Blemish-free 64 hands Boshoff early Big Easy lead at CMR

LB Boshoff carded an untainted opening round of six-under-par 64 on Tuesday to take a one-shot lead in the fifth tournament of the Betway Big Easy Tour held at CMR Golf Club.

Boshoff made par on the first hole to settle into his round. Then, he went on the offensive, sinking four birdies on the trot. Those were followed by nine straight pars as Boshoff sought to keep the big numbers off his card. His patience paid off as Boshoff made further gains towards the end of his round, birdieing the 15^th and the 18^th to seal a blemish-free 64.

“This morning, I felt good with my wedges,” Boshoff said after his round. “I had a lot of wedges in and I stuck them close; inside six feet, and I made them all. Then the wind picked up, and things got slow, things got a bit difficult. The holes got longer, funny enough. But, I made birdie on 15 and 18, so I’m very happy with my round.”

While acknowledging his wedges for the success of the first round, Boshoff noted that the birdies he made earlier in his round were key to him staying composed even when they were hard to come by in the latter stages of the round.

“Look, you always have nerves on the first tee,” he said, “but after making four birdies in a row, you settle down and you get into your groove and you settle down. But this course is playing difficult. The front nine is not so much tree-lined as the back nine, and you can hit a few drivers out there.

“But if you miss the fairways you can get some tough lies, and because the flags are quite tricky and the greens are firm. It’s quite difficult, the course.”

Second on the leaderboard and just a single stroke off the pace lies Jacques Van der Merwe. Despite making a heartbreaking seven on the par-four second hole, Van Der Merwe stayed focused throughout the round and produced a fine five-under 65 to keep within reach of Boshoff’s lead.

“I hit a 6-iron down the middle, but when we got there, my ball was gone,” said Van der Merwe of that unfortunate seven he made on the second. “Then I had to go back to the tee box and hit a 6-iron again, in the middle, but at least we found the ball this time. The marshal found my lost ball afterwards, but I didn’t know if I wanted it back.

“The good thing is I didn’t allow that second hole to define me. I hit my shots exactly how I wanted to. I just tried to forget about that hole and stuck to my game plan. Sometimes you get lucky in golf and sometimes you get unlucky, so I just had the ability to reset my emotions and take it from the start. It was good and I’m super-proud of myself.”

Regan Steyn, Richard Joubert, Haydn Porteous, Drikus Joubert, England’s Joe Sullivan and Liam Ross all signed for 66s to share the third spot on the leaderboard. Ten players share ninth, including Khanya Mkhize, Jason Froneman and veteran Teboho Sefatsa among them.

The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.