Jacques Blaauw posted a bogey-free nine under par round of 63 to secure a two-shot lead after a weather-affected opening day of the NTT DATA Pro Am.
There was a total delay of nearly five hours due to a flooded course in the morning at Fancourt Golf Estate but when play got under way, Blaauw who was playing on the Outeniqua carded nine birdies to climb to the top of the leaderboard.
The South African was pleased with his opening round in George and took full advantage of the soft greens to move two ahead of Denmark’s Christoffer Bring who signed for a seven under par round of 65. England’s Eddie Pepperell and countryman JC Ritchie share second place with Bring, however they still have to finish round one as play was suspended due to darkness.
“I’m so happy with my round today,” he said. “It was a tough morning due to the weather, but I was pleased to get back out there after the delay. It was difficult to mentally reset but luckily it al worked out for me.
“The plan was to keep the ball in play and take advantage of the soft greens. There were plenty of birdie opportunities out there. I was pretty good tee to green and then managed to make some solid putts.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing in this event and it’s a great chance to meet with new people and businesses. It’s an awesome format and I’m looking forward to playing The Links tomorrow.”
South Africans Luke Jerling, Malcolm Mitchell, Luke Brown and Wilco Nienaber share fourth place with Italian Gregorio De Leo and Irishman Max Kennedy on six under par.
The first round will resume at 6:45am local time and there will be a two-hour delay to all round two tee times. Blaauw will get his second round under way at 11:02 on The Links alongside Pepperell.
