Print article   email story

BAD weather has led to the cancellation of play during the second day (on Tuesday) of the Nedbank SA Disabled Golf Open.

High winds blowing at close to 100 kilometres per hour and heavy rain have halted play and forced the event, hosted by the Erinvale Golf Club in the Western Cape, to be postponed until Wednesday. The club is situated along the Helderberg basin in the heart of the Cape Winelands.

Tournament director and CEO of the South African Disabled Golf Association (SADGA) Eugene Vorster said that the weather conditions had rendered the course too dangerous to negotiate.

"It was never an easy decision to make especially given that our field consists of players from all over the country as well as 11 international stars from Europe," said Vorster.

He said the tournament, held at the Western Cape club for the second year in a row, will now be reduced to a 36 hole competition instead of the initial 54.

A Pretoria player, Iglin Grobbelaar, has taken the lead on the first day of the tournament.

Grobbelaar took charge of pole position ahead of last years' winner Mick Horsley and six time former champion Ben van Zyl.

In a round that saw the top leaderboard change hands four times, the 21-year-old clocked out a total first round score of (80).

Grobbelaar is one shot ahead of Horsely and Van Zyl who are tied at (81) with KwaZulu-Natal's Robin Singh.

Grobbelaar fractured his neck during a cycling accident in 1998.

He was left with severe spasticity on his left side and turned to golf as a form of rehabilitation.

Last year Grobbelaar came from behind in the final round to finish second, four shots behind the ultimate winner Horsely.

He is still hunting for his maiden golf title.

Subscribe to the print edition of City Press