Xander Basson carded a phenomenal opening round of 63 to take a two-shot lead in the eighth tournament of the season hosted at Waterkloof Golf Club on Tuesday.
It was Basson’s second 63 in as many starts after he shot the same score in the final round of the seventh event which was held at CMR Golf Club last week, a feat he admitted was a first for him.
“Last week, I made a comeback for it and shot nine-under to finish in second place after Paul Boshoff played some amazing golf,” Basson stated. “It’s been a good few events now. Over the last five few events, I think I got four top 10s. Last week, I finished the week off with a nice 63 and today, I followed it up with another 63.
“It’s actually a first for me to shoot two 63s in a row. Interestingly, I hadn’t touched a club since last Thursday. But it was a good round and I am happy with how I have been playing.”
Starting his round on 10, Basson made birdie but those gains were immediately erased as he dropped on the next hole. After making pars on his next two holes, Basson let loose and the result was a run of four birdies and an eagle to turn in 30.
He rode that momentum to the back nine, shooting three-under-par on that stretch with zero bogeys to write home about.
“I started off a little slow,” he admitted. “I three-putted on 11 which was my second hole of the day. And then I went on a great run from 14; made a birdie there. 15, I hit it close and I holed out on 16 from about 58 metres and that got my round going. I took the momentum from there and it went well.”
Defending champion, Reece McKain and last week’s champion Boshoff carded respective rounds of 65 to share second on the leaderboard while England’s Joe Knox, amateur Oliver Goldhill, Zimbabwe’s David Amm, Luke Trocado and Leon Visser tied fourth at six-under par.
Travis Ladner and Eric Wowor made up the rest of the top 10 leading players: sharing ninth at five-under.
Scores
63 - Xander Basson
65 - Reece McKain, Paul Boshoff
66 - Joe Knox, Oliver Goldhill, David Amm, Luke Trocado, Leon Visser
67 - Travis Ladner, Eric Wowor
68 - Thabiso Ngcobo, Ryan Tipping, Ronald Rugumayo, Graham van der Merwe, Kian Coetzer
69 - Andrew Williamson, Ryan van der Klis, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Warwick Purchase, Vaughn van Deventer, Slade Pickering, Matthew Rushton, Louis Liebenberg, Tyron Davidowitz, Kyle McClatchie, Jaden Deltel, Jules Helary
70 - Christopher Long, Kirby Coe-Kirkham, Basil Wright Jr, Francois Van der Walt, Drikus Joubert, Allister de Kock, Shaunak Rama, Christian Kriek, Richard Joubert, Tumelo Molloyi, Dillon Germshuys
71 - Marcus Taylor, Leon Vorster, Makhetha Mazibuko, Marcel Steyn Scholtz, Sentanio Minnie, Lyle Pedro, Jacques Van der Merwe, Eben Spangenberg, Simon du Plooy, Dehan Joubert, Brandon Pieters, Michael Kok, Ruan de Smidt, Mutahi Kibugu
72 - Tyrone Ryan, Andre De Decker, Coert Groenewald, Therion Nel, Harry Konig, Richard Kruger, Njoroge Kibugu, Keelan van Wyk, Eugene Du Plessis, Jastice Mashego, Lwazi Gqira
73 - Henning du Plooy, Jacquin Hess, Luke Mayo, Nicholaus Frade, Janko van der Merwe, Kayle Wykes, Ivan Mare, Jonathan Waschefort, Karabo Mokoena, Thabang Simon, Adriel Poonan, Steven Le Roux, Alphius Kelapile, Roelof Craig
74 - Thomas Spreadborough, Johan Theron, Jason Froneman, Irvin Mazibuko, Dian Kruger, Letsoso Letsai, Kael Strydom
75 - Philip Geerts, Stals Swart, Slenda Sithebe, Regan Steyn, Shaydon Johnson
76 - Sabelo Xolani Majola, Jabulane Mabilane, Carlos Losper, Khanya Mkhize, Matt Saulez
77 - Toto Thimba Jnr, Gerard du Plooy, Boeta Nasie, Jonathan Williams, Richard Shi, Maritz Wessels
78 - Umar Davids, Erhard Lambrechts
81 - Ricco Motsa
83 - Jarryd Govender
84 - Brandon-Jude Rennie
RTD - Keelan Africa, Llewellyn Leibrandt
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