ALBERTON – A flawless back nine from Mark Maart propelled him to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the Betway Big Easy Tour at Reading Country Club on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old carded a seven-under-par 64, two shots ahead of Kian Rose. Maart began his round with birdies on the third and fourth holes, reaching four-under in the first four holes. A bogey at the seventh slowed his momentum, but he steadied with pars on the next two holes.
After the turn, he found his rhythm again, rolling in three consecutive birdies from the 11th to 13th, then holing out for eagle on the par-four 17th before capping his round with a birdie at 18.
“This was just about sticking to my game plan and keeping the focus,” said Maart, a member of the Papwa Sewgolum Class. “My caddie gave me a pep talk on the last few holes, and everything came together today.”
Rose signed for a five-under 66, marred only by a triple bogey on the 15th. Order of Merit leader Joe Sullivan, Jason Froneman, and Leon Visser share third place at three-under 68.
Day one leaderboard:
- 64 – Mark Maart
- 66 – Kian Rose
- 68 – Joe Sullivan, Jason Froneman, Leon Visser
- 69 – Daniel Cronje, Ulrich van den Berg, Bradley De Beer, Steven Le Roux, Jacques Van der Merwe, Tiago Jorge Swart, Brandon-Jude Rennie, Philip Geerts, Matthew Rushton, Andrew Williamson
- 70 – Hayden Garcia, Andrew McLardy, Adam Breen, Shaunak Rama, Regan Steyn, Therion Nel, John Bele, Matt Millar
- 71 – Brandon Gildenhuys, Thabang Simon, Liam Ross, Austin Cherichella, David Amm, Reece McKain
- 72 – Sean Howell, Andre Van Zyl, Brandon Pieters, Lyle Pedro, Khaya Jika, Gary Kemp, Richard Joubert, Jaden Deltel, Matthew Dennis, Jonathan Ackerman, Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa
- 73 – Jabulane Mabilane, Keagan Crosbie, Hunter Walker, Travis Procter, Vaughn van Deventer, Drikus Joubert, Travis Ladner, Tumelo Molloyi
- 74 – Wade Jacobs, Louis Liebenberg, Dillon Germshuys, Khanya Mkhize, Oliver Goldhill, Harry Konig
- 75 – Kyle Lucas, Richard Kruger, LB Boshoff, Haydn Porteous, Jastice Mashego, Chandler Shaw
- 76 – Teboho Sefatsa, James Pennington, Matthew Bennett, Hannes Strooh, Richard Shi
- 77 – Sabelo Xolani Majola, Keelan Africa
- 78 – John Palm, Alphius Kelapile, Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko, Mandla Dlamini Jnr, Tiger Adams
- 79 – Francois van Staden, Shaheed Patel, Ace Andile Adam, Carl Mwale
- 80 – Austin Mashego, Wandre Snyman, Kael Strydom, Kian Coetzer
- 81 – Jarryd Govender, Tawriq Abrahams, Janko van der Merwe
- 82 – M-Jay Xaba, Slenda Sithebe
- 83 – Umar Davids, Lwazi Gqira
- 84 – Kyle Kistensamy
- 86 – Robert Mavundla
- RTD – Ricco Motsa
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