Scotland’s Connor Syme admitted he felt right at home battling the breezy conditions posting a four-under 68 on the opening day of the inaugural co-sanctioned SDC Championship at Eastern Cape in South Africa.
Syme, 27, posted seven birdies to be lying third and just a shot behind the leading duo of Frenchman David Ravetto and Norwegian Kristian Krogh Johannessen, and one of just a few players not to drop a shot in the tough conditions.
The host St. Francis Links course is located at the southern tip of South Africa, and close to famed surfing beaches at Cape St. Francis and made famous by the 1963 movie ‘The Endless Summer’.
Connor Syme feeling right at home on this week’s SDC Championship course at Eastern Cape in South Africa
Not that Syme’s into surfing but given this week’s host venue is nearly 9,000 miles from his beloved Drumoig, the affable Scot was feeling very comfortable riding the fairways and greens of the Jack Nicklaus designed lay-out.
Syme said: “It was very challenging out there and with a lot of tees moved forward to make it a bit more playable for us, but it was tough as you had to keep your ball flight down.
“I used my experience playing golf in Scotland out there as there a lot of hitting low drivers and some shots into the wind, and while a few mistakes overall there was a lot of good birdies out there.
“I drove the ball nicely and that’s really the main challenge of this golf course, as the fairways are generous enough but if you miss them you’re absolutely screwed.
“It’s a good golf course and I had chatted with a lot of the South African guys as what would expect coming down here. It’s a really cool part of the world and while I can’t believe how south we are, it’s an amazing spot with shops and restaurants down along the canals down here, so what is there not to like?”
Syme, and still chasing a maiden DP World Tour title in this week’s 120th start, first visited nearby Port Elizabeth (now named Gqeberha) nearly a decade ago.
He said: “I was amateur, around 18 in first travelling to this part of South Africa with the Scottish squad and now aged 27, so it’s been a long time.
“It’s a great region, and clearly with the wind and stuff, and despite being such a long way from home, it still feels close”.
Aberdonian David Law bounced back from a double-bogey early in his round to birdie his closing two holes in a 71.
Richie Ramsay, who withdrew with food poisoning after just one last week in Kenya, birdied his opening two holes but bogeyed his last two in a 73.
OTHER SCOTS …
Ewen Ferguson – 72
Callum Hill – 76
