Golf: NZ off the pace in Eisenhower opening round

A momentary meltdown by Josh Geary contributed to New Zealand's tentative start at the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur men's teams golf championship in South Africa today.

They ended the first round in a share of 27th place after shooting a four-over-par 148 for their best two counting scores at the De Zalze course near Cape Town.

The New Zealanders were nine shots in arrears of the leaders Canada, with much ground to make up already with three rounds remaining.

Canada fired 139, two shots ahead of Netherlands, with a further shot back to France. All three of these teams played at the Stellenbosch course in the still morning conditions.

Five teams, including favourites the United States and South Africa, shared fourth place on 143.

The New Zealand team were caught in fierce afternoon winds that blew away many promising starts for teams with late tee times.

Geary was the team's best with a one-over 73, while James Gill shot 75 and Mark Purser the non-counting 76.

Geary was in fine touch for the majority of his round except for successive double bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes, where he made an unscheduled detour of the massive De Zalze bunkers.

He incurred a two-stroke penalty on the fourth for grounding his club in the bunker.

Having found the sand off the tee, Geary managed only to manoeuvre the ball into another bunker.

Frustration took over as he took another swing, inadvertently grounding the club.

His mood darkened on the fifth when he found three bunkers en route to a double bogey seven.

Despite the lapse, Geary at times played superbly and completed the back nine three-under the card.

Gill was one-over at the turn but made four bogeys in five holes mixed with two birdies when the winds got up in the afternoon, including hitting into two hazards.

Purser was square at the turn and, apart from a birdie at the 17th, he struggled in the winds with five bogeys in eight holes, including three three-putts on the slick greens.

New Zealand non-playing captain John Gatley said the conditions turned against his players.

"The Cape Doctor really got up today. The winds in the afternoon were fierce," Gatley said.

"It was particularly tough on the De Zalze course and all of the afternoon teams seemed to struggle.

"We are disappointed but not despondent. We know we are far from out of it but we know we must move up the leaderboard tomorrow," Gatley said.

"We are first off tomorrow and so we hope to get the benefit of still conditions at Stellenbosch and that the winds get up tomorrow again to even up the contest."

- NZPA