SOUTH Africa-based Zimbabwean golfer, Greg Bentley opened a three-shot lead in the inaugural Revitalisation of HIV and Cancer Prevention Pro-Am Golf Tournament, after carding an opening round of four-under-par 68 at Royal Harare Golf Club yesterday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Bentley, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Sunday, was in superb form, as he put himself in a strong position to claim the coveted title in the country’s second richest golf tourney which carries a lucrative prize fund of $30 000.
“I felt like I played solid today, I learnt a lot about how to play this course when I played the (Golden Pilsener) Zimbabwe Open earlier in the year.
“You can’t attack this golf course, you have to know where to place the ball, hitting it long off the tee or going for the flag on approach shots is not always the correct play,” he said after his round.
The talented player, who represents The Brooke Golf Club (formerly Borrowdale Brooke Golf Club), feels consistency and good course management will be key in doing well at Royal Harare, although he is wary of getting ahead of himself.
“Royal Harare is the type of course where course management is key and I felt like I had a solid game plan today and I stuck to it and it paid off today.
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“I don’t have any expectations going into the rest of the tournament, golf is a very unpredictable game, you have no control over what may happen. I feel like I have put in a lot of hard work over the last few years that is starting to bear fruit slowly, so I just need to keep doing what I’m doing and leave the rest up to fate,” he said.
Bentley will head into today’s second round with a healthy lead, ahead of the pair of Stephen Ferreira and Tongo Charamba, who both carded identical rounds of one-under-par 71.
South Africa-based Ryan Cairns opened with a level-par round of 72, which leaves him in a tie for third place with fellow Sunshine Tour player, Mark Williams, Nickson Masunga and Elephant Hills Golf Club resident professional, Thembelani Vundla.
Ferreira is one of the in-form players in the field after finishing in a tie for seventh position at the Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge in Durban last week, while Williams is the highest-placed Zimbabwean golfer on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit Standings.
A strong field of 60 local professionals are taking part in the Zimbabwe Professional Golfers Association Tour event, which seeks to give local players exposure to competitive golf.
The top 20 players after today’s second round will make the cut into the final round.
