Rowan Lester got off to a solid start in his Sunshine Tour season debut last week, and the Hermitage man is up and running nicely again on start number two and sits inside the top 10 after 18 holes.
Playing in the penultimate group of the 10th in round one of the Kit Kat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at Irene Country Club in the Pretorian suburbs, it was a steady start for Lester who opened with four pars before making his first birdie of the day on 14 but gave that shot back on the next. Another birdie on the par-5 17th got him into red figures at the turn, and he kept his card clean on the front with back-to-back birdies on one and two getting him to -3.
His momentum stalled a little, but he managed to avoid dropping any shots before he closed out the round with his fifth birdie on the par-5 ninth, lifting him into a share of seventh place.
Liam Grehan, who had to return to Sunshine Tour Q-School to secure his playing rights, looks set for a battle with the cutline in round two. The Mullingar native sits tied for 83rd and it was a mixed bag on day one.
He birdied the 10th – his first – but bogeyed four of the final five holes on the way out to turn at +3. Four birdies and two bogeys over the first eight holes on the front nine got him back to +1 with a par-5 to come, but he closed out with a bogey that leaves him three shots off the projected cutline.
South African Gerhard Pepler is the man they all have to catch. The four-time Big Easy Tour winner has claimed just one victory on the Sunshine Tour, but seven birdies and an eagle resulted in a bogey-free nine-under 63 that gives him a three-stroke lead over Welshman Jack Davidson and another South African in Tyrone Ryan.
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