Trevor Reich leads the Canon Kwazulu-Natal Disabled Open by two strokes after an opening round of 78 at Mount Edgecombe Country Club’s The Woods course on Monday, Craig Stirton reports

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic forced the restructure of the Canon SA Disabled Open into four regional opens which form part of the Canon Open Series. Four winners from each event drawn from the Physically-Disabled and Deaf divisions – a medal and stableford winner from each –  will earn a spot in the series-ending Champion of Champions event.

Reich began his campaign brightly with an opening nine of 39. A matching inward half saw Reich sign for a 78 on a day which featured a brief stoppage due to the threat of lightning. Though Reich’s round featured just one birdie – at the par-4 18th – he earned a deserved two-shot lead having kept the blemishes to a minimum.

“I had a good day today. I drove the ball really really well, I had a good day. I missed a couple of short putts. I had a good day, the course is in great condition and I look forward to making a couple of good putts tomorrow and hopefully we can take this thing through.”

The King David Mowbray Golf Club member’s nearest challengers are Les Autres golfer Jan Potgieter and Robin Singh who both returned rounds of 80. Arm-amputee Chris Wood meanwhile is further shot adrift after an 81.

Moorgas Earns 2-point Lead

Among the Physically-Disabled golfers playing stableford, leg-amputee Craig Moorgas made a promising start to his tournament. While 35 points is certainly nothing to sneeze at, his eventual tally doesn’t quite reflect how well he played as he had three zero-pointers over the 18 holes.

The King David Mowbray member did however offset these setbacks with a handful of three-pointers and a superb par on The Woods’ stroke-1, the par-4 16th which yielded a further four points. In all, Moorgas notched 19 points on his second-nine to earn a two-point lead over fellow leg-amputee Ian Gielink.

Botha Leads Deaf Division

Jay-Jay Botha, a Deaf golfer who now resides in the United States, seized a five-shot lead in the Deaf Division over First Swing Program Elite squad member Charles Williams. After turning in 43, Botha played some great golf on the second-nine which featured five pars. He will certainly fancy his chances of victory heading into the final round.

In the Deaf stableford category meanwhile Shanon Van Der Berg carded 29 points to surge 11 points clear of Sifiso Mdwebu.

The second and final round of the Canon Kwazulu-Natal Disabled Open takes place on Tuesday.

Photo: Craig Stirton/SA Disabled Golf Association

Leading Round 1 Scores

Round 1 scores

Physical Disabled Medal, HI < 18.5

Pos

1.  Trevor Reich    78

2.  Jan Potgieter   80

3.  Robin Singh    80

Physical Disabled IPS, HI > 18.4

1.Craig Moorgas    35 points

2.Ian Gielink        33 points

3.Jodi Schultz     31 points

Deaf IPS, HI > 18.4

1.Shannon Van der Berg   29 points

2.Sifiso Mdwebu               18 points

Deaf Medal, HI < 18.5

1.Jay Jay Botha           83

2.Williams, Charles.     88

3.Maconochie, Mark    101