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King David Mowbray Golf Club, 6 November 2022: David Watts played a characteristically steady round – carding an opening round of 2-over par 74 to lead Iglin Grobbelaar by four shots after round one of the Cape Town Disabled Open hosted by the City of Cape Town at King David Mowbray Golf Club on Sunday.
Despite being out of position off the tee at the short par-4 1st, Watts salvaged par to settle any nerves he may have felt.
Five straight pars followed before a bogey-5 at the tricky 7th hole. After turning in 37, dropped shots at the 11th and 13th saw the Durban Country Club member slip to three-over for the day. A fantastic birdie-2 at the picturesque 16th was just the tonic Watts needed before he capped a solid opening day’s performance with two closing pars.
Of the round, Watts remarked: “It was a day of decent driving off the tee and in fact two of my bogeys came after my two worst tee shots of the day but overall I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities which I didn’t convert.
“Tomorrow I just need to manage my way around the course, keep it in play and if the wind isn’t blowing you can definitely give yourself plenty of birdie opportunities around here as long as you keep it in the fairway. I just want to try and commit to my swings and try strike the ball nicely.”
Trailing Watts by four shots heading into the final round is Les Autres golfer Iglin Grobbelaar. Though Grobbelaar made a sluggish start – making a double-bogey at the 1st and recording further dropped shots at the 5th and 7th – a birdie-4 at the 9th saw him make the turn in 39 shots.
Three bogeys on Grobbelaar’s inward-nine saw him sign for a round of 78 which leaves him within striking distance of Watts.
Magatye atop Physically-Disabled leaderboard
After carding a one-pointer and a zero-pointer to begin her round, Yolandi Magatye hit her straps, firing a round of 38 points to lead the Physically-Disabled Stableford by by two points over Sebastian Crawford, Anthony Roberts, Carl Schreuder and Jodi Schultz.
Magatye mixed four three-pointers over her opening nines holes – at the 12th, 15th, 17th and 18th with three two-pointers to turn with 19 points to her name.
Three three-pointers over the first five holes of her inward nine kept her tally ticking over at a healthy rate. A tremendous par-4 at the 7th for as many points was integral to Magatye recording 18 points on the second-nine.
The Fancourt Country Club employee will fancy her chances of defending the title she won in 2021 but with a host of players hot on her heels there is still all to play for.
Botha leads Deaf Medal
Jay-Jay Botha finds himself in pole-position in the Deaf Medal after a round of 8-over par 80. He overcame back-to-back bogeys to start his round by birdying the par-5 14th and although he finished his opening nine with three successive dropped shots he turned in a respectable 40.
He closed his second-nine in the same fashion – bogeying holes 7, 8 & 9 – to match his opening-nine score but did enough to ensure a three-shot cushion over Deaf medal defending champion Cedric Touzard after Touzard signed for a round of 83.
Nkomo three clear in Deaf Stableford
Sisa Nkomo fired a fantastic round of 38 points to lead Kyle Goliath by three points in the Physically-Disabled Stableford division.
Nkomo made a dream start – carding a birdie-4 which yielded five points. Though 3 points followed over the next three holes, a four-pointer at the 14th and 3-pointer at the 15th got him back on track. A second four-pointer at the tough par-4 18th saw Nkomo turn with an astonishing 23 points to his name.
Four points at the 3rd-hole was the highlight of a closing nine of 15 points that has Nkomo in prime position to defend the title he won 12 months ago.
Final Thoughts
The event is set for a thrilling conclusion across all four divisions and any one of a number of exciting storylines could develop before the final putts drop.
Photo: South African Disabled Golf Association
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