Keith Horne posted a second successive three-under-par 69 score at the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament hosted at Arabella Golf Estate to move two strokes clear and remain top of the leaderboard after the second round.
Teeing off from the 10th in round two, the veteran made pars on 10 and 11 before making birdies on 12 and 13. He didn’t drop a shot on that stretch, but his homeward nine was a bit indifferent as three of the four birdies he made there were cancelled out by dropped shots on the third, fifth and seventh holes.
‘It’s a great golf course and a tough test,’ Horne noted after his round. ‘I have actually played pretty solidly the last two day – two three-unders. I’d like to say I’m a little disappointed with three-under, because I really had some great opportunities to put a good score out there.’
Despite feeling as though he left some out there, Horne will be delighted with the two-shot gap he’s opened between himself and the closest man, England’s Scott Campbell, who lurks on four-under for the week. ‘I felt like I could have shot at least five-under out there on each day. I felt like I played well enough to get to that score. I just let it slip away towards the end of each round,’ he said.
Unlike Horne, however, Campbell was a lot happier with his round as he posted a second two-under-par 70 in the cold and windy conditions. ‘I’m very happy,’ Campbell said, ‘because I played well again. It’s nice to have a good finish. I finished with three birdies in a row, so that’s always nice.’
And while the wind might have been an issue for some players, the 26-year-old Englishman was not troubled at all. ‘I quite like the wind. I’ve got quite a low ball flight, so I don’t really mind the wind,’ Campbell added.
In third position on moving day is Titch Moore, who is on three-under after shooting a 69. Jacquin Hess, who is a member of the Gary Player Class of 2017-18, Neil Schietekat, Chris Swanepoel, Daniel van Tonder, Lyle Rowe and Wynand Dingle share fourth spot, as they are all on two-under-par for the tournament.
Jaco Ahlers – after missing the cut in last week’s Sun Carnival City Challenge – looks like a man on a mission, and he shares 10th with defending champion Vaughn Groenewald, Breyten Meyer, Ockie Strydom and Keenan Davidse on one-under.
The final round promises fireworks, as things can change very quickly on this coastal golf course.
Second round leaderboard:
138 – Keith Horne 69 69
140 – Scott Campbell 70 70
141 – Titch Moore 72 69
142 – Jacquin Hess 70 72, Neil Schietekat 72 70, Chris Swanepoel 72 70, Daniel van Tonder 72 70, Lyle Rowe 72 70, Wynand Dingle 69 73
143 – Jaco Ahlers 73 70, Vaughn Groenewald 71 72, Breyten Meyer 71 72, Ockie Strydom 73 70, Keenan Davidse 71 72
144 – Jake Roos 73 71, Peter Karmis 71 73
145 – Chris Cannon 74 71, Jean-Paul Strydom 74 71, Doug McGuigan 72 73
146 – Andre Nel 72 74, Andre De Decker 74 72, Steven Ferreira 73 73, Jean Hugo 73 73, Stefan Engell Andersen 76 70, Stephen Ferreira 72 74
147 – Matthew Spacey 73 74, Makhetha Mazibuko 76 71, Hennie du Plessis 77 70, Jaco Prinsloo 70 77, Michael Palmer 69 78, Charl Coetzee 76 71
148 – Altaaf Bux 73 75, Matthew Carvell 73 75, Allan Versfeld 76 72, Alex Haindl 77 71, Rourke van der Spuy 76 72, Tyrone Ferreira 77 71, Christiaan Basson 74 74, Irvin Mazibuko 74 74, MJ Viljoen 76 72
Missed the cut:
149 – Heinrich Bruiners 74 75, Wallie Coetsee 76 73, Andrew Curlewis 76 73, Ryan Tipping 76 73, Combrinck Smit 71 78, JC Ritchie 75 74, Lindani Ndwandwe 75 74, Jonathan Agren 70 79
150 – Damon Stephenson 74 76, Dongkwan Kim 70 80, Shaun Norris 75 75, Louis de Jager 74 76
151 – Tyrone Ryan 76 75, Mark Murless 72 79, Callum Mowat 71 80, Mark Williams 72 79, Cody Martin 73 78
152 – Riekus Nortje 76 76, Colin Nel 75 77, Merrick Bremner 76 76, Justin Harding 74 78, Jason Froneman 76 76
153 – CJ du Plessis 78 75, Bryandrew Roelofsz 74 79, Herman Loubser 81 72
154 – Ruan de Smidt 76 78, Gerard du Plooy 80 74, Desne Van Den Bergh 78 76, Stuart Smith 75 79
155 – Rhys West 79 76, N.J. Arnoldi 77 78
156 – Antonio Rosado 79 77, Andrew Odoh 77 79, Pieter Kruger 79 77, Oliver Bekker 75 81
157 – Gerrit Foster 77 80, Luke Jerling 79 78, JJ Senekal 79 78, Teaghan Gauche 81 76, Greg Bentley 79 78
158 – Jason Smith 81 77
159 – Jason Diab 80 79, Andrew van der Knaap 81 78, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 75 84
160 – Cameron Esau 82 78, Antonio Costa 78 82, Coert Groenewald 80 80
161 – Armandt Scholtz 83 78, Arthur Horne 79 82, Matthew Rushton 78 83
162 – Sean Bradley 78 84
163 – Eugen Marugi 83 80
164 – Ben Fouchee 83 81
165 – Shane Granger 85 80, Jake Redman 87 78, Jason Viljoen 82 83
168 – Johan Engelbrecht 83 85
WDN – Dwayne Basson 80 WDN
RTD – Matias Calderon RTD RTD
