Ken Borland

When Danie van Tonder’s 40-foot eagle putt fell on his last hole of the second round of the Vodacom Championship Reloaded at Huddle Park Golf Club on Thursday, it catapulted him from a narrow one-shot lead heading into the final round of the last Rise Up Series event into a sizeable three-shot advantage.

Finishing on the par-five ninth hole, it was a magnificent way to end a round which up till then had been more solid than spectacular. On a cooler day which meant Van Tonder could not bomb the ball quite as far, the hottest golfer in South Africa was four-under-par for his round, enough when combined with his superb 63 on the first day to take him to 13-under overall, one shot ahead of Jacques Blaauw.

But the eagle saw him finish with a six-under-par 66, taking him out to 15-under for the tournament. Even for a man who operates as clinically as Van Tonder, it was a spectacular strike at just the right time.

“I hit a good drive and I had 175 to the pin, so I hit an eight-iron as hard as I can and it finished pin-high, but I was left with a 40-foot snake of a putt. I didn’t really think about my lead, tomorrow [Friday] will just be another round in which I try and shoot less than 70. If I hit fairways and make putts for 18 holes then it will be like matchplay and with pars and birdies it will be hard to beat me.

“I just need to play the golf course and try to birdie everything I can. It’s easy, just grip it and hit it and trust yourself. I played well today [Thursday] but missed a couple of birdies. But at least I gave myself chances so I am still happy, the ones I missed just rolled over the lips of the holes and I knew sooner or later I would make one. I was never really getting into trouble,” Van Tonder said after his round.

Blaauw was able to hop up the leaderboard with an impressive five-under-par 67 and led for much of the day on 12-under before Van Tonder overtook him late in the day. An excellent round with the putter meant the four-time Sunshine Tour winner was confident he could secure his first trophy since winning the Sishen Vodacom Origins event four years ago.

“I’m working hard for the win and I can’t really point the finger at something in particular that is stopping me. But rolling in some putts today made a difference, I’m hitting the ball good and my caddy is reading the greens well, he just tells me where to hit it. So I’m confident and I just need to stick to what I know best. There’s a lot that could still happen,” Blaauw told The Citizen.

Promising rookie Malcolm Mitchell and veteran Adilson da Silva, who fired a brilliant bogey-free 64 on Thursday, are on 11-under and also have the potential to challenge Van Tonder as he goes for his third Rise Up Series title.

Anton Haig shot the round of the day in the second round with a 63, that included two eagles, to go to 10-under, giving himself a chance of his first professional win  since 2013, along with Jaco Ahlers, who is clearly in good touch after back-to-back 67s, and Louis de Jager, who slipped back a bit with a 70 on Thursday.

Talented youngsters Clayton Mansfield (67), Gideon van der Vyver (64) and Ruan Korb (66) are also on 10-under.

The drought situation in Kruger National Park in 2016 reached such drastic proportions that it was one of the driest years in recorded history in some areas of the south, but blessed rains eventually fell in early December.

So when I nipped into the park for a morning’s birding on December 5, big puddles of water were still visible from the first rains of the summer. I figured the availability of this surface water would prove attractive to animals and so it proved.

The S114 is the first gravel road on the right after entering through Malelane Gate, and it runs along the Crocodile River before heading northwards towards Skukuza. Shortly before this, close to the S25 turnoff, there were large puddles of water formed next to the road in this area of mixed woodland and thorn thickets on granite, and next to them, half-a-dozen African Wild Dog were lounging around under some bushes.

I found two Buffalo lying in a mud-puddle on the side of the road as well and they were clearly not keen to leave, even though I was parked right next to them, clicking away happily on my camera.

Sadly, the rains came too late for many animals and, also on the S114 close to the Crocodile River, a Hippopotamus carcass was lying under a tree, in which one of those rather confusing African Fish Eagle juveniles was perched.

A juvenile Fish Eagle, whose hunting skills have not been fully honed, is quite likely to eat carrion, especially in a dry spell when their preferred food is scarce, but whether or not this individual had been gnawing on some Hippo, I have no way of knowing.

A Whitebacked Vulture was nearby in a tree, another portent of death.

A Hamerkop flew over the H3 tar road as one approaches the bridge over the Crocodile River, in which there was still water, the river being classified as a perennial, with the usual array of birdlife along its course. A solitary African Openbill, a couple of Glossy Ibis, which are considered rare in Kruger Park, only erratic visitors, and Yellowbilled Stork were with all the other common waterbirds, along with Great White Egret and Water Dikkop.

The S110 road turns left from Malelane Gate and heads north-west towards the Berg-en-Dal camp, running between some of the highest hills in Kruger Park, the differences in altitude meaning a great diversity of plants, which attracts a host of birds.

Southern Whitecrowned Shrike were buzzing between the bushes and a few Monotonous Lark were calling in the valley below the slopes of Khandzalive Hill, which is the highest point in the park at 840 metres.

There were a couple of White Rhinoceros with calves, a very pleasing sight, and, close to Berg-en-Dal Dam, a Monotonous Lark was perched on some low branches and scrub and rather scratchily giving its for syrup is sweet call.

 

Even the reptiles were out and about, with the impressive Blacklined Plated Lizard crossing the road.

 

Sightings list

Egyptian Goose

African Openbill

Sacred Ibis

Grey Heron

Cattle Egret

Yellowbilled Stork

Glossy Ibis

Southern Whitecrowned Shrike

African Elephant

Blackeyed Bulbul

Southern Black Flycatcher

Impala

Greater Kudu

Whitewinged Widow

Glossy Starling

Wiretailed Swallow

Monotonous Lark

African Buffalo

Redbilled Oxpecker

Forktailed Drongo

Lilacbreasted Roller

Cape Turtle Dove

White Rhinoceros

Little Swift

Brown Snake Eagle

Laughing Dove

Plains Zebra

Sabota Lark

Southern Yellowbilled Hornbill

Spotted Flycatcher

European Bee-Eater

Woodland Kingfisher

Blacklined Plated Lizard

Yellowfronted Canary

Arrowmarked Babbler

Blackcollared Barbet

Plumcoloured Starling

Redbilled Hornbill

Jacobin Cuckoo

Helmeted Guineafowl

African Hoopoe

African Wild Dog

Grey Lourie

Longtailed Shrike

Whitebacked Vulture

Giraffe

Grey Hornbill

African Fish Eagle

Hamerkop

Slender Mongoose

Great White Egret

Hadeda Ibis

Blacksmith Plover

Pied Kingfisher

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Water Dikkop

 

 

The Xerox Golden Lions produced a magnificent first half but fell off the rails in the second, before holding on for a thrilling 36-28 victory over the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Absa Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

Seen through the lens of the Currie Cup as a whole, the win should ensure the Lions finish top of the log and host whatever knockout matches they are in, while for the Bulls, their superb comeback failed to earn them a second bonus point, but they are still five points clear of third-placed Western Province.

The Bulls endured a nightmare start when nothing went their way in terms of refereeing decisions and they looked half-asleep, crashing to a 0-30 deficit after 34 minutes, but the way they performed in the second half is perhaps a truer reflection of their quality and the smart money will be on them getting a chance for revenge against the Lions in the final.

Whether referee Marius van der Westhuizen has cataracts or can only raise his right arm was the subject of furious debate for the fans of both sides as he blew the Bulls out of the first half and then proceeded to do the same to the Lions after the break.

The first bad omen for the Bulls would occur in the third minute when the Lions produced a massive shove at the first scrum, winning a tighthead. From there, outside centre Stokkies Hanekom burst through the line out wide and, from the resultant ruck inside the 22, flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff put a pinpoint kick into the hands of Courtnall Skosan for the opening try.

A string of decisions then went against the Blue Bulls, which television replays showed to be incorrect, and they spent the rest of the first quarter manning up in defence. They did that tremendously well, a notable effort being when prop Marcel van der Merwe and lock Jacques du Plessis held Lions loosehead Jacques van Rooyen up over the line, and conceded just a penalty and a drop goal to Boshoff in that time (13-0).

Van der Merwe, unfortunately, was the man responsible for the Lions’ second try, as his pass to nobody fell to centre Howard Mnisi, who charged forward and then passed inside for lock Franco Mostert to storm over the line. The Bulls tighthead was not helped, though, by flyhalf Tian Schoeman’s inexplicable decision to take a short 22m drop-out when the home side were desperately trying to get out of their half.

The deadly-accurate Boshoff added his second conversion and then gained a penalty for offsides four minutes later, putting the Lions 23-0 ahead.

The third try was also gifted to the Lions when the Bulls backline were throwing the ball around well behind the gain-line and Ruan Combrinck stepped up and outside centre Dries Swanepoel promptly passed the ball straight to him, the wing dashing away for a 45m intercept try.

The Bulls looked half-asleep for most of the half, stunned by the intensity, pace and accuracy of the Lions, but as the first half drew to a close, they awoke from their slumber with a try made with surgeon-like precision down the blindside by scrumhalf Francois Hougaard, fullback Warrick Gelant and wing Jamba Ulengo, who made the touchdown.

The Bulls’ problems started in a scrum that battled to contain the powerful Lions unit, but the lineout was a set-piece that worked well for the home side even during the calamitous first half.

The second half saw the momentum totally switch as the Bulls used their lineout to set up some strong driving play.

Boshoff stretched the Lions’ lead, against the run of play, to 33-7 with a 52^nd-minute penalty, but the Bulls quickly responded with a try as eighthman Arno Botha forced his way over from a lineout drive.

Replacement flank Deon Stegmann muscled his way over on the hour mark, finishing powerfully after Hougaard had used quick ruck ball to send substitute lock RG Snyman charging over the advantage line, although the Lions could justifiably moan that the dynamic loose forward had placed the ball in the tackle and then grabbed it again as the ruck went over the line.

The Bulls’ fourth, bonus-point try was a messy affair but Ulengo and Galant deserve credit for their footballing skills as they kicked the ball down the right touchline before Ulengo dotted down for his eighth try of the campaign.

Schoeman slotted another excellent touchline conversion to set up a grandstand finish at 28-33, but Boshoff was the man who had the final say with his golden boot, nailing a penalty after a ruck offence.

The Bulls youngsters would have gained a tremendous amount of confidence from their second-half comeback, but the Lions proved they are a top-class outfit and undoubtedly the team to beat.

A powerful pack is brilliant at scrum time, they are a potent force at the breakdown and a backline boasting plenty of pace – Skosan was a handful for the Bulls on Saturday night – offers a cutting edge to the Lions.

Coach Johan Ackermann has built a formidable unit and they confirmed their status as favourites for the title at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

Scorers

Vodacom Blue Bulls – Tries: Jamba Ulengo (2), Arno Botha, Deon Stegmann. Conversions: Tian Schoeman (4).

Xerox Golden Lions – Tries: Courtnall Skosan, Franco Mostert, Ruan Combrinck. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (3). Penalties: Boshoff (4). Drop goal: Boshoff.

 

 

 

 

The Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras mounted a valiant effort to chase down 322 to win their Sunfoil Series match against the Chevrolet Warriors at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, but ultimately fell just 16 runs short in a thrilling encounter.

Andrew Birch had produced a tremendous all-round performance to set up victory for the Warriors, lashing 88 off 83 balls to lift the home side from 176 for six to 317 all out, and he then claimed two early wickets to reduce the Cobras to 53 for four.

Dane Vilas (84) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (72) then added 159 for the fifth wicket to get the Cobras back in the game.

But the persistent Birch returned to remove both of them in successive overs and off-spinner Simon Harmer then took three quick wickets to send the Cobras crashing to 237 for nine.

But life quickly became miserable for Harmer as number 11 batsman Dane Paterson belted him for five fours and a six in two overs.

Suddenly the Cobras were making significant progress towards their target, with Paterson and Justin Kemp adding 68 in 12 overs.

Kemp carted Birch for three fours in an over on his way to 34 not out and Paterson launched left-arm spinner Jon-Jon Smuts for six to take the Cobras past 300.

But Paterson tried to cut the next ball and thick-edged a knee-high catch to Ryan Bailey in the gully to be dismissed for a pugnacious 42 off 36 balls.

The Cobras are the defending champions, but they have only flattered to deceive in this season’s Sunfoil Series, propping up the log after losing three of their four games.

*Fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon and spinner Keshav Maharaj took eight wickets between them as they bowled the Sunfoil Dolphins to a crushing 242-run win over the Chevrolet Knights in Kimberley on Sunday.

The Knights, chasing a daunting 369 for victory, began the final day on 11 for three and Dupavillon (15-4-38-5) condemned them to defeat with a three-wicket burst that reduced them to 89 for six.

Maharaj then wrapped up the tail, the Knights being bowled out for just 126, to clinch a second victory for the Dolphins, which keeps them in the title race, 20 points behind the first-placed bizhub Highveld Lions, with a game in hand.

The Lions were unable to extend their lead in the competition as they were held to a draw by the Unlimited Titans at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.

The Titans began the final day on 374 for four in their first innings, still trailing the Lions by 111 runs, and they batted on until 550 for five when they declared.

By that stage, Heino Kuhn boasted a franchise record 244 not out and Qaasim Adams made a maiden Sunfoil Series century.