Bradley Bawden and Tapio Pulkkanen share a one stroke lead heading into the second round of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open after posting six under par rounds of 66 on day one at Royal Cape Golf Club.
The leading duo made the most of calm morning conditions in The Mother City to edge in front - with Bawden carding two eagles and Pulkkanen going bogey-free - to end the day one shot clear of South Africans Tristen Strydom and Stefan Wears-Taylor, Scotsman Daniel Young, Romain Wattel of France, Irishman Conor Purcell and England’s Alfie Plant.
Englishman Bawden eagled the par five seventh, and despite a bogey at hole nine, made a second eagle of the day on the 11th before adding birdies on the 12th, 16th and 18th to set the pace.
“I didn’t play so well last week so I made a few changes and it showed today,” he said. “I hit some nice shots and holed a few nice putts.
“Having two eagles on the card is just one of those things that sometimes happens. I hit a good hybrid on seven to about six feet and rolled it in and then on 11, if you get your drive away, it’s a good opportunity to knock one close. I hit a mid-seven iron to about eight feet and rolled it in too.
“I wouldn’t say I was overly aggressive. On this course, there are some tough shots. You’ve got to keep it in play. If you hit it in the right spots you can shoot a score and I was able to do that today.”
Pulkkanen, from Finland, didn’t drop a single shot as he made the turn three under par, and added an eagle and a birdie to his card on his final three holes to join Bawden at the top.
The 33-year-old, who won for the first time on the Challenge Tour at the Kazakhstan Open in 2017, admits accuracy off the tee is going to be the key this week.
“You need to be inside the tree lines off the tee,” he said. “You can see that it can get tough if you miss your tee shots into the trees, but overall I think it’s a course that suits me.
“I got here on Monday and I just thought that it was a great golf course. I’m expecting the wind to pick up over the next few days which will make it fun.
“I didn’t make bogeys so that’s important always on a round of golf. I think I saved some good pars and overall I hit it good off the tee and there weren’t many mistakes.”
15 players share ninth place on four under par including South African Ryan van Veltzen, Scotsman Jack McDonald and Englishman James Allen.
Round two gets under way at 6:30am local time with Bawden teeing off alongside South African Bryce Easton and Denmark’s John Axelsen at 11:30am, and Pulkkanen with South African Justin Harding and England’s Lee Slattery at 12:40pm.
