JJ Senekal retained his place at the top of the SDC Open leaderboard with a second round of 67 which earned him a four-stroke lead heading into the weekend at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa.
Senekal leads the field on 15 under par, with fellow South African Martin Vorster his nearest challenger on 11 under par following a 69 on Friday. Casey Jarvis, Alfie Plant, Combrinck Smit, Estiaan Conradie and Victor Pastor are all lined up on 10 under par.
Senekal was two strokes clear after the first round thanks to his opening 62, and he had set himself a target of another low round on Friday.
“I had a target of eight under today, but I mean, five under is still a good round of golf around here,” he said.
He made another fast start with two birdies in his first three holes to suggest he may well post another low round. But the cooler weather and intermittent rain that moved over the course seemed to match the cooling of his putter.
“After that good start I really thought I could go low again today. But it died down after that and the putter went cold over the last 10 holes. I didn’t make a thing. I hit two close iron shots that gave me the opportunity for a birdie and eagle but that was it. I didn’t make anything inside 10 feet after that. I’m actually quite disappointed with the putting performance on the back nine, but I’m in a good position for the weekend.”
It was the opposite for his nearest challenger Vorster. The young star finds himself in contention for the second time on this Sunshine Tour and European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned stretch of events. He finished fourth in the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open two weeks ago, and this week he’s felt that his putter has kept him in the chase.
“I’m pretty happy considering how I hit the ball today. The swing has been a bit up and down and I haven’t been hitting the ball as well as the last few weeks. But my short game has been the best it has been so I feel comfortable around the greens. The putter was great and I made a few good putts for pars.”
Vorster recovered well from each of his three bogeys, following them up with a birdie at the next hole. And he’s relishing being in contention going into the weekend.
“Being in the mix is incredible. I was right up there in the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open and I enjoy it so much. It motivates me to play better so I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
Senekal has hopes that he has another low round in him for the weekend as he chases a title he was also in contention for last year.
“I’m just going to keep doing the same I’ve been doing the last two days. If you put yourself in the right positions on this golf course you can really go low. – Michael Vlismas
Scores:
129 – JJ Senekal 62 67
133 – Martin Vorster 64 69
134 – Casey Jarvis 68 66, Alfie Plant 67 67, Combrinck Smit 69 65, Estiaan Conradie 67 67, Victor Pastor 65 69
135 – Tom Murray 68 67, Victor Garcia Broto 65 70, Herman Loubser 65 70, Bradley Bawden 69 66, Jaco Prinsloo 68 67
136 – Lorenzo Scalise 67 69, Craig Howie 69 67, Ugo Coussaud 68 68, Clement Berardo 68 68
137 – Luke Brown 71 66, Adam Blomme 69 68, Oliver Lindell 70 67, Keagan Thomas 70 67, Mikael Lundberg 68 69, Pieter Moolman 70 67, Francesco Laporta 71 66, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon 68 69, Malcolm Mitchell 72 65, Ashley Chesters 68 69, Pierre Pineau 68 69, Marco Penge 68 69, Manuel Elvira 69 68, Jamie Rutherford 68 69
138 – Kyle McClatchie 72 66, Stuart Manley 67 71, Louis Albertse 71 67, Hennie O’Kennedy 69 69, Ruan Korb 71 67, Niklas Regner 70 68, Jacques P de Villiers 71 67, Matteo Manassero 68 70, Jacques Kruyswijk 69 69, Tristen Strydom 71 67, Danie Van Niekerk 67 71, Borja Virto 70 68
139 – Christopher Feldborg Nielsen 69 70, OJ Farrell 70 69, Benjamin Rusch 72 67, Jonathan Thomson 69 70, Nicolai Kristensen 70 69, Felix Mory 72 67, Jeppe Kristian Andersen 70 69, Luca Filippi 71 68, Lucas Vacarisas 70 69, Javier Sainz 70 69, Brandon Stone 71 68, Steven Brown 71 68, Joel Sjoholm 69 70, Christopher Mivis 70 69
140 – Liam Johnston 72 68, Anton Karlsson 72 68, Henric Sturehed 70 70, Chris Paisley 68 72, Alvaro Quiros 67 73, Velten Meyer 70 70, Benjamin Follett-Smith 70 70, CJ du Plessis 74 66, Ryan Van Velzen 73 67, James Allan 69 71, Gregorio De Leo 70 70, Alex Haindl 70 70
Missed the cut:-
141 – Michael Palmer 67 74, Jack Singh Brar 67 74, Jacques Blaauw 74 67, Daniel O’Loughlin 67 74, Philip Eriksson 71 70, Elias Bertheussen 70 71, Hennie Otto 67 74, Oscar Lengden 70 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 72, Rupert Kaminski 72 69
142 – Frederik Birkelund 69 73, Heinrich Bruiners 69 73, Derek Ackerman 73 69, Rhys Enoch 68 74, James Hart du Preez 72 70, Yan Wei Liu 67 75, Jannik de Bruyn 73 69, Thabang Simon 69 73, Samuel Simpson 71 71, Divan van den Heever 71 71, Lyle Rowe 75 67, Oliver Farr 71 71, Andrea Pavan 71 71, Luke Jerling 70 72, Sean Bradley 72 70, Sam Bairstow 70 72
143 – Sebastian Friedrichsen 73 70, Michael Stewart 73 70, Gary Boyd 72 71, Toby Tree 69 74, Tom Vaillant 71 72, Fredrik From 69 74, Gerard du Plooy 69 74, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 69, Chris Cannon 74 69, Pavan Sagoo 74 69, Benjamin Poke 70 73, Steven Tiley 71 72, Lars van Meijel 71 72, Joe Long 69 74, Conor Purcell 71 72, Stephen Ferreira 75 68
144 – Erhard Lambrechts 71 73, Dylan Naidoo 68 76, Robin Petersson 71 73, Doug McGuigan 73 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 72, Dan Erickson 74 70, Nikhil Rama 71 73, Keenan Davidse 73 71, Wynand Dingle 74 70, Jared Harvey 70 74, Matthew Spacey 73 71, Wade Jacobs 72 72
145 – David Boote 73 72, David Drysdale 71 74, Emilio Cuartero Blanco 73 72, Jaco Van Zyl 73 72, Madalitso Muthiya 73 72, Richard Joubert 72 73, Koen Kouwenaar 68 77, Marc Hammer 74 71, Dylan Mostert 72 73, Victor Riu 72 73
146 – Stefan Wears-Taylor 76 70, Eduard Rousaud 72 74, Martin Rohwer 74 72, Ruaidhri McGee 74 72, Ruan Conradie 69 77, Chris Swanepoel 73 73, Shaahid Mahmed 74 72, James Kamte 71 75
147 – Ivan Cantero Gutierrez 73 74, Clancy Waugh 71 76
148 – Joel Girrbach 75 73, Kyle Barker 74 74, Anthony Michael 73 75, Merrick Bremner 72 76, Andre De Decker 77 71
149 – Jastice Mashego 76 73
150 – Jean Hugo 76 74, Dean O’Riley 71 79, Lucas Bjerregaard 74 76
153 – Keelan Africa 76 77, Joachim B. Hansen 73 80
159 – Kristoffer Reitan 79 80
160 – Callan Barrow 84 76
162 – Franklin Manchest 79 83
