Categories: Sport

Rhys West takes qualifying route to Arabella lead

West shared the lead with Trevor Fisher Jnr, Jacques Blaauw and PH McIntyre, a shot clear of three players – Jean Hugo, Chris Swanepoel, and Adilson da Silva – on four-under-par 68.

West had to qualify for a number of events this season, including this tournament, and said the experience helped his play.

“Having to qualify teaches you to go low,” West told sunshinetour.com after his round.

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“In my amateur career, and when I started as a pro, I tried to protect myself against par, and in qualifiers you’ve got to go under par or you’re not going to be playing – so I’d say it’s taught me to go low.”

West topped the qualifier for this tournament with a six-under-par 66, and while he took one stroke more in the opening round, it was bogey-free.

“The course is playing soft,” said West.

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“So the ball just stays where it lands. That makes the fairways and the landing areas a lot easier to hit. And I think driving’s very important around here, so if you can just get it in the fairway, it’s a lot easier to score.”

For West, the difficulty of having to routinely qualify had been useful. “In my practice round, I thought it was a really tough golf course,” said West.

“But then I drove it better in the qualifying round, and I saw that there are a lot of scoring holes out there if you get it off the tee box well.”

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By Citizen Reporter
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