Quartet share lead at windy Prince’s Grant

Mistakes were made, but among the leading quartet there was relief that they were not too costly on day one of the Oxigen Prince’s Grant National Amateur Invitational on Monday.

The quartet of Marco Steyn, Darin de Smidt, Gregory McKay and Dean Martin came through a typically windy day on the North Coast tied for the lead with rounds of level-par 72 and one clear of the field.

While Steyn, De Smidt and McKay had the benefit of early tee-off times that saw them escape most of the wind, Martin had to play his way into the lead in the tougher afternoon conditions.

KwaZulu-Natal golfer McKay may feel he missed an opportunity against his three Central Gauteng co-leaders in terms of having the local knowledge to have led the first round.

That could easily have been the case as McKay, who teed off the tenth, was two under par with two holes to play before making bogey on both.

It was a tough finish for the golfer who won last year’s North Coast Championship on this course and who knows how important patience is around here.

“Overall I think I did well not to make any big numbers out there. When I missed I missed in all the right spots,” he said.

Steyn, the highest ranked player in the field at sixth in the country, had his patience tested when he made double-bogey on the tough par-four 13th. He was one under par at the time and managed to get back there with birdies at 14 and 15, only to bogey the 16th.

“To come back with those two birdies to finish level par for the round – I am very pleased with that,” he said.

“I kept the ball in play for most of the round. I only hit the ball in the bush once, which was on 13. But otherwise I gave myself chances. It was just a solid level-par round.”

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