Herman Loubser continued his great early-2022 form on Monday with an eight-under-par 64 giving him the lead after the first round of the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour’s Race to Q-School #7 at Blue Valley Golf and Country Estate.
His bogey-free round gave him a two-stroke edge over Ryan Tipping, who had an eagle-two and a bogey on his card for his six-under 66. Sharing second with Tipping was DK Kim of Korea who was bogey-free in his 66. Amateurs Calvin Maia and LB Boshoff were in a share of fourth with Ryan Estment on five-under.
Loubser picked up three birdies early on in his round, with gains on the second, third and fourth. Another birdie on the ninth saw him turn in four-under. Four more birdies came on the 10th, 12th, 13th and 18th completed his scoring for the day.
Former South African number one amateur Martin Vorster, just off his first professional win which he shared with Ryan Van Velzen 10 days ago, overcame a double-bogey and a bogey to open with a four-under-par. He was in a share of seventh with Regan Steyn.
Loubser has already played his way to the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School Final Stage through his exploits on the IGT circuit last year, but the stakes are high for many other players who will get their chance to step up on to the bigger stage with success in this series which has three more tournaments to run after this one.
