Combrinck Smit might have made four bogeys on Thursday, but he also made an eagle and seven birdies to get to five-under-par for the first round of the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Origins of Golf even tat Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate.
That was enough to give him a one-stroke lead, with Chile’s Matias Calderon, Wynand Dingle, Anthony Michael and newly-minted professional Casey Jarvis one stroke back on four-under-par 68.
It was some good putting by Smit which cave him the lead, as he one-putted nine of the holes, and two-putted the rest. There was a stretch around the turn, from the eighth to 13th, where he made six one-putts in a row.
Smit started with two consecutive bogeys on the first and second. He made three birdies in the next four holes, before dropping another shot on the seventh. His eagle came on the eighth, and it was followed by three birdies in a row around the turn from the ninth. There were three pars in a row after that, a bogey on 16 and a birdie on 18 to round out his round.
There were seven players in a share of sixth on three-under-par, including Jaco Prinsloo, who looked likely to lead until he had a horror closing stretch with three bogeys in his last five holes.
Jarvis, who had just turned pro after a superb amateur career, was bogey-free for his four-under-par 68, and was the only player in the 107-man field to not drop a shot.
