Stefan Wears-Taylor now really feels he belongs as one of the main contenders on the Sunshine Tour after his 2022/23 campaign, his fourth season in the professional ranks, was his most successful yet, so it was fitting that he says his mindset was his strongest attribute as he soared to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Zanaco Masters at the Lusaka Golf Club.
Wears-Taylor backed up his 67 on the first day with a fantastic six-under-par 66 on Friday, which lifted him to 11-under-par at the midway point of the tournament. The Centurion Country Club representative collected eight birdies in all, four of them in a row from the 15th hole as he ended his opening nine in spectacular fashion.
He is not alone on 11-under-par, however, with Sean Bradley and Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi sharing the lead with him.
Bradley managed to fit in seven birdies and an eagle in his superb 64, while Chinhoi collected four birdies on the front nine in his 67.
Wears-Taylor finished 24th on the order of merit last season and claimed his first Sunshine Tour title in the MediClinic Invitational on his home course in March. He then made a solid start to the new season by finishing 17th in the FBC Zimbabwe Open. Friday’s round at a sunny Lusaka Golf Club was a continuation of that form.
“My attitude on the first two days is what I’m most proud of. I started the first round with a few errant shots to the left, which is unusual for me,” Wears-Taylor explained. “But I’ve just stayed patient and enjoyed my day out on the course, enjoying where I’m walking and there are some huge trees here which are fascinating.
“I’ve just been staying positive because this golf course is going to bite you if you make mistakes. I started on the 10th and I had a productive morning, slowly building momentum until I had the wind in my sails and then some putts fell in the last few holes and I hit a very nice Sand-Wedge to three feet on the 17th.
“Things slowed down a little after the turn, unfortunately I made some soft mistakes, but that will happen on this tough course. There are tight tee shots on both nines and visually, you have overhanging trees which makes it complicated for the eye. And it’s definitely simpler hitting from the fairways because the greens are tough with firm bounces if you don’t get spin.
“But I’ve built up experience over the last couple of years. It takes time to find your feet on tour, especially because I didn’t have any real amateur background.
“It’s taken time to get to where I am, but I am seeing steady growth and learning more about myself both as a player and a person. I’m really enjoying the journey and hopefully it leads to a long and fruitful career,” Wears-Taylor said.
Chinhoi said his ball-striking and approaches to the greens were his strong points on Friday.
“It was a good day for me, I’m so happy with how I am striking the ball and my control on the greens. The trick though is off the tee, I used Driver on most holes and I was just trying to be more aggressive.
“I am so grateful to see my name at the top of the leaderboard and I will keep to the same strategy and just try to keep it rolling. It shows that I am just as good as everyone here and I will just keep focusing and pressing,” Chinhoi said.
First-round leaders Neil Schietekat and David Wicks are still strongly placed just one shot off the leaders after they both shot three-under 69s on Friday, and Trevor Fisher Jnr (67) and Malcolm Mitchell (65) are a stroke further back.
SCORES:
133 – Stefan Wears-Taylor 67 66, Sean Bradley 69 64, Robson Chinhoi 66 67
134 – Neil Schietekat 65 69, David Wicks 65 69
135 – Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 67, Malcolm Mitchell 70 65
136 – Jake Redman 67 69, Martin Rohwer 72 64, Christiaan Basson 71 65
137 – Lyle Rowe 70 67, Gerhard Trytsman 70 67, Ryan Van Velzen 67 70, Keegan Mclachlan 69 68
138 – Hennie O’Kennedy 70 68, Yurav Premlall 69 69, Keagan Thomas 72 66, Tristin Galant 72 66, Siyanda Mwandla 72 66, Hennie Otto 68 70
139 – Ruan Conradie 68 71, Nikhil Rama 70 69, Christiaan Burke 69 70, Kyle Barker 70 69, Kyle McClatchie 73 66
140 – DK Kim 68 72, Peter Karmis 69 71, Nyasha Muyambo 70 70, Jaco Ahlers 72 68, Rupert Kaminski 70 70
141 – Robin Williams 71 70, Luke Jerling 71 70, Stuart Krog 69 72, Paul Boshoff 73 68, Danie Van Niekerk 73 68, Sydney Joseph Wemba 69 72, James Mack 73 68, Nicholaus Frade 74 67, Rhys West 71 70, Jovan Rebula 69 72, Willie Olivier 76 65, Vaughn van Deventer 71 70, Tyron Davidowitz 73 68
142 – Drikus Joubert 72 70, Hayden Griffiths 71 71, Gerhard Pepler 76 66, Albert Venter 74 68, Jacques Blaauw 69 73, Ricky Hendler 69 73, Steve Surry 72 70, Luke Trocado 67 75, Chris Cannon 72 70, Aneurin Gounden 72 70, Doug McGuigan 71 71
143 – Keelan van Wyk 73 70, Ben Firth 70 73, Conner Mackenzie 73 70, Callum Mowat 74 69, Heinrich Bruiners 69 74, Wynand Dingle 76 67, Herman Loubser 72 71, Gregory Mckay 71 72
Missed the cut:-
144 – James Pennington 74 70, Luke Brown 72 72, Anthony Michael 70 74, Ronald Rugumayo 74 70, Jack Hawksby 74 70, Adam Breen 74 70, Jacquin Hess 76 68, Jason Roets 70 74, Warwick Purchase 76 68, Visitor Mapwanya 72 72
145 – Ruan de Smidt 73 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 70 75, Jacques P de Villiers 78 67, Madalitso Muthiya 71 74, MJ Viljoen 75 70, Philip Geerts 79 66
146 – Louis Albertse 72 74, Travis Ladner 75 71, Fredrik From 75 71, Ethan Smith 72 74
147 – Morton Muwowo 72 75, Michael Kok 77 70, Aaron Simfukwe Jnr 72 75, Clancy Waugh 73 74, Brian Gondo 73 74, James Kamte 76 71
148 – Jared Harvey 74 74, Dayne Moore 76 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 77 71, Paul Adam Chidale 74 74, Merrick Bremner 75 73, Timothy M Sondashi 73 75
150 – LB Boshoff 79 71, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 74 76, Keelan Africa 73 77, Thabang Simon 78 72, Jonathan Broomhead 77 73, Dezzie Ngandu 78 72, Gabriel Chibale 75 75, Biggie Chibvuri 71 79, Promise Sombrero 72 78
151 – Jonathan Waschefort 77 74, Teboho Sefatsa 76 75, Reinhardt Blaauw 74 77, Ryan Tipping 74 77, Neil Bothma 77 74, Ryan Cairns 73 78
152 – Omar Sandys 75 77, Leon Visser 78 74, Francois van Staden 78 74
153 – Alphius Kelapile 76 77
154 – Morton Kombai 81 73, Raphael Phiri 78 76, Shankar Natarajan 82 72
155 – Gaita Rodell 76 79, Ntengwa Mukosa 79 76, Kelly Tembo 76 79
156 – Patrick Mwendapole Snr 78 78, Del Piero Daniels 77 79, Mwivwanji Simukoko 79 77
157 – Mandla Dlamini Jnr 78 79, Musambo Kapoma JNR 84 73, Leonard Chibwe 82 75, Denmark Mulambo 81 76
161 – Sebastain Stobart 82 79
162 – Bruce Chanda 81 81, Joshua Mwendapole 82 80
163 – Keagan Bwalya 80 83
167 – Ricco Motsa 85 82
WDN – Ignatius Mketekete 84 WDN
RTD – Johan Theron 78 RTD
Photo Credit: Photo by Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour
