Momentum carries Dingle top at Wanderers

Wynand Dingle’s form continued into this week’s Big Easy Wanderers event where he signed for an opening round five-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead on Monday at Wanderers Golf Club.

He made back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11, his first two holes of the day, but came out strongly on the homeward nine to summit the leaderboard ahead of the nearest chasing trio of Tyrone Ryan, Omar Sandys and Pieter Kruger.

“I enjoyed it today,” Dingle said after his round. “I felt good coming into this week. Last week was a bit of a surprise for me because I was sick for quite a while but, obviously, victory gives you a lot of confidence.”

That confidence showed on his back nine where he opened with two birdies, then dropped a shot on his 12^th but bounced back with two more birdies, but he remains cautious of becoming complacent. “Golf is a funny game,” he said, “because you can win the one week and you are nowhere the next. So, I wasn’t really expecting anything and I know I still have to do a couple of things right. But like I said, I was very confident coming in and I am happy I could put a decent round together.”

Ryan, Sandys and Kruger are tied at second on four-under after they all shot 67s in a tightly contested affair in Johannesburg. While admitting he didn’t have the best of starts to this event, Ryan put in a solid performance to place himself within touching distance of Dingle. “I just wasn’t giving myself enough birdie opportunities to make birdies,” Ryan said, “but I am happy to have played myself into this position.”

Australian Damon Stephenson occupies fifth spot after he shot three-under 68, while Dylan O’Leary, Antonio Rosado and Jaquin Hess take the spot behind him on two-under par. Making up the top-10 after round one in Wanderers is Duane Keun, Gert Myburgh, Daniel Hammond, Etienne Bond and Paul de Beer, all on one-under 70.