Beau Champ, Mauritius: Australian Andrew Dodt set the early pace at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, shooting an impressive six-under-par 66 under windy conditions for the clubhouse lead in the opening round on Thursday.
Dodt, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, fired one eagle and six birdies against two bogeys to hold a two-shot advantage over Rashid Khan of India at the €1 million (approximately US$1.09 million) event staged at the Four Seasons Golf Club Mauritius in Anahita.
Thailand’s Natipong Srithong and Jbe Kruger of South Africa trailed by four shots while defending champion George Coetzee, also of South Africa, signed for a 71 at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, which is the first tri-sanctioned event by the Asian, European and Sunshine Tours.
“It’s not easy out there. If you’re off by just a little bit, it gets magnified by the wind. I played really solid. I didn’t make many mistakes and the momentum of the round just kept flowing,” said the 30-year-old Dodt.
Dodt fired two straight birdies starting from the 10th before dropping a shot on 14. He bounced back strongly with a birdie on the next and an eagle on the 18 to turn in four-under. He stumbled with another bogey on the second but recovered with three birdies on his way home.
“Knocking those six-footers in for par just keeps the momentum going. I didn’t hit a good shot into the tenth, but managed to chip in for birdie and that kept the round going. Then on 11, I went in the fairway bunker and hit a seven iron out to about two feet. I hit an eight iron from 96 metres at one stage. I haven’t done that before.
“This course can bite you at any stage, so there’s a long way to go and a lot of golf to be played. You just try and stay in there and hang tough. You have to stay patient and limit the mistakes,” added Dodt.
Two-time Asian Tour winner Khan surprised even himself after returning with an encouraging round courtesy of his solid drive and hot putter.
“It was really windy when I played my practice rounds earlier this week and I wasn’t expecting to shoot a good round when I started out today. I played really well. I started well and that gave me some confidence,” said the 25-year-old, who marked his card with seven birdies against three bogeys.
“I hit the ball really good and I was able to find the greens and holed some putts today. I holed a 50-footer downhill left to right for birdie on the eighth. That was probably the highlight for me today. It’s going to be the same game plan for me tomorrow. Nothing changes,” added Khan.
