TSHWANE – Trevor Fisher Jnr eagled the first hole on Wednesday in the opening round of the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge hosted by Time Square Casino at Wingate Park Country Club on his way to a five-under-par 67 and the first-round lead.
He made five birdies after that, as well as two bogeys, and that gave him a one-stroke edge over Adilson Da Silva, Benjamin Follett-Smith and Louis Albertse, with six players in a share of fifth a further shot back on three-under-par 69.
With his second shot of the tournament going into the hole on the par-four first, Fisher was quick to take advantage of that boost and he made birdies on two and three to be four-under through three holes. A bogey on the seventh saw him turn in three-under 32 for the front nine, and then he picked up shots again on 10, 13 and 15. He bogeyed the par-four 17th to come home in two-under 35.
“I was between clubs on the first tee,” said Fisher, “and my brother Brandon, who is on the bag, said I should just have a dip at it. I ended up about two metres short and managed to chip it in, which was just a great start.
“Then I managed to get it up and down for birdie on the second, and then I made a solid birdie on three. Once you get a start like that, you can just relax into the round.”
Da Silva was bogey-free for his 68, picking up shots on the second, third, 10th, and 18th. Follett-Smith, however, made a double-bogey seven on the 13th after picking up three birdies on the front nine. He followed the double-drop with consecutive birdies on 14 and 15, and rounded things out with another gain on the 18th. Albertse was also three-under through the front nine, and made his lone bogey on the 11th. Birdies on 14 and 15 saw him into his share of second.
The man who won the last time the tour visited Wingate Park, Ruan Korb, was on two-under 70 after the first round for a share of 11th.
“It was quite tough out there,” said Fisher. “Par is a good score, so you have to grab whatever birdie chances might come your way. The wind was difficult, and there are parts of the course that are quite hard, so you don’t quite know how the ball will bounce sometimes. The greens are quite quick, too, especially downhill, and that adds to the difficulty.”
SA Tour Golf