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Englishman Daniel Gavins yesterday took an early lead as the 53rd edition of the Magical Kenya Open Golf  Championship teed off at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club where a total of 144 players teed off.

Gavins, 30, a member of Howley Hall Golf Club, played a round of seven par 64 to take a slim one shot lead going into the second round, with American Johannes Veerman and India’s Shubhankar Sharma hot on his heels on six under par.

The overnight leader who teed off at 8.20am in the company of Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and Italian Renato Paratore, dropped two shots, but redeemed himself to sink nine birdies on the first day of the competition that has been sponsored by Magical Kenya, Absa, Mediamax Company Ltd, Johnnie Walker, Safaricom, Ministry of Sports and Kenya Airways.

He began his round with a par on the par four hole one, then picked three back-to-back birdies on the par three hole two, par four hole three and par five hole four.

At the par three hole five and par four hole six he played level par, then bounced back with a birdie on the par five seventh hole, played a par on the par four eighth and sunk a birdie on the par four ninth hole for a brilliant first nine score.

Par five

In the second nine, Gavins who is ranked 70th in the DP World Tour, sank a birdie on the par five 10th, played level pars on the par three 11th and par four 12th holes respectively, but dropped shots on the par three 13th hole and the par four 14th.

On the par four 15th he had a level par, before sinking birdies on the last three holes to rule the roost.

“It’s my first time in Kenya and this is a good experience playing here at Muthaiga. The greens were a bit fast so I managed to master them quickly and it was not windy today, so I could easily control my game.

I hope to maintain my form tomorrow and in the remaining rounds,” Gavins, who was tied 103 at the Ras al Khaimah Classic on February 13, told People Sport.

One of day one runners-up Veerman, had a mixed round where he sunk an albatross on the par five 10th hole, posted five birdies and played a boogie on the par four hole eight to finish the day on six under par 65.

The American announced in late January that he and his wife Angela had welcomed son Hans into the world but the work of caring for a newborn does not appear to have had any ill effects on Veerman’s game.

He finished in the top 35 in the Rolex Series at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic before securing 12th place at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital, matching his result from the season-opening Joburg Open.

“My little man is really good,” he said of Hans. “Someone said to me earlier in the week that they didn’t realise how selfish they were with their time until they became a dad and I thought, that couldn’t be more true.

“My days have to be so much more structured now, not only does he need me but I also want to be with him. I have a new son and it’s just amazing.”

Two players players had tied on the fourth spot in the leaderboard on five under par 66. The two are Scottish Ewen Ferguson and England’s Lee Slattery, while South African Dean Burmester, Frenchman Wil Besseling Masahiro Kawamura from Japan were tied sixth on four under par 67.