10th May 2022 | Big Easy Tour
Maas dazzles to a three-shot lead in Altron Big Easy Tour at Blue Valley
Christiaan Maas carded an impressive round of seven-under-par 65 on day one of the Altron Big Easy Tour tournament held at Blue Vally Golf Estate to take a three-shot lead on Tuesday.
He opened his round with pars on the first two holes before birdieing the third. A par on the fourth hole preceded a smooth run of three birdies from the fifth through to the eighth. Another birdie got onto his card on the ninth as he turned in 31 and bogey-free.
“I started off a bit slow,” Maas said after his round. “I started off with pars on the first and second; a two-putt birdie and then another par. Then, I made three birdies on the row. So, the front nine was good but the back nine was terrible.
“It was terrible and really sloppy. I hit it to about four feet on 10 and missed the putt, then I got it close on 11 and made a birdie and two-putted on 12. On 13, I hit a good driver; got the bunker on the left and then hit it close to the flag but three-putted. It was not good on the back nine.”
He may have felt that he played poorly on the homeward stretch, but the scorecard suggested a measured and disciplined outing by the GolfRSA Elite Squad member. After his birdie on the ninth, Maas made par on 10 and birdied the par-four 11th before making a par on the 12th. His only bogey of the day came on the par-five 13th while closing off with two birdies and a par to seal a round of 65.
Chasing hard and just three shots off the pace is the trio of Bradley Diggeden, Ricky Hendler and James Mack who all shot 68s on Tuesday. Tying the fifth spot are eSwatini’s James Pennington and veteran Ryan Tipping on three-under-par.
Leading amateur Christiaan Burke is in an eight-way share of the seventh position thanks to an opening round of two-under 70.
The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout among its former Order of Merit winners.
