Italian Celli takes early lead in Cape Town Open

Italian Filippo Celli produced a highly composed six-under-par 66 in gusting conditions at Royal Cape Golf Club on Thursday to lead the Cell C Cape Town Open by a stroke.

Celli, one of Italy’s top amateurs who also won the silver medal for the low amateur at the 2022 Open Championship, started his round superbly and was three under par through his first three holes on his way to claiming the early lead in this Sunshine Tour event.

His nearest challengers are SA’s Malcolm Mitchell and Spain’s Borja Virto, while Daniel van Tonder — the winner of the last two Sunshine Tour tournaments and looking for a hat-trick this week — came through day one just three shots off the lead.

But Celli was delighted with his start to this event. “I played really solid golf so I’m very happy. It was a tough afternoon. The gusts were so strong and I handled it well. I just took it shot by shot.

“We know in this game you need to be patient, and that was very important today. If you made a bogey you had to just be positive in these tough conditions,” he said.

Behind him, SA’s Mitchell revelled in the windy conditions, having grown up in Durban.

“I love playing in the wind. To have no bogeys and give birdies on a day like today, I’ll definitely take that. But when it comes to the wind, that really takes me to my happy place,” he said.

Mitchell was particularly pleased to have finished higher up the leader board than Van Tonder on day one, considering the two are brothers-in-law and are fiercely competitive on the golf course.

“There’s always that bit of competition. We often play social rounds together and it’s always brutal competition between the two of us. Daniel hates to lose,” he said.

It’s a competition Van Tonder has been winning of late with his incredible form, and clearly something Mitchell aspires to as well.

“His form has been great to see. I’ve been working on a couple of things, one of which is being a lot more positive and seeing what I’m capable of.”