MOSSEL BAY GOLF NEWS - A blaze of birdies on his back nine boosted KwaZulu-Natal teenager Kyle Kistensamy to the summit of a congested first round leaderboard in the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Glendower Golf Club yesterday, Monday 8 February.
Defending champion, Mossel Bay’s Martin Vorster, and reigning Amateur champion Joe Long from England, among others, took a turn at the top, but when Kistensamy changed tactics on his back nine, he fired his way to the front.
After yesterday’s play, the leading scores were:
- 68 Kyle Kistensamy
- 69 Francois van der Walt
- 70 Martin Vorster; Zachary Chegwidden GBR; Joseph Long GBR; Kyle de Beer; Judd Sundelson; Altin van der Merwe; Slade Pickering
After the soggy build-up over the last two weeks, the clear skies and the sun dappling through the trees brought an air of expectation as Kistensamy burst from the blocks with a birdie start on the par four 10th and the 19-year-old edged into the sole lead with further gains on 15 and 16, but for a while it looked as if he would be eclipsed after bogeys on the first and third holes.
“I just started playing percentage golf,” said the South African Golf Development Board player, who made four birdies on the bounce from the fourth en route to a pacesetting four-under-par 68. “I stuck in the fairways and hit my irons close, all inside eight feet and let the putter do the rest.”
Kistensamy had a one shot lead after Tuks B Com Accounting student student Francois van der Walt closed the gap with four birdies over this six holes.
Vorster and Long lurked menacingly on two-under-par.
They share third place with Pickering, Kyle de Beer, Judd Sundelson, Altin van der Merwe and Englishman Zach Chegwidden, who propelled himself up the leaderboard with a quartet of birdies during his homeward loop.
Long mixed an eagle and a brace of birdies with two bogeys in his round of 70, while the GolfRSA No 1 also produced an eagle and racked up four birdies to offset his dropped shots.
Casey Jarvis, the reigning SA Amateur champion, Kenya’s Adel Balala and Kieron van Wyk, the runner-up at Randpark last week, are among the seven players who share 10th, with 13 golfers – including two-time club champion Yurav Premlall – tied for 17th on level par.
Kistensamy won the 2020 KZN Premier Order of Merit, courtesy of a hat-trick of wins and a runner-up finish.
LEADING SCORES (top 20)
68 Kyle Kistensamy 68
69 Francois van der Walt 69
70 Martin Vorster; Zachary Chegwidden GBR; Joseph Long GBR; Kyle de Beer; Judd Sundelson; Altin van der Merwe; Slade Pickering
71 Malan Potgieter; Kieron van Wyk; Constantin Unger GER; Samuel Simpson; Christiaan Maas; Casey Jarvis; Adel Balala KEN
72 Daniel Nduva; LB Boshoff; Simon du Plooy; Matthew Mortimer; Joshua Koekemoer; Fiorino Clerici SUI; Jonathan Broomhead; Ryan van Velzen; Zandre Labuschagne; Yurav Premlall; Werner Potgieter; Nico Els; Damian Osner; Conner Mackenzie
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