Patience pays off for leader Schietekat

It was a bogey-free day for Neil Schietekat (right) as he carded a five-under-par 67 yesterday to take the first-round lead in the Sunshine Tour’s Tour Championship at Serengeti Estates.

He started with three birdies in his first six holes, and then waited patiently until the 16th and 17th for his next two, as he took a onestroke lead over Darren Fichardt and Dean Burmester. Jbe Kruger and Justin Harding were one shot back on three-under.

“I played the patience game out there,” said Schietekat. “I made a couple of putts early on and I hit it really close for about five or six holes for no reward. But I just kept knocking and the putts are eventually going to fall.”

It was a good start for Schi- etekat in a field which features 14 Sunshine Tour winners from the 2017/18 season. The R1.5-million tournament closes off the season, and 42 of the 50 leading players on the Order of Merit are playing.

Unlike Schietekat, Fichardt and Burmester had to fight off the effects of dropped shots.

Fichardt made a triple-bogey on the par-four sixth, and dropped another shot on the 14th, but countered with eight birdies.

Burmester had to battle effects of a stomach bug which gave him little sleep the night before, and he made three bogeys on his way around Serengeti. But a run of four consecutive birdies around the turn – from 18 to the third after he started on 10 – kept him in contention. – Own Correspondent