Stone makes early move
Brandon Stone got his South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship campaign off to a spirited start when he charged to the head of affairs at Glendower Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.
Stone cruised to his familiar place at the top of the leaderboard with a near-flawless opening six-under-par 66 and held a three-shot lead for most of the day.
However, his cushion was cut to just one stroke by late finishers, Frenchman Lionel Weber and South Africa’s Gert Myburgh. Haydn Porteous, the country’s No 2, also joined the action when he slipped into fourth on his own with a four-under-par 68.
Scott Crichton of Scotland, Italy’s Andrea Bolognesi and South Africans JD Oosthuizen, Jason Froneman and Desne van den Bergh, Victor Lange and Callum Mowat share fifth on 69 with Pretoria’s Kenny Goosen at two under alongside Scots Conor O’Neil and Brian Soutar.
But all the attention on day one was on the country’s leading amateur.
A year ago, Stone was patently unhappy with his game after a tie for fifth in the same event and has spent long hours on the range and working on his short game. This work ethic certainly brought its own reward.
Stone won five events and enjoyed a slew of top five and top 10 finishes before claiming the Freddie Tait Trophy as the leading amateur at the South African Open Championship and the No 1 ranking for 2011.
A top 30 finish at the European and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned Joburg Open, backed by successive victories at the Prince’s Grant Invitational and KwaZulu-Natal Stroke Play in January, has left Stone well prepared for his quest this week.
“I had a fantastic season last year and I’m still building on that, but I always felt something got left behind,” he explained. “I didn’t win one of the big ones and that still haunts me.
“Every amateur wants their name on the SA Stroke Play or the Sanlam SA Match Play trophy. Or both. It’s just something I really want to achieve.”
Stone said, given the strong international presence in the field this year, he knew he would have to launch with a solid effort.
“I knew I would have to get off to a fast start. I’m stoked that I put together such a solid round.”
But the Els Club Copperleaf amateur expects his lead to come under pressure.
“There are seven members of the Scottish Elite Squad here, five top Italians and French amateurs and a bunch of top English amateurs competing here this week,” he said. “That is a lot of pressure when you also include the South Africans.
“When those guys get warmed up, they are going turn up the heat, especially with me in front. I’m pleased with the outcome today but now the pressure is on to maintain this standard.”
Like Stone, Weber from Mulhouse near Strasbourg dropped just one shot, but Myburgh surprised even himself with a bogey-free round.
“Brandon set us a near impossible target at this course, so I’m just thrilled that I managed to catch up; well, almost,” gushed the Ekurhuleni amateur. “The course is tricky, but if you plan your way around this track and you don’t get too fancy, you can post a decent score.”
Weber said he thought it was a pretty decent round, except for the bogey at the par-four 16.
“There is a massive bunker and I hit it right into the trap,” he explained. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe I stopped to think. I think we call it a strategic error. Tomorrow I will miss that bunker.”
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
66 Brandon Stone
67 Lionel Weber (FRA), Gert Myburgh
68 Haydn Porteous
69 Jason Froneman, JD Oosthuizen, Callum Mowat, Scott Crichton (SCO), Andrea Bolognesi (ITA), Desne van den Bergh, Victor Lange
70 Brian Soutar (SCO), Kenny Goosen, Conor O’ Neil (SCO)
71 Werner van Niekerk, Gideon Pienaar, Glen de Waal (NAM), Toby Tree ENG, Nicolas Scher, Romano Saincic, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Hano van der Walt, Sarel van der Walt
72 Daniel Kay (SCO), Hendrikus Stoop, Lourens Volschenk, Cedric Rooi, Francesco Laporta (ITA), Drickus Bruyns, Eddie Taylor, Rowan du Preez, Johan Theron, Fraser Mckenna (SCO), Christoff Els, Olivier Rozner
73 Jonathan Raphunga, Jacques Kruyswijk, Pedrie Oosthuizen, Michael Loppnow, Ryan Dreyer, Emanuele Sesia (ITA), Jacques de Villiers, Shaun Smith, Jamie Clare (SCO), Anton Steenkamp, Jacopo Vecchinfossa (ITA), Morten Bredahl, Nathan Scott, Filippo Bergamaschi (ITA)
74 Teaghan Gauche, Jacquin Hess, Zander Lombard, Roux Jeffery (NAM), Philip Kruse, Jaco Mouton, Eduard van den Berg, Andi Dill, Aubrey Barnard, Paul de Beer, Stefan Cronje, Kenny Subregis (FRA), Louis Taylor
75 Waylon Kukard, James White (SCO), Wesley Baptiste, Alexander Kleszcz (AUS), Joubert van Eeden, Mathieu Decottignies (FRA), Ryan Gosling, Chad Evans, Ross Callaghan, Darin de Smidt, Werner Ferreira, Le Riche Ehlers, Delin Erasmus, Jaco Prinsloo, Graham van den Berg
76 Arthur Horne, Terence Boardman, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, John Ferreira, Nj Arnoldi, Matt Sheehan (ENG), Mark Mahoney, Oswin Schlenkrich, Jean-claude van Dommelen, Arnand Abbas (FRA), Leonard Loxton, Tyran van Lieshout, Justin Turner
77 Paul Shields (SCO), Conway Kunneke, Jarred Miltz, Andre Nel, Christiaan van der Merwe, Hugo Delport, Stefan Rall, Darryn Myers, Sipho Bujela, Mitchell Kock, Werner Theart
78 Gareth Petler, Rae Mackie, Terence Salo, Coert Groenewald, MG Keyser, Sheldon Steyn, Kobie Hugo, Pierre Viviers, Aubrey Beckley
79 Jacques Prinsloo, Jean-Ppaul Strydom, Max Smith (ENG), Jared Burnard, Elton James, Dylan Raubenheimer, Brent Edgar, Thys Swart, Nic Elliot (ENG), Francois Kruger, Wicus Bezuidenhout, Bryce McCabe
80 Andrew Light, Matthew Sutherland, Thinus Breytenbach, Jordan Prytz, Ruan Huysamen (NAM), Burger Heckroodt, Cj du Plessis
81 Jason Alexandre, Corne van Deventer, David Watts, Tristen Strydom, Pieter Cooper, Shaun Reynolds, Hilton Hughes, Michael Dixon
82 Giorgio de Fillippi (ITA), Aneurin Gounden, Dewald Keys
83 Armandt Scholtz
84 Breyten Meyer, Wade Jacobs
88 Niel Meyer