Upton leads Classic, but Dube’s hole-in-one steals show

Though he trailed Gregg Upton by one shot, Kenneth Dube stole the show on the opening day of the Nelson Mandela Bay Classic golf tournament when he aced the par-three 12th hole at Humewood in Gqeberha on Wednesday.

Extremely rare for most golfers, this was the 54-year-old Dube’s 14th hole-in-one and propelled him to near the top of the leader board in the first round of the Sunshine Senior Tour event, being held for the fourth time in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Upton made the early running with an excellent round of 68 in breezy conditions, while Dube shared second place with the evergreen Chris Williams, who had some frustrating moments but in the end was satisfied with his opening three-under-par 69.

“At my age [65], any time I break par, I’m happy with it,” the player who won the inaugural Classic title in 2021 quipped.

Dube, though, took centre stage with his wedge shot at the 12th, which he felt he had “hit too fat and it wouldn’t make it”.

“I thought it was going to be short and I said that to [playing partner] Bobby Lincoln, but he said ‘no, it’s looking great’.

“And then we just watched as the ball rolled across the green and into the hole, which is always a fantastic feeling,” Dube said.

The resulting eagle was part of a fabulous back nine, which he played first, for the senior professional as he also shot four birdies, slightly spoilt by one bogey, to go five-under at the turn.

He then found the going a little tougher on the front nine as the wind picked up somewhat and his progress was stunted by four bogeys in six holes before he retrieved the situation with birdies at Nos 7 and 9.

“I am absolutely OK with the round,” Dube said, “and I really enjoyed my opening nine.

“When it came to the front nine, I dropped some shots and struggled a bit to keep my head together.

“But I finished with two birdies, so I am happy with the round.”

Upton shrugged off a slightly sluggish start when he bogeyed the second and fourth holes, but got his round going with an eagle at the par-five seventh, and then had four more birdies to lead the field.

But, as Williams and Dube said, there is still a long way to go and it will be a case of avoiding any major chaos over the next two days.

Williams missed a few shortish putts, but was encouraged with his round, especially when the westerly blew after they had spent the practice rounds playing into an easterly.

“It was almost a different course today, but I think with the wind out there, three-under was a decent score,” he said.

“I had some really good putts on the back nine that didn’t drop, but it was nice to finish with a birdie with a bit of a lucky break when my approach on the ninth hit the pin.

“But I also missed a few short putts, so the wheel turns in this game.”

Tour newcomer Andrew McLardy overcame an opening bogey with three birdies to shoot a two-under-70, along with Zimbabwean Davison Elijah.

They were followed on one-under by a group of five players — Doug McGuigan, Grant Muller, Brett Liddle, Bobby Lincoln and Paul Marks.