Darkness brought a premature end to the first round at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Arabella, with only a handful of players managing to complete 18 holes.
Fierce afternoon winds forced play to be suspended shortly after noon for three hours, leaving only enough time for six groups to finish their round.
The first round will be completed early on Saturday morning, though weather forecasts predict more of the same for the duration of day two. Heavy rain is also expected to fall overnight, possibly continuing into Saturday morning.
Southern Africa PGA Tour tournament director Theo Manyama called the lengthy delay after conditions deteriorated steadily from a stiff morning breeze to near gale force winds and balls began to oscillate on the greens.
Early clubhouse scores were generally reflective of the conditions, though Douglas Wood, who entered the tournament via pre-qualifying last week, was a shining exception.
Wood managed a one-under-par 71 to take the early clubhouse lead by two shots from Micheel Bothma. James du Plessis is currently third on 74, with another pre-qualifier, Chris Swanepoel Jnr, fourth one shot further back.
Needless to say, Wood was delighted with his start in conditions he described as the second worst he has ever encountered.
”I played once at Wild Coast [Country Club], and the wind was a bit stronger there, but this was not far short,” said Wood.
The 30-year-old Wood cited a cautious approach for his position atop the early leaderboard.
”I played very defensively today and my short game saved me,” said Wood.
”You are going to miss greens in weather like this, you are going to choose the wrong club from time to time, but my chipping and putting was really good all day.”
Wood is likely to lose his position on top of the leaderboard by the end of the first round, with young pair Dijon Tintinger and Thomas Aiken both under par nearing the end of their rounds.
Tintinger is three under par with three holes to complete on Saturday morning, while Aiken, who seeks his third successive win on the South African PGA Tour, is minus one with one to play. — Sapa