Martin Vorster showed again why this Sunshine Tour season could be a turning point for him when he equalled the course record at the De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate with a nine-under-par 63 to lead the first round of the DNi Tour Championship presented by RMB on Thursday.
On a magnificent day in the Cape winelands for this season-ending tournament, Vorster went out in 30 and back in 33 without a single bogey to lead by one shot over Jaco Prinsloo. Prinsloo produced an incredible back nine of 27 featuring five birdies and two eagles.
Zander Lombard, Austain Bautista and Luis Carrera currently share third place on seven under.
“It was so much fun. I was very steady from the beginning and it felt like one of those rounds where I never had to worry about making a bogey. I think the longest par putt was four feet. It was just solid all day,” said Vorster.
He had a particularly rewarding stretch of five straight birdies from the fifth hole.
“It was great. Before I knew it I’d made five birdies in a row and I think the longest birdie putt I had was seven feet. It was just a lot of good iron shots.”
His round equalled the course record set by both Jayden Schaper and Garrick Higgo in the 2019 South African Stroke Play Championship here.
Vorster has had a few moments this season where he’s led or been near the top of the leaderboard, and while it hasn’t yet translated into a victory, the consistency has given him plenty of confidence.
“I’ve been working on the fundamentals of the swing and set-up, but I haven’t changed too much there. It’s been more a focus on just playing golf and being a bit more creative and reactive. I feel like a kid again just trying to hit different shots, and it’s made a huge difference not worrying too much about how the swing looks and just playing.”
This week’s tournament is a reward for the players within the top 50 on the Courier Guy Order of Merit, which itself is a reflection of a successful season.
“It’s been a very consistent season. It’s been a bit frustrating in the sense that I had a lot of good finishes between eighth and 20th, and a lot of weeks where I was just one or two shots outside the top five which is where you want to be in terms of maximum points. I’ve felt like I’ve played a lot of good golf, and the Serengeti Playoffs was my best finish of tied fifth. But it’s been consistent overall.”
SCORES
63 – Martin Vorster
64 – Jaco Prinsloo
65 – Zander Lombard
65 – Austin Bautista, Luis Carrera
67 – Altin van der Merwe
67 – Lyle Rowe
68 – Benjamin Follett-Smith
68 – Nikhil Rama, Graham van der Merwe, Luke Brown, Deon Germishuys, Samuel Simpson
69 – Kyle De Beer
69 – Malcolm Mitchell, Warwick Purchase, Hennie Otto
70 – Trevor Fisher Jnr
70 – Brandon Stone, Tyran Snyders, Ryan Van Velzen, JC Ritchie, MJ Viljoen, Herman Loubser
71 – Jason Roets
71 – Keenan Davidse, Bryce Easton, Allen John, Pieter Moolman, Daniel van Tonder
72 – Gerhard Pepler
72 – Stuart Krog, Louis Albertse, Haydn Porteous, Christiaan Burke
73 – Kyle Barker
74 – Luke Jerling
75 – Pierre Viallaneix
75 – Estiaan Conradie
Credit: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour
Article Link: Vorster goes low to lead DNi Tour Championship