Smit’s round of nine birdies, one eagle, two bogeys and one double bogey earned him a one-stroke lead over recent winner Stephen Ferreira. Dylan Mostert, another winner on the Tour this year, is two shots off the lead. And Albert Venter, twice a winner this year, is well placed on four under par.

The slight drop in the wind compared to the previous two days in the pro-am was a welcome respite for the field.

"This golf course is always a beast and my experience is that the wind always blows here. So we were lucky that it was quite calm today," said Smit, who has found some form in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series this year with a fourth-place finish in the Highland Gate tournament in August.

"I wouldn’t say I expected this round because I haven’t played my best golf over the last three tournaments. But golf is funny and you never know when it’s going to turn around. I hit the ball unbelievably well and that meant I had a lot of tap-ins for birdie putts. I think I only had a couple of birdie putts that were outside of eight feet."

Smit’s most prolific run of birdies came over the turn where he made six birdies in seven holes. Unfortunately, there was also a double bogey on the par-three ninth in that stretch.

"I was too aggressive and had the wrong club and knocked it into the snake pit, as they call it, on that hole. But you know, overall you’re always happy with a low round on the first day. It puts me in a good position, and even more so with Friday’s weather looking very difficult."

This week’s tournament is a 72-hole event which is a break from the traditional 54-hole tournaments on the winter leg of the Sunshine Tour. But it’s also perfect timing with the main summer schedule coming up in the next few weeks.

"We usually play three-round tournaments at this time, so it’s great because you really want to make the cuts in those four-round events, and this is good for getting used to that."

 Scores:

65 - Combrinck Smit

66 - Stephen Ferreira

67 - Michael Kok, Dylan Mostert

68 - Lyle Rowe, Albert Venter, Harry Konig, Hennie Otto, Rupert Kaminski, Jake Roos, Martin Rohwer

69 - Jacques P de Villiers, Oliver Bekker, James Pennington, Hennie O'Kennedy

70 - Leon Vorster, Andre De Decker, Matias Calderon, Casey Jarvis, MJ Viljoen, Jayden Schaper, Wallie Coetsee

71 - Basil Wright Jr, Steve Surry, Adam Breen, Jean-Paul Strydom, Henning du Plooy, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Alex Haindl, Aneurin Gounden, Malcolm Mitchell, Hayden Griffiths, Brandon Pieters

72 - Keenan Davidse, Riekus Nortje, Neil Schietekat, Andre Van Dyk, Jovan Rebula, Therion Nel, Jake Redman, Jared Harvey, Ockie Strydom, Siyanda Mwandla, Callum Mowat, Gerhard Pepler

73 - Maverick Faber, Erhard Lambrechts, Bradley Bawden, Luan Boshoff, Kyle Barker, Jean Hugo, Christiaan Basson, Christiaan Burke, Michael Palmer, Jordan Duminy

74 - Dayne Moore, Keith Horne, Fredrik From, Richard Joubert, Jacques Blaauw, Martin Vorster, Toto Thimba Jnr

75 - Herman Loubser, Luca Filippi, Chris Cannon, Kyle McClatchie, JJ Senekal, Merrick Bremner, Doug McGuigan, Ruan Korb, James Mack

76 - Dean O'Riley, Luke Jerling, Quintin Wilsnach, Charl Coetzee, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Tumelo Molloyi, Keagan Thomas, Ruan Conradie, Divan van den Heever

77 - Noel Anderson, Ruan de Smidt, Sean Cronje, Keelan van Wyk, Danie Van Niekerk

78 - Rhys West, Brooklin Bailey, Peter Karmis, Carlo Heunis

79 - Steve Basson, James Kamte, Pascal Gunther, Heinrich Bruiners, Nikhil Rama, Tristin Galant

80 - Samuel Simpson, Vaughn van Deventer, Wynand Dingle, Kevin Rhoderick

81 - Sean Bradley

83 - Richard Kruger, Franklin Manchest, Shaahid Mahmed

87 - Brandon-Jude Rennie

90 - Maurice Prinsloo

94 - Steven Le Roux

DSQ - Gareth Sargent