Firethorn has proven itself to be exactly that, a fiery thorn in Gonzalo’s side. In reality, it’s a type of thorny bush, an appropriate name for this particular course, one of several to host the South African Open this week. Gonzalo Fernández Castaño started off on Firethorn. In his case, the course stayed true to its name.
Gonzalo finished they day with +2, with three bogeys and just one birdie on the 5th hole, coincidentally the shortest hole on a very long course, made up of more than 6,700 meters. The rest was insufferable. It was not the best start to a round in which there were a lot of birdies. In fact, 94 golfers shot under par. However, there’s still room to work with for Gonzalo. He’ll play on Friday on the Bushwillow course, a much more docile opponent than Firethorn. The difference in the average shots on both was more than than two. Noteworthy. At the moment, the provisional cut with the top 70 golfers, as well as ties, is set at -1, which means Gonzalo will need to shoot between a 67 and 68 tomorrow in order to give himself the opportunity to play over the weekend. That’s the goal.
