David Watts in Action during round one of the Cape Town Disabled Golf Open hosted by The City of Cape Town at King David Mowbray Golf Club Photo: Nic Bothma/ Matrix Images
King David Mowbray Golf Club, 12 November 2023: A quartet of golfers across the four SADGA divisions stamped their authority on the Cape Town Disabled Golf Open hosted by The City of Cape Town at King David Mowbray Golf Club on Sunday.
The Cape Town Disabled Open has grown in stature and significance since the inaugural playing back in 2021, attracting a high-quality field yearly.
The beginning to the 2023 edition was brilliant, with a number of players highlighting their title credentials.
While there was quality golf played throughout, two familiar names found themselves atop the leaderboard of their respective divisions come round’s end, David Watts (Physically-Disabled Medal) and Charles Williams (Deaf Medal).
David Watts began his round with four successive pars before the first red number of the day on the 5th. Though bogeys at 6 and 7 followed, Watts turned in a rock-solid one over 37 on a windy afternoon.
The inward half was even steadier, a birdie-3 at the 12th complementing eight pars, which saw Watts end the day in the ascendancy.
It was tricky out there today; it was very windy from start to finish. The wind was sweeping across many of the holes, which is tough to play in so it was just about putting yourself in the right spots, missing in the right areas, which I did very well,” Watts said.
“I made a few nice putts to keep the momentum going during the road and avoided big trouble. I played solidly and am very happy with my playing in those conditions.
For Watts, the recipe for final-round success will be keeping his eyes trained on the course before him rather than the other golfers around him.
“The final round will be about playing the course, seeing what you can do, and not worrying about anybody else.
Steenkamp storms to Physically-Disabled Stableford Lead
Roux Steenkamp scored 41 points to lead the Physically Disabled Stableford division by two points from Jimmy Semenye.
Steenkamp made a flying start to his round, carding a par for four points before back-to-back three-pointers at the 12th and 13th. Further three-pointers at the 17th and 18th saw the arm-amputee from Carnarvon in the Northern Cape turn with 21 points to his credit.
Also to his credit was the fact that he maintained the momentum on his second nine. Three-pointers highlighted twenty-second-nine points at the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 8th. A two-pointer at the tough par-5 9th, his fourth score of the day, punctuated a superb opening round.
With Tshwane Disabled Open winner Semenye lurking two points adrift and Garrett Slattery a further two points behind, Roux will have to play superb golf once again if he is to emerge victorious.
Williams holds a three-shot Deaf Medal lead.
King David Mowbray Golf Club member, Deaflympian and First Swing Program coach Charles Williams put his local knowledge to good use as he signed for a round of eight-over par and a three-shot lead over Jay-Jay Botha.
Williams made a horror start by his high standards, opening with a triple-bogey eight at the 10th hole. He knuckled down after that with five pars on the bounce. A second triple-bogey at the 16th halted his consolidation effort, and two further bogeys before the turn meant he carded 44 over his first nine.
A birdie-3 at the 1st was a welcome tonic and preceded a rock-solid end to his round, eight successive pars translating to a round of 8-over par 80.
“I’m happy with the character I showed today. I made a difficult start but am proud of how I fought back, and I hope I showed the children I coach that you must never give up during a round and keep on fighting!”
Of his pre-round prep for the final round, Williams hopes that a sweet beginning will ensure a sweet ending!
“I plan to eat a few chocolates before the round tomorrow, and maybe for every chocolate I eat, I’ll make a birdie and end the day with the trophy!”
Kroti cruises to Deaf Stableford lead.
After day one, Zubenathi Kroti added some welcome female flavour to the pole positions, carding a round of 38 points to lead the Deaf Stableford by four points over Aiden Asia.
Kroti’s talent has been a known quantity for some time and was reinforced on a day which saw her card 19 first-nine points, the highlights of which were a four-pointer at the 12th sandwiched between three-pointers at the 11th and 13th.
An equally steady second-nine followed courtesy of a hat-trick of three-pointers from the 2nd before Kroti punctuated a fantastic day with yet another three-pointer at the 9th, which allowed her the luxury of a decent lead over fellow former Mary Kihn School pupil Aiden Asia, the pair’s performance highlighting once again the depth of talent within the First Swing Program.
