In the Asian Tour’s and Ladies European Tour’s Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup, Ian Snyman was the best of the South Africans in the field as he fired a five-under-par 67 in the first round to find himself in a share of seventh place.
It’s a truly mixed tournament, with 144 players (72 men and 72 women) in the field, taking each other on over72 holes of stroke play with a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties after 36 holes. Snyman made six birdies and a bogey in his opening round, and finds himself four strokes behind the leaders Sanna Nuutinen of Finland and Thai amateur ‘TK’ Ratchanon Chantananuwat. They each fired nine-under 63s to lead Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand and Hung Chien-Yao of Chinese Taipei.
Snyman, in his rookie season on the Asian Tour, appears to still be on a high after finishing equal third in the International Series Thailand last month for his best finish on the Asian Tour.
“I think I am just getting used to the Asian Tour now, the tournament atmosphere, how everything works,” said the South African.
“I think there is a lot less stress now. In the beginning there was lot of external stress, like the flight tickets, the grab taxes, I didn’t know how Asia worked. I started to figure that out with my coach Paul McKenzie, we are just doing the same things, staying consistent, and fine tuning.”
It’s the first time he has played in a mixed event and he is enjoying the experience.
He added: “First time playing in a mixed event, so far so good. The pace of play was great. I played with Becky [Brewerton], she was awesome, she was friendly, we talked a lot about the set-up of the golf course, it was a great time out there today.”
Next best of the South Africans was Keith Horne on three-under, with Nicole Garcia on two-under in a share of 36th. Adilson Da Silva of Brazil carded a one-under, with Casandra Alexander and Swaziland’s Nobuhle Dlamini on level-par. Benjamin Follett-Smith of Zimbabwe battled to a three-over 75.
