NATIONAL NEWS - An eagle at his ultimate hole sent Ekurhuleni amateur Tristan Strydom hurtling straight to the top of affairs in the IGT Tour’s Kyalami Challenge, but the two-time champion had to make space for former Central Gauteng rival Andi Dill, who grabbed a share of the lead at Kyalami Country Club on Monday. 

Strydom set the target an opening one-under-par 71 and kept control until the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington rookie matched his score to join him in the front of the field. 

The pair finished one stroke clear of Martin Rohwer and 2016 African Amateur Stroke Play Championship winner Albert Venter and Martin Rohwer, however, there are a further 11 players who are within striking distance of their target. 

Amateurs Theunie Bezuidenhout, Hilton Hughes and former youth Olympian Kyle McClatchie joined the bus at one under alongside professionals Louis Botha, NJ Arnoldi and Wayne du Toit. 

Swaziland’s Nobuhle Dlamini leads the five-strong group at two over including former IGT Tour winner Duane Keun, Phillip Montgomery, Michael Schutz and KwaZulu-Natal amateur Matt Saulez. 

Strydom claimed his first success on the country’s premier golf development Tour late in 2014 and celebrated his second visit to the winner’s circle three weeks ago when he won the Irene Challenge at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off. 

He turned two under with birdies at eight and nine, but double bogeyed 10 and slipped to two over when he also dropped 12 and 14.  

The Pretoria native rallied with a birdie at the par-four 15th and he put the finishing touches on his opening salvo when he drummed home an eagle putt at final hole to take the lead. 

Dill interrupted a run of pars with a lone bogey at six and was two over after another drop at 11, but he turned things around with a brace of birdies at 13 and 14 and collected another gain at the par-three 17th to finish in red numbers. 

Before he joined the pro circuit at the end of last year, Dill was one of Central Gauteng’s most bankable players and his biggest attribute was his patience, but the conditions at Kyalami Country Club tested him to the maximum in the opening round. 

“This is a narrow course and the fairways have a lot of slope, so even if you hit a perfect shot down the middle, chances are that the ball will run off the fairway,” said Dill. “When you add rock hard and fast greens, you really struggle to score well. 

“I just kept patient, kept grinding, and tried to make birdies when an opportunity presented itself. My patience was rewarded on the back nine and I had a nice finish to put myself in the title hunt. 

“It was a really hard day, but I enjoyed the challenge. I haven’t played on the IGT Tour since early this year and it was really nice to get back out there and get competitive. I am leaving for the Mena Tour in Dubai in early September, so the testing conditions were actually good to get me focussed and competitive early in the round.”

FIRST ROUND SCORES

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA: 

• 71 - Andi Dill, Tristen Strydom AMA
• 72 - Albert Venter AMA, Martin Rohwer
• 73 - Theunis Bezuidenhout AMA, Louis Botha, Wayne du Toit, Hilton Hughes AMA, NJ Arnoldi, Kyle McClatchie AMA
• 74 - Nobuhle Dlamini (SWA), Duane Keun, Phillip Montgomery, Matt Saulez AMA, Michael Schutz
• 75 - David Rebelo AMA, Gareth Akers, Matthew Vogel, Simon Kruger, Garth Wolter, Ray Badenhorst (ZIM), Gregg Blainey (ENG)
• 76 - Ruhan van Dijk AMA, Vico Kuhn
• 77 - David Nortje AMA, David McIntyre AMA, Werner Van Wyk, Leon Visser AMA, Byron Garvie, Phillip Kruse AMA, Kyle Barker AMA, Damian Naicker, CJ Levey, Jacques De Villiers, Clinton Grobler
• 78 - Sheldon Steyn (ZIM), Andrew Plint AMA, Phumlani Maluka AMA, Danie Van Niekerk AMA, Lejan Lewthwaite, Terence Boardman, Matthew Spacey, Justin Turner
• 79 - Jonathan Waschefort, Andrew Carlsson AMA, Marco De Beer AMA, Teagan Moore, David Ryan, Tijana Kraljevic, Ruan Korb AMA, Quintin Crause AMA, TJ Bekker
• 80 - Dwayne Coetzee, Matthew Kiewitz AMA, Matt Wollmann (ZIM), Graham van der Merwe
• 81 - Graeme Limper AMA, Michael Pienaar AMA, Joshua Seale, Louis Albertse AMA
• 82 - Matthew Hands AMA, Stephane Van Neer AMA (COD), Sam Metcalfe AMA
• 83 - Gareth Anderson AMA, Cole Dodgen AMA, Stefan Cronje AMA
• 84 - Jaco Van Der Merwe AMA, Daniel Joubert AMA, Nic Watson AMA, Dylan Docherty, Wayne Stroebel, Ricki Dembo, Liam Bezuidenhout AMA, Gustav Erasmus
• 85 - Terence Archibald AMA, WM Coetzee AMA, Jordan Parsons AMA, Duan Nagel AMA, Tommie Brits AMA
• 86 - Chris Wicks AMA, Brandon Fisher AMA, Jeandre Pretorius AMA, Patrick Thompson
• 87 - Nisharlan Sewgolum, Bryce Myburgh, Angelo Marques AMA
• 88 - Mohammed Ismail AMA, Lydon Charnley AMA
• 89 - Stephen Forsyth AMA
• 91 - Devin Welsh AMA
• 92 - Jonty B Shelton AMA
• 93 - Maverick Faber AMA (FRA)
• 95 - Gary Jutzen AMA
• RTD - Aubrey Beckley AMA 

ARTICLE: LALI STANDER