ST FRANCIS LINKS, Eastern Cape – Wynand Dingle plays the guitar as well as he plays golf, and the Sunshine Tour professional definitely started on a high note with his opening seven-under-par 65 to share the first round lead in the South African PGA Championship, sponsored by African Bank, at St Francis Links on Thursday.
Dingle dropped only one shot in a round that was later matched by Sunshine Tour rookie Stals Swart.
They are both two strokes clear of their nearest challengers in Estiaan Conradie, Heinrich Bruiners and JJ Senekal. Senekal finished third in this event in 2014.
It was a solid start to the championship for Dingle in particular, who grew up in the Karoo and as a 10-year-old used to carry around a piece of AstroTurf to hit golf balls off.
With one victory to his name in the 2022 Vodacom Origins of Golf San Lameer, Dingle has now given himself a perfect start to chase what would be the biggest victory of his career in South Africa’s second-oldest professional tournament.
Jaco van Zyl also made a strong start to line up potential history of his own.
Van Zyl opened with a round of four-under-par 68. The three-time winner is chasing a rare place in South African PGA Championship history. Should he win it a fourth time, he will join Harold Henning as the only other player to have done so.
George Coetzee also signed for a first round of 68 as he continues his comeback from wrist surgery. Coetzee won the second of his South African PGA Championship titles on this golf course in 2022.
Rupert Kaminski had a tough start to his title defence with an opening round of 73.
The South African PGA Championship is also proudly supported by the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency (ECPTA), the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, the Kouga Local Municipality, Momentum and Cape St Francis Resort.
