Young and Mcdonald get off to strong starts in Cape Town Open
A tight tree-lined test brought out the best in both Daniel Young and Jack Mcdonald as the Scottish duo produced promising starts in the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open, the second event of the new Challenge Tour season.
“The fairways are a bit more narrow than we are probably used to,” observed Young of the Royal Cape Golf Club test as he reflected on an opening fiveunder-par 67 that contained eight birdies.
The effort, which left him just one off the lead, which is shared by England’s Bradley Bawden and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, came on the back of the Perth man starting the new campaign by finishing just outside the top 20 in last week’s season-opener in Limpopo.
“I played really nicely,” added Young. “I had a couple of sloppy bogeys but, overall, it was a good day. I took advantage of the par-5 seventh then hit a couple of really nice approach shots into eight and nine so managed to kind of kick-start my round in the middle.”
Mcdonald was also pleased with his four-under 68, two less than fellow Kilmarnock (Barassie) man Euan Walker signed for in his first round of the season. “I got off to quite a fast start, holing a couple of pretty long putts,” said Mcdonald. “I then felt I didn’t quite get the par-5s on the way in, but it was good and I played solid enough.”
As for that test, he added: “You need to hit fairways as the greens are starting to get quite firm. If you are able to hit fairways, then you are flying. The other key is not short-siding yourself as it’s quite tough to get to some of the flags. It’s the first time I’ve played here and It’s a great golf course.”
On the DP World Tour, Stephen Gallacher and Ewen Ferguson signed for matching two-under 70s as China’s Ashun Wu and South African Zander Lombard both shot 67s to set the pace in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Meanwhile, Laura Beveridge opened the new LET campaign with a battling two-over 75 but Kelsey macdonald had to settle for an 82 in the Magical Kenya Ladies Open at Vipingo Ridge.