On a tough opening day of wind and rain, the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open leaderboard was packed tighter than a pod of dolphins at La Réserve Golf Links. MICHAEL VLISMAS reports.
Battered by a constant wind from dawn to dusk, and with intermittent squalls of rain, South Africa’s Casey Jarvis and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson rose to the top of the leaderboard for the shared clubhouse lead with rounds of five-under-par 67.
The round was unable to be completed because of darkness and will restart on Friday morning.
They are one stroke clear of six players, including 2017 Mauritius Open champion Dylan Frittelli, Herman Loubser – currently second on the Sunshine Tour Courier Guy Order of Merit – and Brandon Stone.
The challenge of the conditions on day one is reflected in the fact that of the 155 golfers in the field, only 33 were under par.
Even the two leaders had double bogeys on their cards.
Jayden Schaper made another good with his round of three-under 69 as he seeks back-to-back victories following his win in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship.
And he summed up just how difficult a first day it was.
“It’s a tough course out there and we were out there for quite some time. I managed to stay calm and not focus too much on the wind around me. I did well to block it out. But it’s definitely a challenge out there. It’s very windy and the course is quite tight, and there are a lot of crosswinds.”
Frittelli agreed.
“The wind was howling and we had three rain squalls come through. I was really happy to be under par today. But I’m also starting to learn this course.”
And Levy was equally pleased to have come through the opening round in contention.
“It was tough and I played really well. There was wind and rain and it was really tricky. You have to keep the ball on the fairway because this is a very tricky golf course.”
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Photo: Sunshine Tour
Article Link: Jarvis, Jamieson lead Mauritius Open