Kok leads with 64 at Big Easy Tour event at Services Golf Club

Kok leads with 64 at BET event

JOHANNESBURG, October 20 (ANA) – Dylan Kok made a flawless start in the first event of the new Big Easy Tour season, as his bogey-free eight-under 64 handed him a one-shot lead in the Big Easy Tour Road To #1 at Services Golf Club on Monday.

With Vaughn Van Deventer leading in the clubhouse at seven-under-par, Kok was inspired and was four-under and bogey-free on the front nine, thanks to birdies on the first, the third, seventh and ninth holes.

He would have to wait for three more holes for any more birdies but the patience proved to be key because Kok would make gains again, picking up an important birdie on the par-four 13th. A par on 14 was followed by a game-changing par-save on the par-three 13th hole before Kok made a hat-trick of birdies to close off in style.

“I started well,” Kok admitted, “but I missed a few putts here and there but on number seven I made a very nice putt for birdie, a good up-and-down on 10 to keep the momentum going and it was nice to finish with three birdies back-to-back.

“The course is fairly easy but you still need to play your shots. It helps to keep it on the short grass because you will give yourself opportunities. For me, finding fairways and making a few putts really helped.”

Van Deventer – following an eventful seven-under 65 opening round which consisted of seven birdies, an eagle and two bogeys – ties the second spot with amateur Ryan Van Velzen and they trail by just a single shot.

This season, the Big Easy Tour Road To has introduced a major change which allows for the amateurs to now compete for the six Sunshine Tour cards available for the 2022 season.

Players will now receive points on the Order of Merit and the reasoning behind that decision is that the IGT Tour has observed in the past a trend where amateurs changed their statuses to compete for the cards.

Christiaan Maas, an amateur himself and a recent winner on the IGT Tour is in a five-way share of the fourth spot at six-under-par while Karabo Mokoena’s five-under-par 67 opening round sees him occupying ninth after day one. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman