go."
At least 14 players will start the second round within five shots of Wilson's lead, and with favourable scoring conditions set to continue, the leaderboard could change hands dramatically in Tuesday's switch draw.
Kyle de Beer, who skippered Team South Africa to victory in the Team Competition in last week's African Amateur Stroke Play Championship, drew on his 36-hole experience in the SA Open to register a round of 67 for a share of fifth with Scotsman Connor Wilson.
Martin Vorster, who edged out Olly Huggins in a four-hole play-off for the African Amateur title at Leopard Creek, is also back in the mix at three-under.
Vorster tied for seventh with fellow GolfRSA National Squad members Kieron van Wyk and Tyran Snyders, compatriots Louis Liebenberg, Shaun Jones and Thabiso Magwaza – a member of the South African Golf Development Board's KwaZulu-Natal chapter – as well as Constantin Unger from Germany, Dutch pair Bob Geurts and Koen Kouwenaar.
South African Stroke Play Championship, Randpark Golf Club (Par 72)
Detailed scores (RSA unless stated)
64 James Wilson (Sco);
65 Haider Hussain (Eng);
66 Casey Jarvis, Rowan Lester (Irl);
67 Kyle de Beer, Connor Wilson (Sco);
69 Kieron van Wyk, Constantin Unger (Ger), Martin Vorster, Louis Liebenberg, Shaun Jones, Thabiso Magwaza, Bob Geurts (Ned), Koen Kouwenaar (Ned), Tyran Snyders;
70 Therion Nel, Kiet van der Weele (Ned), Christiaan Burke, Nikhil Rama, Sam Bairstow (Eng), Stephen Roger (Sco), James Murray, Olly Huggins (Eng), Stuart Easton (Sco), James Biggs (Eng), Nicolas Muller (Fra), Luca Filippi, James Sugrue (Irl), Ayden Senger, Caolan Rafferty (Irl), Siyanda Mwandla, Keagan Thomas, Andrew Williamson;
71 Tom McKibbin (Irl), Yurav Premlall, Samuel Simpson, Amilkar Bhana, Jaden Deltel, Drikus Joubert, Adam Breen, Robert Brazill (Irl), Christiaan Maas, Sebastian Sliwka (Ger), Monty Scowsill (Eng);
72 Ryan van Velzen, Peter Handcock (Eng), Charles Larcelet (Fra), Robin Williams (Eng), Nordin van Tilburg (Ned), Christo Lamprecht Jnr, Jordan Duminy, Cole Stevens, Christopher Gutuza, Joseph Long (Eng), Darren Howie (Sco), Samual McKenzie, Nikhil Gopal, Matthew McClean (Irl);
73 Tiarnan McLarnon (Irl), Aneurin Gounden, Sinan Baburoglu, Dario Antonisse (Ned), Jason Broomhead, Ryan Welsh, Diego Leslie, Oliver Goldhill, Elliot Anger (Fra);
74 Donovan Liddicoat, Warwick Purchase, Jaime Clive Lewis, Jonothan Broomhead, Phil Tomkinson (Eng), Joshua Bürki, Florent Toulet, Connor Engelmohr (Ger), Keith Egan (Irl), Jarryd Elliott, Loris Schuepbach (Sui), Mandla Dlamini, Liam Ross, Christopher Long;
75 Caden Sanders, Aran Sinclair, Tom Vaillant (Fra), Oswin Schlenkrich, Brendan Els, Letsoso Letsai, Sean Paxton, Matthew Mortimer, Cade Cryer, Theo Boulet (Fra), Emerson Bam;
76 Ernest Jaco Ludick, Garreth Whitehead, Ben Firth (Eng), Mike Saxer, Hannes Strooh, Handre Truter, Pieter Rossouw, Rigardt Albertse, Pierre Pellegrin;
77 Grant Ferreira, Christopher Bagnall, Dawid Joubert, Jules Helary, Rasheed Mohamed (Zim), Daniel van Seumeren, Fabrizio de Abreu, Jake Bolton (Eng), Luhan Bester, Dylan Underwood, Reece McKain, Dylan Melville, Nash de Klerk, Nico Booyens, Martin Couvra (Fra);
78 Behn Heyns, Oliver Brown, Matthew Dennis, Henning Stander;
79 Promise Sombrero (Zim), George van Vuuren, Morton Kombai, Travis Ladner;
80 Khanya Mkhize, Joe Harvey (Eng), Pieter Joubert;
81 Hugo Archer (Fra), Nicholas Souranis, Sean Lottering;
82 Miles Taylor, Matthew Gary Stieger, Louis Loubser Jnr;
83 Alan Buttle;
84 Andrew Inggs;
85 Ge-Rico Muller, Graeme Derek Lewis;
86 Dil Thomas, Peter Basil Cambanis;
88 Wessel van Wyk Jnr, Ivan Laubser;
DQ Gregory McKay.
