Ken Borland

BALLITO (KwaZulu-Natal) – Luke Jerling rates Umhlali Country Club as being one of his favourite courses and he continued to show how comfortable he is on the 5943m Peter Matkovich design as he fired a second consecutive 66 on Thursday to claim a two-shot lead after the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya.

The 32-year-old Jerling had eight birdies but three bogeys on the first day, but he played much more controlled golf on Thursday, dropping just the one shot, on the tough par-four 15^th hole. A hot putter allowed him to collect six birdies as he goes into Saturday’s final round on 10-under-par.

“I really enjoy this golf course, I finished third here in this event last year and just missed out on a playoff,” Jerling said. “I’m not the longest hitter and this is not a bomber’s paradise. There are quite a few fiddly tee-shots and good par-threes.

“Fortunately my short game is my strength and I also made a few putts after struggling for a while with the putter. It was nice to see a few roll in and my iron-play was also very solid,” Jerling said.

Danie van Tonder is poised for another final-round charge as he lies second on eight-under-par, following a 67 on Thursday that included an eagle on the 489m par-five 10^th hole.

Pieter Moolman (66) and Astin Arthur (69), the amateur from nearby Mount Edgecombe who has won five events this year, are tied for third on seven-under-par.

Overnight leader Jacob Oakley endured a disappointing day as he shot a 75 to finish on four-under-par, still inside the top-10 though. There are a host of Sunshine Tour winners in the top-10, including the in-form Malcolm Mitchell, who is ninth on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.

Jerling has come close before to winning his maiden Sunshine Tour title, finishing third three times and being the runner-up in the 2022 Manguang Open. Although he is now based at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, Jerling is with the coastal players who are hoping for the wind to get up in the final round.

“The wind might pick up more and I won’t mind at all coming originally from Port Elizabeth, where you have to shape the ball a bit. It’s the sort of course where my game-plan will be the same whether I’m chasing the cut or enjoying a five-shot lead, I’ll hit the same shots.

“So I’m not going to think too much about the final round, although it would be lovely to get over the line. It’s actually a bonus being in contention because I’ve been doing some good work with my coach Neil Cheetham and we made a breakthrough last week with my driver and my transition of weight, getting a better turn off the ball with more width. I can see the improvement, which is exciting,” Jerling said.

With the Crocodile River and the Kruger National Park forming its one boundary and its excellent design, the 13^th hole at Leopard Creek, outside Malelane, is surely one of the best holes in world golf.

A 505-metre par-five, an elevated tee shot has to cross a stream that splits the fairway, while avoiding a well-placed bunker on the right of the landing zone. With the fairway sloping right-to-left, and with the stream curving around to run the rest of the length of the hole down the left, any drive that goes left will land up in the water hazard.

If the first shot is successful, a big choice then awaits as to whether to take on the green, which hangs 32 metres above the Crocodile River and is protected by three bunkers and a pond, as well as thick grass behind the green.

Once on the putting surface, there is a wonderful view over the Crocodile River and into Kruger National Park, with Hippopotamus, Elephant, various antelope, Warthog and numerous different bird species almost always spotted.

Brandon Stone, who won last weekend’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek with a superb 22-under-par total of 266, the second-best winning score at the event, certainly rates the 13^th hole very highly.

“That’s my favourite hole in the world, without even exaggerating one little bit, it really is special. The fact is it’s not just a location; the actual hole’s design itself, I think it’s a really tricky tee-shot. You’ve got to really hit a good tee-shot to hit that fairway.

“And then if you hit the fairway it’s still not an easy par-five green to get into. I mean nine times out of 10, I’ll actually lay up; I’ve even written on my book, if it’s anything more than a six-iron, it’s not even worth going at because that green is just so tricky to hit; you just can’t even see the left side.

“So I think if I can play that hole under-par for the week, I’ll be happy, because I think a lot of other guys are going to get a little bit too greedy and it’s going to come and bite them a little bit. And then if they go over the back, something else could bite them,” Stone said before going eagle-bogey-birdie-birdie on the hole.

On the final day, I watched two three-balls play the hole and the scores amongst those six golfers ranged from Keith Horne’s eagle to a couple of sevens by Bryce Easton and Pablo Larrazabal.

It’s a classic risk-and-reward hole designed by Gary Player and although 13 golfers over the four days made double-bogey or worse, at least they didn’t fall foul of the two-metre long crocodile that was lurking inside the pool next to the green!

It was also the hole when Stone finally closed the door on Charl Schwartzel in the final round, making birdie while the defending champion wasted a superb drive by finding a greenside bunker, taking two shots to get out and finishing with a bogey that left him five behind.

As captivating as the golf is, the view from the green into Kruger National Park tears you away and even the competitors linger a bit, the joy of spotting something special undoubtedly lifting spirits in a place that is often brutally hot and was 40 degrees in the final round.

The next day, while driving through Kruger, exactly opposite the 13^th, perhaps 200 metres from the river, I came across a family of Wild Dog, just showing what special potential sightings are there.