The 46-year-old RAW Academy co-owner was the only player to dip below par on a blustery day at the challenging layout as he opened up a three shot lead over Carrie Park, Thabang Simon and amateur Fanie Wolmarans with an imposing three-under-par 67.
“I told the guys this morning they better watch out, because last time I played for myself, but this time I’m playing for Bolt,” said Druian.
“Our puppy got run over six weeks ago and had his leg broken. A win here this week will go a long way to settling the vet’s bill. I’m just glad that Ockie Strydom sat this week out. I might actually have a chance to win this.
“A three-shot cushion is great so early in the tournament, but there are some strong players in the field this week. It’s going to take all my experience and little luck to take it all the way.”
Lady Luck sure was smiling on Druian as he finished what he described as “not a very pretty round”.
“It really was blowing a gale out there, like playing at the coast, and the course is still running quite hard,” Druian said. “The greens are very fast and true, but if you miss the greens, you can make big numbers very quickly.
“I hit a couple of fantastic approaches in the wind, and I used the holes that played with the wind to my advantage, but I also hit some loose shots that cost me. Luckily, I caught a few breaks at the end of my round, too.
“The first three holes are into the wind and I made a great birdie at the third, but at the fourth into the wind, I hit it in the hazard and made a great up-and-down for a bogey. Capitalised on the wind against at the par five fifth and hit an eight-iron to three feet and made the birdie putt.
“At the eighth, I hit another solid approach to birdie distance and made the putt, but gave the shot back at the ninth to turn one under. I made a great par-save at 10, two solid pars into the wind at 11 and 12 and another par at 13 to keep the momentum going. Hit it to an inch at 14, almost a hole-in-one, and I hit a great eight-iron to 12 feet and holed the birdie putt to get to three under.”
Skill and experience carried him through 15 holes, but Lady Luck also played her part over the closing stretch.
“I hit the most terrible shot at 16, an ugly pull that should have been a bogey at the least, but I scrambled really well to save par,” he said. “At the short hole, I hit it well over the green. I was in a dreadful spot, dead behind the green, but somehow I managed to chip it to 15 feet and knocked in the par putt.
“I hit a beautiful three-iron down the fairway at 18 and I had a gap-wedge in, but I caught it fat and it flew into the water. I had to take a drop, so all I wanted was to get the chip shot as close as possible, but the ball bounced once and disappeared down the hole.
“Like I said, skill and experience definitely helped me out there, but a little luck never hurts, either.”
FIRST ROUND SCORES
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
67 - Warrick Druian
70 - Fanie Wolmarans AMA, Carrie Park, Thabang Simon
71 - Dylan Docherty, TJ Bekker
72 - Johary Raveloarison (MDG), Duane Keun, Simon Kruger, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWA), David Ashley (ENG), Eric Nel AMA, Matthew Spacey, Stefan Labuschagne AMA
73 - Ruan Potgieter AMA, Lincon Cele, Ruan Korb AMA, Conway Kunneke, Juan Swart
74 - Ryan Wingrove AMA, Jason Thalrose AMA, Michael Schutz, Andrew Carlsson AMA, Coert Groenewald, Dean O'Riley, Calvin Caldeira
75 - Shalan Govender, Clinton Grobler
76 - Leon Vorster AMA, Marc De Jager AMA, Brandon Lydon AMA, Wesley Baptiste AMA
77 - Adriel Poonan AMA, Johann Piek, Lejan Lewthwaite, Keegan Steyn AMA, Louis Botha, Francesca Cuturi
78 - Ruhan Van Dijk AMA, Craigen Clough AMA
79 - Michael Pienaar AMA, Tumie Motale, Gary Daoust (BEL), Dongkwan Kim (KOR)
80 - Walter Behr AMA, Evance Vukeya AMA, Matthew Vogel, Mohammed Ismail AMA, Bryce Myburgh, Paul De Beer
81 - Justin Turner, Werner Van Wyk
82 - Shaun van Tonder, Alex Van Heerden AMA
83 - Charles Grobler AMA
84 - Richard Tsai AMA
85 - Maverick Faber AMA (FRA), Jack Duthie AMA
86 - Heinrich Venter AMA, Phillip Montgomery
87 - NJ Van Der Walt AMA, Johan Van Der Wath
88 - Steven Herceg, Dean Schonegevel AMA
91 - Ntswelengwe Tsatsimpe AMA
96 - Jerome Van Zyl AMA
WDN - Lydon Charnley AMA
N/R - Pieter Moolman
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER.
