Chandni Canan BauerJacques Blaauw already knew he could play this tournament. Finishing runner-up at the Limpopo Championship in 2024 had rather settled that particular argument.
What he needed on Thursday was something slightly different: fewer arguments with himself.
A six-under-par 66 gave Blaauw a one-shot lead over Cole Stevens after the opening round, achieved without a single bogey and, perhaps more importantly, without much of the second-guessing that he believes has complicated matters in the past.
“This is a tournament I like. I really enjoy the challenging course and I’m looking forward to the next couple of days,” said Blaauw.
Blaauw’s 66 came without a bogey
There was very little untidiness about the opening round.
Blaauw kept his card clean, controlled the golf ball and found enough on the greens to move to six under. On a course he considers demanding, that combination left him exactly where he wanted to be.
“A bogey-free opening round around this course is always a nice one to have. I’m very happy with my game, swung the clubs well and was in control of the golf ball. I also putted very well. I didn’t make any mistakes so I am very happy with how I played.”
There are plenty of ways to compile a 66, some considerably more stressful than others. This one appears to have been built largely on refusing to create unnecessary trouble.
For Blaauw, though, the technical side was only half the story.
A promise not to get in his own way
Golfers frequently talk about taking things one shot at a time, largely because the alternative — contemplating the entire ridiculous business at once — can become rather exhausting.
Blaauw’s version this week is more deliberate.
“But I also made a little promise to myself that I’m not going get in my own way this week. Mentally I need to get stronger in that aspect, so it will be a shot at a time and a swing at a time, and thinking where and what I want to do, then executing it.”
That change in approach has been prompted by something Blaauw recognises in his own game: indecision.
“I’ve second-guessed myself way too many times and I think that got me in the past. So this week it’s kind of a new outlook, and so far so good,” Blaauw said.
One round does not establish whether the adjustment will survive the more awkward moments still to come. It did, however, produce exactly the sort of opening round from which a tournament can be properly constructed.
Cole Stevens keeps Blaauw within sight
Blaauw will hardly be permitted to wander away unnoticed.
Cole Stevens sits only one shot behind and arrives among the newer names making themselves increasingly difficult to ignore. Stevens has climbed to third in the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings, giving the leader an immediate challenger with his own reasons to make the week count.
German rookie Morris Schiefner is also well positioned after an opening 68.
The contrast is an interesting one: the experienced Blaauw, trying to simplify the mental side of a game he knows intimately, with newer players already gathering behind him.
Experience may tell you where the trouble lives. Youth occasionally has the advantage of not yet having been introduced to all of it.
Blaauw refuses to get carried away
Having finished second here in 2024, Blaauw has enough recent evidence to know that Thursday is merely permission to remain interested.
“It’s still a long way to go,” he said.
“On day one you can play yourself out of a tournament, but you can also never win a tournament on day one. I have placed myself in a good position and obviously want to build on it.”
That is the sensible view after 18 holes. A one-shot lead is useful, not decisive, and the field behind him has hardly disappeared.
Still, there was something encouragingly uncomplicated about Blaauw’s first day: six under, no bogeys and, for once, no obvious desire to debate every decision with himself.
For a golfer attempting to stay out of his own way, that is a perfectly good place to begin.
