Swedish golfer Martin Erlandsson produced a sublime back nine for a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 to set the clubhouse lead in the opening round of the 2009 South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates on Thursday.
At two-under after the turn, the Swede birdied the second, third and fourth and then eagled the 530-yard fifth. He added birdie number six at the seventh for loops of 34 and 30.
Erlandsson, who finished second in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles after a closing 62 in August, has a four-shot cushion over countryman Michael Jonzon, winner of the 2009 Castellon Masters, Italian World Cup winner Edoardo Molinari and Brit Richard Finch.
South Africans Thomas Aiken, Ulrich van den Berg and Jacques Blaauw lead the pack chasing at three under. Richard Sterne, who began his title defence with a solid birdie but bogeyed twice before the turn, got himself back in contention with birdies at the third and sixth for a one-under-par 71.
South Africa´s Charl Schwartzel and Pablo Martin from Spain, respectively second and first at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last week, are among the afternoon starters.
Early First Round Scores:
64 - Martin Erlandsson (SWE)
68 - Richard Finch (ENG), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Michael Jonzon (SWE)
69 - Ulrich van den Berg (RSA), Jacques Blaauw (RSA), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Damien McGrane (IRL)
70 - Carlos Rodiles (ESP), Louis Moolman (RSA), James Kamte (RSA), Soren Hansen (DEN), Michael Hoey (NIR), Peter Karmis (RSA), Jamie Elson (ENG)
71 - Fredrik Ohlsson (SWE), Sam Hutsby (ENG), Richard Sterne (RSA), Chris Williams (RSA), Shiv Kapur (IND), Robert Rock (ENG), Markus Brier (AUT), Keith Horne (RSA)
Par - Oliver Bekker (RSA), Andre Cruse (RSA), Grant Muller (RSA), Gavan Levenson (RSA), Ariel Canete (ARG), James Kingston (RSA), Jbe´ Kruger (RSA), Phillip Price (WAL), Chris Swanepoel (RSA)
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Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate will host the South African Open Championship in 2011 and 2012. The Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course at Serengeti is the first 27-hole golf course in Gauteng and was recently named “Best New Golf Course” by Golf Digest.
The 18-hole course called Masai Mara, which means “wide open plains” in the language of the Masai, has a rugged grassland and dune-scape look. One of the unique features on the course is the par-five eighth hole with its island green. The nine-hole course called Whistling Thorn has a more classic feel.
The courses were constructed in accordance with USGA specifications, with cool season grass that provides green vistas all year round. Designed as a strategic and technical masterpiece that will test today’s best players, the sunken design of the course with its wide corridors is ideal for tournament purposes and provides optimal spectator value on almost every hole.
