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Greene leads by three strokes at Humewood
Daniel Greene produced his best round in a tournament as a professional and carded a 10-under-par 62 to take a three-stroke lead in the first round of the Vodacom Business Origins of Golf event at Humewood Golf Club in the Eastern Cape.
His previous best was a seven-under-par 65 in the final round of the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt, where he finished third.
It was also the best round ever played at Humewood -- the best prior to his mark was the 64 by Jeff Hawkes in 1981 and Chris Moody in 1994, and the 65 on the new course by Trevor Immelman -- but it won’t stand as a coursed record as there were preferred lies.
Greene, a Sunshine Tour rookie, has only ever played one other links course -- The Links at Fancourt -- but he took to the conditions very well, and was impressive as the wind built up to a stiff breeze in the evening.
“It’s only the second time I have played Humewood,” he said, “but if I get a good start, then everything get a bit more positive.”
He leads from three experienced players who did not put a foot wrong, and, at seven-under, find themselves well adrift and wondering what it will take to hunt him down.
Jean Hugo, Ulrich van den Berg and Adilson Da Silva have won 18 tournaments between them, which is more than the total number Greene has played.
Hugo and Van den Berg each made seven birdies in a pair of flawless rounds played in each other’s company, while Da Silva made three birdies and two eagles.
None of that was enough to head Greene, who made his start on the 10th: “I had a good start with birdies on my first three holes,” he said. “And then, I just held it together and chipped it in for eagle on the 15th, or my sixth and before I knew it I was seven-under on my front nine.”
He sank a 40-footer from just off the green on his 10th hole, the first, and then his real touch was exhibited as the wind picked up and he kept himself in the hunt for birdies by playing smart golf. “I just made par-par-par-par, and that’s all I wanted,” he said.
But he made a nice 12-footer for birdie on the 130-metre 6th and really leapt at his tee shot on the 525-metre 7th which was playing downwind, and made another birdie there.
He was 12 metres off the green on the eighth, but used putter and very nearly holed his third shot on his way to a really good par after his drive had gone right and his approach was also short and right.
One of the keys to his round that he was very long off the tee. “I’ve been struggling a bit with the driver, but it started coming right,” he said. “But as Louis Oosthuizen said, if you’re feeling a little bit nervous, just hit it as hard as you can.”
Now, he’s hoping for calm conditions for his early tee-off in the second round. “I want another good score and then see if anyone can chase me down,” he grinned.
