Combrinck Smit made just a single bogey on Thursday on his way toa five-under-par 67 and a part of a three-way share of the lead after the first round of the Sunshine Tour’s FNB Eswatini Challenge at Nkonyeni at Nkonyeni Lodge & Golf Estate.

Smit shared the lead with Jason Roets and Stephen Ferreira of Portugal, and the trio was one stroke clear of Daniel van Tonder, Ethan Smith and Neil Schietekat. One stroke further back in a share of seventh was Altin van der Merwe, who has just turned pro after playing in the Open Championship as an amateur, together with five other players.

Smit started his round on the 10^th with a birdie, but he dropped his only shot of the round immediately after that on the 11^th. He followed that with three birdies in the next four holes, and he picked up two more on his way in on the front nine.

Roets also dropped just one shot in his opening round, while Ferreira was bogey-free.

Van der Merwe’s first round as a pro on the Sunshine Tour started inauspiciously with a dropped shot on the first, but birdies on the eighth and the ninth saw him turn in one-under-par 35. Two more birdies on the back nine, including on the 631-yard par-five 15^th, saw him round out a pleasing three-under 69.