BELA-BELA, Limpopo – Having his wife as his caddie is clearly working for Altin van der Merwe as he paid tribute to her for his opening six-under-par 66 to lead the first round of the SDC Open by a single stroke at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa on Thursday.
“My wife left her job in teaching to come and caddie for me and I’m very happy,” said Van Der Merwe after a round in which he didn’t drop a single shot. His nearest challengers are Nikhil Rama, Rupert Kaminski and Calum Fyfe who signed for rounds of 67.
Van Der Merwe said he hadn’t intended to play as aggressively as he did on Thursday, but that when his wife Minette – herself an accomplished golfer – told him to take driver or go for a particular flag, he followed her advice.
“She used to be almost a scratch golfer but she gave up on the dream and decided to help me, which she says it just as much fun for her. She’s that extra support on the bag for me. It’s nice that we’re both mentally engaged and involved in the tournament. She’s also like a psychologist on the course. We get along so well. We’re like friends out there,” he said.
Van Der Merwe, one of GolfRSA’s top amateurs before turning professional last year, is still a rookie on the Sunshine Tour but has already been in contention a few times and has three top-10s this season. This week’s tournament – co-sanctioned with the HotelPlanner Tour (formerly European Challenge Tour) – offers an incredible opportunity for him to fully capitalise on this kind of start.
“I just got into this tournament so I’m very proud to play here. My preparation was intense and I’m taking everything very seriously this week, and for the rest of our season. I just want to build on this for the next few weeks and climb our Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy. I’d like to finish in the top 50 or 25 at the end of the season.”
He’s also relishing testing his game against the European professionals this week.
“It’s great to have the players from the HotelPlanner Tour here. I played with Adri Arnaus and you only see good golf shots. He’s just so professional in every manner of the game, and it’s great to watch. There’s still a lot of golf to play this week and anything can happen. I’m definitely eager to win. But whereas as an amateur good golf gets you a win, as a pro, good golf just puts you amongst the top 20. So you really need something extra out here.” – Michael Vlismas
