Cape local Peter Karmis used home comforts to soar into the early lead at the Cape Town Open presented by Sun International on Thursday, writes WADE PRETORIUS at King David Mowbray.
A flawless 63 from Karmis was enough for the clubhouse lead as the wind stayed away during round one.
Karmis, who had two wins earlier the season, opened with three straight pars – hardly a glimpse of what was to come. The blitz started at the par 3 fourth and continued through to the seventh as he swiftly moved into the frame. A par at the 9th was a missed opportunity but he took full advantage on the 10th to get to -5 before following that gain with another on the short but dangerous par 4 11th.
The one-time Asian Tour winner made it 3 birdies from 4 of the par 5s at the 14th before a 2 at the short 16th got him to -8. The 18th will provide a sterner test later in the week when the strong winds make a turn at KDM but in its absence, Karmis rolled in his ninth birdie of the day to put some room between himself and a number of challengers.
That space shrunk somewhat with Rhys Enoch, with a back nine 29, joining in-form JC Ritchie, out in 32 and home in the same, in the clubhouse on -8.
Twelve players are at -7 including last week’s winner Jaco Ahlers, Vaughn Groenewald, Stellenbosch pro Oliver Bekker and James Kamte. Also in that bunch is Lyle Rowe, who looked the likeliest to join Karmis after taking full advantage of an extremely warm putter.
Rowe, who has two Sunshine Tour wins to his name, eagled the fifth after reaching the green in two but slipped back with a bogey on the next. After failing to get up and down on the ninth for birdie, his day was at a junction. His putter stepped in and got him moving in the right direction.
A birdie at the 10th was followed by a par at the next before five straight birdies, including one on the challenging 15th. A bogey at the last dropped him back into the bunch at -7 but as a player comfortable in the wind, he could be the one to watch this week.
Ryan Cairns was a rare afternoon starter to match the early morning scores as he made it a dozen tied at seven under.
First round leaderboard:
63 – Peter Karmis
64 – JC Ritchie, Rhys Enoch
65 – James Kamte, Merrick Bremner, Oliver Bekker, Jaco Ahlers, Hennie du Plessis, Vaughn Groenewald, Mark Williams, Jean Hugo, Justin Harding, Lyle Rowe, Martin Rohwer, Ryan Cairns
66 – Keenan Davidse, Jaco Prinsloo, James Kingston, Toby Tree, Antoine Rozner, Rourke van der Spuy
67 – Damon Stephenson, Scott Campbell, Ockie Strydom, Christiaan Basson, Neil Schietekat, Andre De Decker, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Chris Lloyd, Kyle McClatchie, Jack Harrison, Danie Van Niekerk, Ruan Huysamen, Nyasha Muyambo
68 – Cody Martin, Michael Hollick, Colin Nel, Daniel van Tonder, Louis de Jager, Wallie Coetsee, Jake Roos, Michael Palmer, Billy Spooner, Luke Joy, Tyrone Ferreira, Toto Thimba, JJ Senekal, Antonio Rosado, Altaaf Bux, Allan Versfeld, Quintin Wilsnach, Neil O’Briain
69 – Steve Surry, Doug McGuigan, Andrew Curlewis, Jared Harvey, Ruan de Smidt, Scott Vincent, Herman Loubser, Francois Coetzee, James Wade, Romain Langasque, Rhys West, Tyrone Ryan, Jason Viljoen, Jonathan Agren
70 – Cameron Esau, Ian Ansett, Charl Coetzee, Jacques Blaauw, Dawie Van der Walt, Morten Orum Madsen, Ulrich van den Berg, Titch Moore, Alex Haindl, Garth Mulroy, Madalitso Muthiya, Andre Nel, Luke Jerling, Andrew Georgiou, Dayne Moore, Antonio Costa, Bryce Easton, Jean-Paul Strydom, Tjaart van der Walt, Francesco Laporta, Jason Froneman, Coert Groenewald, Stuart Smith
71 – Gert Myburgh, Omar Sandys, Callum Mowat, Marc Cayeux, Shaun Norris, Riekus Nortje, Hennie Otto, Lindani Ndwandwe, Sean Bradley, Matthew Rushton, Matthew Spacey, Chris Cannon, Matthew Carvell, Chris Swanepoel, Zack Byrd, Jake Redman, Stephen Ferreira, Martin Rominger
72 – Allister de Kock, Derick Petersen, Michiel Bothma, Combrinck Smit, MJ Viljoen, Matias Calderon, Aubrey Beckley, Jason Smith, Desne Van Den Bergh, Andrew van der Knaap, Anthony Michael, Steven Ferreira, CJ du Plessis, Pieter Kruger
73 – PH McIntyre, Dongkwan Kim, Teaghan Gauche, Jason Diab
74 – Dwayne Basson, Jacquin Hess, Theunis Spangenberg, Wynand Dingle, Alan Michell, Gerrit Foster, Mervyn Galant
75 – Heinrich Bruiners, Brett Liddle, Ryan Tipping, Sipho Bujela, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu, Jack McDonald, Jack Kutumane, N.J. Arnoldi, Thriston Lawrence, Makhetha Mazibuko, Mike Michell
76 – Breyten Meyer, Keagan Beyer, Gerard du Plooy
77 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Andrew Mackie
78 – John Parkinson, Brian Gondo, Gregg Upton
79 – Luca Cianchetti, Stefan Engell Andersen, Johan Engelbrecht
80 – TJ Biggs, Greg Bentley
Photo: Petri Oeschger/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
