Cameron Van Rooyen Daily Diary: A tough day for all

Now that was not an easy opening round. The weather and especially the wind was against the golfer. Nature and the golf course were the winners for day one.

The wind was gusty and was perhaps a four-club wind at times, both into the wind as well as down wind.

Only 38, players broke par all day, for this quality of field that is not a lot.

It is heartening to see four fellow South Africans in that number with Brandon Stone in tied second place near the top of the pile.

30 year-old Brandon represented South Africa in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2012 which will be hosted at Abu Dhabi Golf Club later in the year.

In February 2017 he made his highest Official World Golf Ranking of 67.

He last got his DP World Tour card in 2015 at the Challenge Tour Grand Final at Al Mouj Golf in Oman, and he boasts three DP World Tour titles including a Rolex Series event – the 2018 Scottish Open, on his golfing CV.

I went to school with Brandon’s best man at his wedding, so I do have connections to his group around him. Brandon is currently 13th on the season long Road to Mallorca Rankings and is my tip to be one of the top 20 who, at the end of the season gain promotion to the DP World Tour.

It was interesting to check the round one course statistics.

There were only 15 eagles all day, on the 16th there were only two birdies and on the fourth the same.

Hard luck story of the day must go to Carlos Pigem (Spain) who took a 12 (is that termed a septuple bogey?) on the 573 yards, par five hole in a round of 83.

We will dust ourselves down overnight, give the club and grip a wash and scrub and start afresh with a morning tee time of 7.15 am on Tee One.

Looking forward to speaking to you all after tomorrow’s round two.

Good luck to us all.

Cameron is a 33 year-old South African who has worked as a Golf Coach in South Africa, Kuwait, Malaysia and Singapore who is the UAE National Coach based at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and arrived in the UAE in January, 2023.