Ken Borland

A trio of exciting talents topped the leaderboard after the second round of the African Bank Championship at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday, with Jayden Schaper, Danie van Tonder and Martin Rohwer all tied on seven-under-par as the second event in the Rise Up Series heads into the final round on Friday.

Jaco Ahlers is obviously also very much in contention after he fired the round of the day, a four-under-par 68, to climb into fourth place on six-under, just one stroke behind. And the experience and skills of Darren Fichardt (-5), the winner last week at Killarney, Neil Schietekat (-5), Jake Roos (-4) and George Coetzee (-4) also cannot be discounted.

The combination of a top-class course with slick winter greens and the vagaries of a blustery wind made for a particularly tough test in Edenvale on Thursday, and overnight leader Rohwer could only follow up his brilliant 65 on the first day with a level-par 72. That allowed Van Tonder and Schaper, who both shot two-under 70s, to catch him.

“It got tough out there with the wind blowing at about 30km/h and the greens are slick too. You’ve got to pick your lines carefully and not always go for the flags otherwise you open yourself up for three-putts. It’s about hitting fairways and greens, you’ve got to stick with your selection of club, hit it as hard as you can and just hope it goes on. With the gusts you’ve got to time it correctly,” Van Tonder said after roaring out of the blocks with four birdies on the front nine but then coming home in 38.

Rohwer regained the lead with an eagle at the par-five 15^th, but then three-putted the last to slip back to seven-under. Nevertheless, the 27-year-old from Kloof Country Club was pleased with a day of solid ball-striking.

“I was really solid today from tee-to-green, I felt like I had control of the ball all through the round, but I just struggled on the greens. That three-putt on the last leaves a sour taste, but to be level-par with the conditions we were playing in, that’s not too bad. You were just not sure what the wind was doing so it was difficult to hit your numbers,” Rohwer said.

The winner of the Royal Swazi Open last year says he is up to the challenge posed by both the conditions and the likes of playing partner Van Tonder, who was on the charge early on in the second round.

“Sometimes you just have to play more conservatively, but there is still a fair share of opportunity out there. The wind is mostly across though and, with where the pins are located, it’s difficult to get close. It’s supposed to be windy again tomorrow, but I look forward to a third round in a row with Danie. I knew I was playing well today so I wasn’t too concerned about falling behind,” Rohwer said.

The 19-year-old Schaper showed enormous maturity as he held his round together after an up-and-down start in which he had two bogeys, a birdie and an eagle in the first five holes, before dropping successive shots around the turn.

“There was a lot more wind today, so it was a bit tougher, and the pins were all tucked in on the front nine, so I didn’t make a good start. I only hit three fairways in my first 12 holes and made a couple of three-putts, so I really put myself under pressure. But the back nine is much more accessible, I pulled myself together and finished well,” Schaper said.

But the hulking figure of Ahlers, who has won nine times on the Sunshine Tour, looms large, especially with the way he simply overpowered the par-fives on Thursday, collecting eagles on both the eighth and 15^th holes, and birdieing the 13^th.

Match number 14 in the first round of the African Bank Championship at Glendower Golf Club on Wednesday featured regular congratulations all round with 14 birdies and an eagle being collected by the three-ball and Martin Rohwer claiming the tournament lead with a seven-under-par 65.

While Rohwer provided seven birdies in a faultless round, colleague Danie van Tonder was no slouch either as he posted a 67 that included five birdies and an eagle at the par-five 13^th. Merrick Bremner was the third member of the group and was unfortunate by all accounts to finish one-over-par with just two birdies.

Port Elizabeth’s Lyle Rowe was alone in second place after shooting a 66 that included a double-bogey at the par-three third but also nine birdies, five of them in a row from the 11^th hole, his second of the day.

“Playing with Danie you just see good shots all the time and you get into a great rhythm. I always seem to play well when I’m with him. Mez [Bremner] was hitting great shots too but unfortunately just couldn’t score. But I started well and played solid the whole round. Glendower is an awesome course and if you hit the fairways today then you could really go for the flags.

“I missed a few opportunities early on but I stayed patient and was able to capitalise later on. It was a bit surreal because at last week’s Rise Up Series event at Killarney, the wind was really blowing but this morning you did not have to worry about that at all. The key was driving well and in winter now the ball runs and then you’re hitting wedges in, whereas last week was more of a second-shot course,” Kloof Country Club’s Rohwer, who turned 27 earlier this week, said.

Rowe said the key to his fine round was putting the ball in just the right place off the tee.

“The fairways slope quite a bit here, so you need to hit the ball on a certain side especially when it’s running so well. The bunkers are also well-placed, but if you can fly them then the ball releases down the fairway quite a lot. So if you drive well then you can score well,” the 33-year-old Rowe said.

For artistic delight though, there was much to appreciate in the splendid six-birdie 67 produced by 19-year-old Jayden Schaper, leaving him tied for third with Van Tonder, Heinrich Bruiners and Oliver Bekker.

“It was a good, solid first round, I’m happy, but I did leave a few out there. My iron play was pretty decent and I hit a lot of greens, but missed a lot of putts from inside six feet. If you hit the ball decently and get in the right places on the green then you can really score,” Schaper said.

Darren Fichardt birdied the last hole for a six-under-par 64 and a one-stroke victory in the Betway Championship at Killarney Country Club on Friday and said he was grateful for the return of butterflies in the stomach after five months without any competitive golf.

Fichardt’s 64 was the lowest round of the tournament and saw him sign for a three-under-par total of 207, one ahead of fellow veteran Ulrich van den Berg, who himself had a birdie putt on 18 for the tie and a playoff, but it shaved the hole from 12 feet out.

The 45-year-old Fichardt holed out from eight feet on the last for his sixth birdie of the day and his 18^th Sunshine Tour title as the Betway Championship launched the new Rise Up Series that marks a return for professional golf.

“I’m very happy to win and it’s just awesome to have those competitive golf butterflies in the stomach again after five months on the couch. Going into the final round six shots behind it’s just a case of whatever happens, happens. It’s a case of all or nothing. My tee-shot on 18 was a bit short, so I had to keep my approach under the trees, it was a bit low, but it helped because with a high floater you never know how it’s going to bounce.

“At the start of the day I was missing short putts for birdie and getting frustrated. With the scoring system now after Lockdown you can see all the scores all the time and I saw how my good friend Jaco van Zyl was burning up the course with a 65. So I thought I better start getting some birdies and to get three straight around the turn was good because this is a tough course,” Fichardt said after claiming R95 100 for the win.

Overnight leader Alex Haindl fell down the final classification with a two-over-par 72, finishing in a tie for third. Two birdies on the front nine kept him neck-and-neck with Anton Haig, who eagled the fifth, but successive bogeys at the seventh and eighth saw Haindl slip and he came home in 37.

Haig collapsed on the back nine with five bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-three 17^th when he was short of the green, but struggled to get out of a grass bunker.

Jaco Prinsloo and Ruan Korb shared third place with Haindl on one-under-par. Prinsloo was in a share of the lead but bogeyed the last two holes.

Fichardt said it was a brutally tough return to action for the Sunshine Tour golfers, likening the course, which was dry with greens like ice-rinks, to a U.S. Open layout.

“It was frustrating because it’s a short track but the greens were tricky with the lines difficult to read and a lot of short putts missed. It was like playing in the U.S. Open. The first day was really cold and windy and I would have been happy with eight-over never mind three-over-par. The second round [70] was a bit better and then today was much better. “I realised today that you just have to get the ball into play here, you have to position yourself. It was definitely experience that carried me through today, after I was a bit more aggressive in the first two rounds,” Fichardt said.

Killarney Country Club once again put the Sunshine Tour’s top pros through the mill on Thursday, with only four golfers able to enjoy the comfort of being under par after the second round of the Betway Championship, the opening event of the Rise Up Series that marks the return to action after the Covid-19 Lockdown.

Top of the pile was Sunshine Tour veteran Alex Haindl, who shot a marvellous 67 on Thursday to go into the final round on three-under-par, one stroke ahead of another stalwart in Anton Haig. Two other very experienced campaigners in Ulrich van den Berg and Adilson da Silva are the other golfers under par, after they both finished on one-under after shooting 69s.

Although conditions were warmer and there was just a comfortable breeze blowing, the 103-man field once again struggled with the hard and fast greens, putting a premium on accuracy off the tee on the tight, tree-lined layout.

Haindl, rebuilding his career after a couple of back surgeries, was relieved to be playing well in his 20^th season on the Sunshine Tour.

“It’s just nice to be playing again, you don’t know where you game is when you’re just practising at home because you’re not under the gun and you can’t see where your game needs to be better. Since my last surgery last year it just felt like I couldn’t get going, I wasn’t moving the way I like, but today was a bit better. The game was a bit neater today, I kept it together better.

“My short game was a bit sharper today as I got more used to the dry fairways and firm greens. I was just trying to miss in the right places and made a couple of good saves. Luckily I wasn’t playing too early in the morning, although it was a bit windy. But as the weather heats up, the ball flies further almost immediately – it’s like one shot suddenly goes 6-7 metres further,” Haindl said after his round which included just a solitary dropped shot at the par-three 17^th.

The youngsters that are used to bombing the ball miles off the tee seem to be losing this particular arms race, given the veterans in the top four, but there are still some fresh faces very much in contention to claim the first Sunshine Tour title on offer since Lockdown.

Rookie Ruan Korb is just three strokes back on level-par, while former amateur sensation Jayden Schaper showed once again that he has the mettle, even though he is still in his teens, to mix it with the men as he lay in a threatening position just four strokes back after solid rounds of 73 and 68.

Keith Horne is with him on one-over-par and he clearly has all the weapons to win on Friday, having claimed nine Sunshine Tour titles. First-round leader Dylan Mostert slipped back into a tie for ninth after a 75 on Thursday, but he is just five shots adrift of the lead.

Haindl said patience and accuracy off the tee would be key attributes to win on Friday.

“The par-fives are quite important but it’s very difficult to stop your second shot on the green, so there are no gimmies. If you drive decently then you can have a lot of wedges coming in, so if you’re swinging okay then you can give yourself a few chances. But it’s very tough, you need to stay patient and accept the outcome if you’ve done your best, if you had a good yardage and a good swing.

“My game-plan was pretty decent, I kept it in play most of the time and gave myself chances. In order to win tomorrow, I just have to play better than the other guys!” Haindl said.