Canon Gauteng Disabled Open Round One Wrap

Canon Gauteng Disabled Open Round One Wrap
 
Get caught up on all the round one action from the Canon Gauteng Disabled Open at Zwartkop Country Club on Saturday. 
 
Physically-Disabled Strokeplay: Roberts Leads Canon Gauteng Disabled Open
 
Curtley Roberts will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Canon Gauteng Disabled Open after a first-round 81 at Zwartkop Country Club on Saturday. 
 
The Zwartkop member made a sluggish start – dropping four shots in his first three holes. Roberts steadied the ship well, however, carding four pars in the next six holes as he turned in 41.
 
Bogeys at the 10th and 11th were offset somewhat by a birdie-4 at the 13th. Though he dropped three shots in the final five holes, he is ideally placed heading into the final round.
 
A quartet of golfers – Greg Esterhuizen, Jan Potgieter, Nico Schmulian and Robin Singh are a shot adrift of Roberts after carding rounds of 82. 
 
Physically-Disabled Stableford: Strydom Off To Hot Start
 
Blind golfer Leon Strydom made a flying start to his tournament with a fantastic opening round tally of 40 stableford points.
 
Strydom made consecutive three-pointers to start his day before a two-pointer at the par-3 12th. A par at the 13th earned him a further four points. 
 
Showing no signs of letting up, 3-pointers at the 14th and 16th followed. Back-to-back two-pointers at his eighth and ninth holes of the day capped a phenomenal first-nine of 24 points. 
 
Four three-pointers were the highlight of an inward nine which yielded a further 16 points. Strydom is in pole-position of the Physically-Disabled Stableford division. 
 
Fellow Blind golfer and Strydom’s Team North teammate Charlene Pienaar sits six  points behind after a first-round of 34 points while Steve Jacobs is a further point back on 33 points.  
 
Deaf Strokeplay: Botha On Top In Deaf Strokeplay 
 
Jay-Jay Botha – winner of the Canon Kwazulu-Natal Disabled Open -leads the Deaf Strokeplay after a first-round 77.
 
Botha made a solid if not spectacular start, dropping four shots over his first five holes. 
 
Pars at the 6th and 7th and a birdie at the 9th foreshadowed the solid golf Botha would play on the inward nine.
 
Having turned in five-over par 40, he notched three pars over the first five holes of the inward nine. A bogey at the 11th meanwhile was canceled out by a birdie-4 at the 13th.
 
The final blemish on Botha’s card came at the par-4 15th. On the whole Botha played a terrific second-nine of 37 which saw him complete what was the low-round of the day. 
 
Meanwhile, Charles Williams carded a round of 80 and will certainly pose a threat to Botha’s title aspirations. 
 
Deaf Stableford: Snyman Leads Deaf Stableford 
 
Rhyno Snyman was a model of consistency in round one. He began with three consecutive two-pointers before a one-pointer at the fourth.
 
He rebounded from that minor setback with another two-pointer to keep his tally ticking over. A fantastic par at the 7th yielded four points and he made the turn with 17 points to his name despite back-to-back one-pointers. 
 
Snyman’s fine form resumed after the turn as he carded his second four-pointer of the day at the 10th and backed it up with a three-pointer at next. 
 
Snyman collected four more two-pointers and he ultimately matched his first-nine of 17 points. 
 
Snyman will have a fight on his hands in the final round though after Shanon Van der Berg signed for 33 points in round one and is well within striking-distance. 
 
There is certainly all to play for across the four divisions in the final round of the Canon  Gauteng Disabled Open. 

Photo: Nic Bothma/Amaza Images