Harding torn up the greens with 8 birdies during his round, with the only blemish on his scorecard being a bogey on the par 4 fourth.

He holds a one-stroke lead over Michael Anthony on six under, while the qualifier, Theunis Spangenberg, is third on five under, one stroke clear of Jaco van Zyl in fourth on four under.

Harding says he found something in his swing during the first round.

It's been a while since I've been up there, so it's a good feeling. I'm just going to see if I can maybe keep it going.

"I personally don't find the course all that easy. It may be short but you still have to put it into position. There is enough slope on the greens so you are going to have some tricky putts.

"You can't really take advantage of par fives either, they're quite long. So it's just a matter of trying to golf the ball and get it around and take advantage of a good shot when you have one.

The defending champion, George Coetzee, shares tied sixth on two under par with 10 other players.

Bloemfontein’s Dean Burmester wants to bounce back from his level par round. The 26-year-old sunk three birdies and an eagle, but five bogeys hurt his opening round.

Morgan Piek/OFM News