In 2010 England’s Laurie Canter made seven bogeys in 10 rounds of golf to win the SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

His good vibes in the Rainbow Nation continued on Thursday when he shot an eight under par 64 on the Outeniqua course at Fancourt to lead the Dimension Data Pro-Am.

His childhood hero Lee Westwood was in the field and tied for 10th place on four under par, but Canter was four strokes better.

The young Englishman led by one stroke over Jaco Ahlers, while five players followed in a tie for third place on six under par.

The R5-million tournament is played over three courses at Fancourt, with the professionals competing for one round per day at Montagu, Outeniqua and The Links before a 54-hole cut. The final round is played on Montagu.

Doug McGuigan and Anthony Michael were impressive on Thursday at The Links, where they both shot rounds of 67 in overcast conditions at the par-73 track for a share of third.

They were joined on six under par by Wallie Coetsee, Le Roux Ferreira, and Mark Williams, while defending champion George Coetzee was tied for eighth place with Dylan Frittelli.