The South African duo of Danie van Niekerk and James Mack set the pace with their rounds of four-under-par 67 to lead Wednesday’s first round of the Sunbet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya at the Umhlali Country Club.
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Van Niekerk had the benefit of an early start and took advantage of the favourable weather conditions on the Dolphin Coast.
“Today’s round was pretty good. Starting in the morning, we had good conditions and the course wasn’t playing that hard,” Van Niekerk said.
With five birdies and one bogey, Van Niekerk took the early clubhouse lead and was later joined by fellow South African James Mack.
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They are one stroke clear of the experienced Lyle Rowe and Indonesia’s Eric Wowor, while amateur Ruben van der Berg made a great start with his round of two-under-par 69 to put him inside the top five early on. Oliver Bekker is also well placed on two under.
“I’m pretty happy with the five birdies and the lone bogey,” added Van Niekerk. “It’s a bit better than my previous weeks where I’ve been battling on the greens. I made a few up-and-downs today to save par, which is also great.”
Van Niekerk is still searching for a maiden victory on the Sunshine Tour, and has put himself in a strong position to do so in this 54-hole tournament.
“I’m just going to keep doing the same for the rest of the week. There is plenty of golf to be played and this is a crazy game we play. The focus will be on taking it one shot at a time, to not get ahead of myself, and to just stay in the moment,” he said.
