Venter in three-way lead on debut in King’s Cup

Albert Venter made his professional debut with some impact as he carded a flawless seven-under-par 65 opening round to share the early lead of the Big Easy King’s Cup with Dwayne Basson and Dongkwan Kim, at Royal Swazi Spa on Tuesday.

“Considering it’s a debut for me, it’s a perfect start and one I hope will open up to bigger things for me,” Venter said. “I think for me keeping the drops off the card was key to shooting 65 today. I just want to carry on hitting the greens and making the putts, and that will be the game plan for the remaining rounds of the tournament.”

Having earned his professional card at qualifying school earlier this year, Venter only recently relinquished his amateur status, and in Swaziland he looked like he’s been mixing it with the pros for many years. He started on the 10^th and went on to make five birdies and an eagle to total seven-under in a bogey-free effort.

His game plan seems to have worked some magic for Venter as he made an eagle in just his third, the 12^th, hole as a professional on the Big Easy Tour. “I hit my driver and missed it a bit to the right and got lucky off the tee, hit an eight-iron in and had a tap in for eagle. It was a pretty good start to the round,” he said.

While Venter was having the time of his life in his debut, Basson has had to contend with some inconsistencies over the last few months. And while he acknowledges the struggles in his game up to this point, he was quick to point out that his game is now on the mend and he’s looking forward to playing some good golf again.

“I’m just happy to finally put things together,” he said. “Things were not piecing nicely together the last few tournaments but everything is coming together now and I am happy to go bogey-free today.”

And while he is not yet at his very best, Basson recognises he needs to be patient as he tries to improve his game. “The driving has been poor the last couple of months but it is now coming in nicely. The driving and putting are really coming together now and I look forward to golf again,” Basson said.

Ruan Conradie and Jacques P de Villiers share the fourth spot after they both carded 66s while Wynand Dingle, Botswana’s Stuart Smith, Combrinck Smit, Drikus van der Walt, Kyle Barker and Coert Groenewald share sixth position following their rounds of five-under 67.