Jean Hugo and Ulrich van den Berg shared the early first round lead on Wednesday of the Vodacom Business Origins of Golf event at Humewood Golf Club.

They each fired a seven-under-par 65 to take a two-stroke lead over rookie Darren Blair and veteran Kevin Stone, with the afternoon field still on the course.

Hugo and Van den Berg exploited uncharacteristically still conditions on the usually windswept links, and neither recorded a bogey on their way to the top of the leaderboard.

They played together and Van den Berg was the faster starter, making four birdies on his way to the turn in 31, while Hugo felt he left some putts on the course as he made two birdies and turned two behind his playing partner.

Hugo, who won the season-opener of the series at Gardener Ross outside Pretoria, found his rhythm soon afterwards, and came home in five-under 32, while Van den Berg continued to play error-free golf and picked up three more shots, including birdies on 16 and 17 on the closing stretch.

“It was great playing on a course like this without the wind,” said Hugo, while Van den Berg was full of praise for the greens which were completely relaid and opened for play in December 2009.

Blair was also faultless on his way to his 67, while Stone had bogeys on six and 17 to counteract his tally of seven birdies.

Johan du Buisson was alone in fifth on four-under 68, while a group of five players was on three-under 69.