Jarvis and Maas lead amateur challenge in SA Open
The South African number one broke a string of pars on the front nine with his only birdie of the day on the ninth, and gave two shots back coming home on the sixth and seventh holes.
Reigning SA amateur champion Casey Jarvis and in-form Christiaan Maas laid down early markers in the hunt for the prestigious Freddie Tait Cup on day one of the South African Open Championship at Sun City.
Both GolfRSA national squad players opened with rounds of one-over-par 73 on Thursday to tie for 47th, six shots behind the six-pack that share the lead at the Gary Player Country Club.
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Next best was fellow squad members Yurav Premlall and Kyle de Beer on three-over.
Southern Cape pair Christo Lamprecht and Jordan Duminy matched each other with 76, the 2020 SA Amateur Proudfoot Trophy recipient, Sam Simpson, clocked a 78 and University of South Florida student Massimo Mbetse closed out the amateur leaderboard on eight-over.
Jarvis had the benefit of an early start on the 10th tee, but the added pressure of two pretty high profile playing partners.
The reigning SA amateur champion historically has the privilege of playing with the defending champion over the first two rounds in the SA Open.
Jarvis was initially disappointed to learn that Branden Grace would be competing on the PGA Tour, and not make the trip to South Africa.
In the end, he was paired with two of the first-round pacesetters – 25-year-old European Tour campaigner Matthias Schwab from Austria and 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
“I had such a great time playing with them and I learnt so much. It was probably a lot less nerve-wracking than it would have been playing with Grace,” said the 17-year-old.
The South African number one broke a string of pars on the front nine with his only birdie of the day on the ninth, and gave two shots back, coming home on the sixth and seventh holes.
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“I hit the ball tremendously well and I hit a lot of greens. I missed a few greens but chipped it nicely, but I just really struggled on the greens.
“I didn’t hole anything. I three-putted 11 and seven and even two-putted for the birdie on nine. Chris and Matthias putted so well.
“It was such a great learning experience for me; I definitely know that I still have a lot of work to do to get to that level.”
An honest assessment from Jarvis, who made international headlines in February when he eclipsed a 51-year-old record held by Dale Hayes to win the 2020 SA Stroke Play Championship by nine shots on 25-under 263 at Randpark and routed Scotland’s James Wilson seven and six in the 36-hole final of the SA Amateur on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to claim the rare calendar double.
“I experienced it at Leopard Creek last week; the pros play on a whole other level. I never felt out of place during the round, like I didn’t belong there, but you can see the difference their experience makes on a course like this.
“It was great having my dad on the bag, especially for the first day. Hopefully, we have a better putting day on Friday.”
Amateur’s leaderboard
• T47 Casey Jarvis 73; Christiaan Maas 73
• T75 Yurav Premlall 75; Kyle de Beer 75
• T94 Christo Lamprecht 76; Jordan Duminy 76
• T121 Sam Simpson 78
• T139 Massimo Mbetse 80
