Christofer Blomstrand and Ivan Cantero Gutierrez share the first round lead at the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open after posting seven under par rounds of 65.
Blomstrand, of Sweden, had set the target earlier in the day at Rondebosch Golf Club, before Cantero Gutierrez joined him at the top of the leaderboard by birdieing the final hole at Royal Cape Golf Club to share a one-stroke lead, with DP World Tour winners Paul Dunne and Matteo Manassero joined by South African Louis de Jager in third place on six under par.
This week's Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open is held across two courses in the Mother City - Royal Cape and Rondebosch - with the field being split and playing one round on each of the two courses across the opening two days, before those making the second round cut compete in the final two rounds at Royal Cape over the weekend.
Spaniard Cantero Gutierrez carefully navigated the tight, tree-lined layout at Royal Cape to take a share of the lead and the 26-year-old placed an emphasis on driving the ball well as key to his excellent start.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “My game is really solid. I played a lot of drivers on this course and if you hit it straight, it’s a lot easier because you use wedge all the time. My driver is my best club and it was good today.
“I like the course. It’s straight, and if you hit good drivers, you’re close to the greens and it’s good for me because I’m very straight with the driver.
“I think Rondebosch is different. The grass on these greens is more difficult for me to see the lines, but it’s the same; one ball, driver, irons, I’ll be ok.”
Blomstrand, meanwhile, was pleased with his seven under par opener at Rondebosch Golf Club, despite not feeling as though he played as well as his score suggests.
“It was quite good actually,” he said. “There was a lot of wind today so it’s quite tough. Honestly, it didn’t feel that great but I scored really well, so I’ll take that.
“Last week was my first week of golf since last October. It’s fun to be back out there but it’s great to be back playing down here.
“It’s been a long time since I played any nice golf down here but it’s always nice to be here. Back home now is cold with snow, so it’s great to be here.”
Italy’s Manassero, a three-time DP World Tour winner, and South Africa’s de Jager both carded bogey-free six under par rounds of 66 at Rondebosch to join Ireland’s Dunne, who teed it up at Royal Cape, in a tie for third place.
New Zealander Daniel Hillier, Swedish duo Niklas Lemke and Robin Petersson, Dutchman Lars van Meijel, Ireland’s Neil Kearney and France’s Adrien Pendaries are a shot further back in a tie for sixth place.
The second round of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open will begin at 6:50am local time on Friday February 18, with Royal Cape hosting the half of the field who teed it up at Rondebosch on day one, and vice versa.
