Tandi McCallum makes an early move in Cape Town Ladies Open

Johannesburg - Former South African Women’s Open champion Tandi McCallum battled strong winds and a steady drizzle to open up a one-shot lead on day one of the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open on Wednesday.

With the course playing tough and longer in the adverse conditions, the Gauteng golfer might have been in for a long day after a bogey, bogey start, but McCallum managed to turn things around.

She responded with six birdies to hit the front with a one-under-par 73 and was the only player to break par in the opening round.

Nicole Garcia and England’s Thalia Martin share second on level par, with Lejan Lewthwaite – fresh off her victory in the Vodacom Origins of Series Final at Sun City – a further stroke back in fourth.

After finishing with back-to-back bogeys, McCallum was pleasantly surprised to find herself leading the season-opener of the ninth Sunshine Ladies Tour season.

“It’s definitely more than I expected, given the conditions. I just wanted to put a decent score together to get into contention, so really pleased with the outcome,” she said.

“We’ve played the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open here at Royal Cape six out of seven times, so I’ve pretty much worked out where I can score, but today I had to adjust my strategy completely with the strong North Westerly.

“It was like a reverse strategy. Holes that are usually reachable were totally out of reach and I had to adapt by going for birdies on the holes where I would normally play for par. I just tried to minimize the bogeys before the final stretch, because I knew that would be tough.”

And with 36 holes to go, don’t count out last year’s top golfer Lee-Anne Pace.

The reigning South African Women’s Open champion – chasing her fourth title in this event – finished the day just four strokes off the pace in joint fifth alongside former winner Stacy Bregman and rising stars Zethu Myeki and Nadia van der Westhuizen.

Southern Cape’s Kim de Klerk, a regular campaigner on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, leads the amateur challenge at Royal Cape. De Klerk opened with a four-over 78 to join last year’s runner-up Cara Gorlei, Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen and multiple winner Kim Williams in a tie for ninth.

First round scores:

73 - Tandi McCallum

74 - Nicole Garcia, Thalia Martin (ENG)

76 - Lejan Lewthwaite

77 - Nadia van der Westhuizen, Zethu Myeki, Lee-Anne Pace, Stacy Bregman

78 - Kim de Klerk (a), Cara Gorlei, Maiken Bing Paulsen (NOR), Kim Williams

79 - Jane Turner (SCO), Ivanna Samu

80 - Kelsey Nicholas, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM), Tara Griebenow, Julie Berton (FRA)

81 - Lora Assad, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA), Isabella van Rooyen (a), Lindi Coetzee

82 - Florentyna Parker (ENG), Larissa Du Preez, Brittney-Fay Berger, Shawnelle de Lange

83 - Leontine Petit (a), Yolanda Duma, Kirsty Mitchell (SCO), Marion Duvernay (FRA), Cassidy Williams

84 - Nina Grey (a)