DURBAN, 5 October 2015 – Defending champions Ekurhuleni picked up where they left off and marched to an overwhelming lead in the first round of the Nomads South African U-13 Championship at Royal Durban Golf Club on Monday.
Ekurhuleni’s finest young prospects might light work of the blustery conditions to combine for an opening total 382 to finish 18 strokes clear of Central Gauteng and 20 strokes ahead of KwaZulu-Natal.
Casey Jarvis, who returned for duty alongside Zama Nxasana and Yurav Premlall, set the tone for Ekurhuleni with an opening one-over-par 73.
Nxasana carded a 75, Premlall posted a 76 John-William Blomerus returned a 78 and Kiera Floyd added an 80 to put the defending champions in pole position.
“The conditions were really tough in the strong wind, but the players stuck to their strategy and it paid off for the team,” said Ekurhuleni manager, Jack Turton.
“It’s a very challenging layout and, with the strong wind this morning, we decided to play defensively on the holes against the wind and attack the holes playing with the wind.
“They executed the game plan well to put us in a very promising position early in the championship.”
Jarvis also grabbed a share of the first round lead in the Individual Competition alongside Southern Cape’s Jan Human.
The 12-year-old from State Mines reversed a bogey start with a birdie at the second, and collected more gains at four, five, nine and 17 to offset a double bogey at the par-three 11th and further drops at six, 13 and 18.
“The holes around 10, 11, 12 and 13 played into the teeth of the wind,” Jarvis said. “I four-putted at 11 and got a bad lie off my drive at 13. I punched out short of the green, but didn’t up-and-down for par.
“The course is not very long, but the holes playing into the wind were really long. It was nice to have a couple of holes that played with the wind to shave a few shots off.”
Human from Albertinia Golf Club enjoyed a hat-trick of birdies and an eagle at the par-four ninth on his way to a 73 that boosted Southern Cape to fifth on 408. The Garden Route side trail Gauteng North by one stroke.
FIRST ROUND TEAM SCORES
382 Ekurhuleni Casey Jarvis 73 Zamokuhle Nxasana 75 Yurav Premlall 76 John-William Blomerus 78 Kiera Floyd 80
400 Central Gauteng Enzo Barbaglia 75 Amilkar Bhana 77 Kayle Wykes 81 Brandon Weir Jnr 83 Awethu Mkhwanazi 84
402 KwaZulu-Natal Mitchell Hampson 75 Jack Cubitt 76 Ethan Govender 82 Kushal Bugareth 84 Nicholas Oliver Phipps 85
407 Gauteng North Christiaan Maas 74 Nash de Klerk 77 Zander Lombard 82 Alexander Tarr 85 Delarey van Tonder 89
408 Southern Cape Jan Human 73 Jordan Duminy 79 Jordan Hart 82 Jaco Pienaar 85 C.J van Wyk 89
421 Free State & Northern Cape Stefan Delport 81 Gabrelle Venter 84 Jaen-Pierre Fourie 85 Lyle Roche Pedro 85 George Delport 86
427 Limpopo Declan Brews 75 Johanco Welgemoed 82 Percy Hawken 86 Dylan Melville 87 Ian Botha 97
431 Eastern Province Meekah de Sousa 78 Malan Potgieter 80 Jean Louis du Plessis 82 Jordan Wessels 89 Jarryd Trevor Harty 102
436 Border Jaden Joubert 84 Tyler Stagg 84 Joshua Osner 86 Werner Potgieter 91 Tristan Coetzee 91
439 North West Divan Mostert 82 Rorisang Nkosi(Jnr) 86 Ockert Brits 86 Tiaan Diedericks 92 Corne Pieters 93
445 Mpumalanga Zane Nel 83 Jacques van der Merwe 86 Duvan Pretorius 86 Dean Hall 89 Luke Lopes 101
FIRST ROUND INDIVIDUAL SCORES (top 10)
73 Jan Human; Casey Jarvis
74 Christiaan Maas
75 Zamokuhle Nxasana; Declan Brews; Enzo Barbaglia; Mitchell Hampson
76 Jack Cubitt; Yurav Premlall
77 Amilkar Bhana; Nash de Klerk
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.
Lali Stander
