Jacquin Hess shot a six-under 66 opening round in the Joburg City Masters held at Country Club Johannesburg on Tuesday to take a slender lead in the second of three event co-sanctioned events between the Sunshine Big Easy Tour and MENA Tour.
He made four birdies on the front nine, but those gains were under threat as soon as he bogeyed the fourth and eighth holes. He bounced back solidly on the homeward nine with a series of birdies from 14 to 16, and again on the par-five 18th.
It was not all smooth sailing, however, because there were always the constant threats of Brett Liddle, Sean Bradley and Omar Sandys to contend with, as all these players seemed like they could usurp him at the top.
‘I’m very happy; had a good start. Birdie on the first; it’s always nice to start with a birdie,’ Hess said. ‘I had a good practice round yesterday.
‘I made four birdies back-to-back on the back nine, so I just came in with some confidence and I stuck to my game plan.’
The member of the Gary Player Class of 2017-18 development programme says he aims to get a good start in all upcoming events to give himself chances of winning some silverware this season. ‘My aim is to get have a very good first round, and today the putter was fantastic,’ he said.
‘In the next couple of months you have to play well in the first round to set yourself up well in the tournaments. That’s my main focus. Today I made it happen. I’m very happy,’ said Hess.
Tied at five-under 67 are Bradley and Liddle and lurking behind them is veteran Sandys, along with Henric Sturehed of Sweden, England’s Jamie Elson, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Eddy Holland, Jeff Inglis and Francois Smith, at four-under.
First Round Scores
66 – Jacquin Hess
67 – Sean Bradley, Brett Liddle
68 – Omar Sandys, Henric Sturehed, Jamie Elson, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Eddy Holland, Jeff Inglis, Francois Coetzee
69 – Stuart Smith, Dayne Moore, Combrinck Smit, Matthew Carvell, Breyten Meyer, Jaco Prinsloo
70 – Fredrik From, Altaaf Bux, Gerard du Plooy, Danie Van Niekerk, Craig Hinton, Maritz Wessels, Bryn Flanagan, Drikus van der Walt, Craig Kieswetter
71 – Allister de Kock, Tyrone Ryan, Coert Groenewald, Andrew van der Knaap, Makhetha Mazibuko, Jeff Hopkins, Scott Campbell
72 – Antonio Costa, Gert Myburgh, Jason Smith, Neal Herman, Pieter Kruger, Teagan Moore, Stefan Engell Andersen, Marco de Beer
73 – Jordan Garnish, Damian Naicker, Luke Jerling, Chris Cannon, David Mofokeng, Dean O’Riley, Matthew Spacey, Tiago Lobo, Michael Dreyer, Clinton Grobler, Cyril Suk, Tyler Hogarty, Max Smith, Riekus Nortje, Morne Buys, Anton Haig, Aubrey Beckley, Etienne Bond, Allan Versfeld, Russel Franz
74 – Jastice Mashego, Chris van der Meulen, PH McIntyre, Luke Joy, Daniel Hammond, Jack Duthie, Ryan Cairns, Bennie van der Merwe, Paul de Beer, Thanda Mavundla, Teboho Sefatsa
75 – Andi Dill, Dylan O’Leary, Matias Calderon, Matthew Williams, Sam Hobday, Burger Heckroodt, Paul Colditz, Antonio Rosado, Adriel Poonan, Jacques P de Villiers, Justin Turner, Duane Keun, Abhishek Jha, Desne Van Den Bergh, Wynand Dingle
76 – Alpheus Kelapile, Evance Vukeya, Sipho Bujela, N.J. Arnoldi, Irvin Mazibuko, Dylan Docherty, Quintin Wilsnach, Thabang Simon, Bradford Vaughan, Byron Garvie, Arthur Horne
77 – Jesper Alm, Jason Diab, Matt Carroll, Keelan van Wyk, Elliot Bradley, Bryce McCabe, Edward Kent, Jonathan Waschefort
78 – Daniel Scourfield, Dwayne Basson, Andrew Odoh, Phumlani Maluka, Wayne Stroebel, Sami Keating, Greg Bentley
79 – Siphiwe Siphayi, Kevin Rhoderick
81 – Heino Havenga
82 – Arkesh Bhatia, Ganeev Giddie, Andrew Burmester
83 – Cameron Esau
DSQ – Ben Amor