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Jaco Ahlers (Photo by Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour)
PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Jaco Ahlers backed up his opening-day 64 with another six-under-par score on Thursday in the second round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun, once again conquering the blustery conditions with barely a hiccup as he stretched his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.
Ahlers only dropped a single shot on Thursday, at the par-three 17th, but he collected five birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16th in his second-round 64 that took him to 12-under-par, four ahead of Keegan McLachlan going into the final round on Friday.
Ahlers started his round on the 10th on Thursday and was cruising from the outset with two birdies in the first three holes. He again did the bulk of his scoring on the back nine, going out in 31, and his bogey-free front nine featured birdies on the two par-fives – the third and the seventh holes.
“I’m pretty chuffed because it was a bit windy today. The greens on the back nine are a bit better, less bumpy, so I was able to roll the ball better and make more putts there,” Ahlers said.
“I missed a few putts coming in, I was a bit cautious on the greens and left a few short. But overall I didn’t miss many greens today and that’s the key at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, to give yourself opportunities. I will just keep doing what I’m doing: hit the greens and hopefully make a few putts. I play the course as it is because I’m not the longest hitter and I can’t overpower it,” Ahlers said.
The 11-time winner on the Sunshine Tour enjoyed a bit of fortune for his eagle on the 16th. Having tugged his tee-shot a bit on the 492m par-five, it rode the wind and lay in the semi-rough.
“I got a bit lucky,” Ahlers admitted. “That hole was downwind today and I only had 110 to the flag, I hit it to 10 feet and made the putt. Which I was very pleased about because everyone is going to score on that hole today.”
Trevor Mahoney, who shot 65 in the first round to be second, one stroke behind Ahlers, saw his hopes die an ugly death on the par-five 12th as he posted a 10, on his way to a 78 and missing the cut by just one stroke.
McLachlan is now second after shooting a 66, also with just one bogey, on Thursday.
Gerhard Pepler is one stroke further back after a never-say-die 66, in which he bounced back from a double-bogey on the 12th by collecting birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th holes.
Brandon Stone is in fourth place, seven strokes behind Ahlers after a second-round 67, but the leader will be anxious about Stone’s ability to go really low in the final round of events.
SCORES:
128 – Jaco Ahlers 64 64
132 – Keegan Mclachlan 66 66
133 – Gerhard Pepler 67 66
135 – Brandon Stone 68 67
136 – Colin Nel 69 67, Stefan Wears-Taylor 70 66, Jacques Blaauw 70 66, Ruan Korb 68 68
137 – Jason Roets 69 68, Haydn Porteous 69 68, Neil Schietekat 69 68
138 – Jaco Van Zyl 67 71, Jaco Prinsloo 70 68, Fredrik From 70 68, Nikhil Rama 68 70, Jake Redman 68 70
139 – Hennie O’Kennedy 69 70, Daniel van Tonder 71 68, Ricky Hendler 68 71, Rourke van der Spuy 69 70, Leon Vorster 67 72, Thanda Mavundla 70 69, Jacques P de Villiers 67 72, Joe Long 73 66, Tristin Galant 69 70, Shaun Norris 68 71, Keenan Davidse 70 69, Danie Van Niekerk 73 66, Nick Cunningham 73 66
140 – Franklin Manchest 69 71, Quintin Wilsnach 71 69, Jean Hugo 70 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 71, Jbe’ Kruger 69 71, Pieter Moolman 67 73
141 – Combrinck Smit 71 70, Robson Chinhoi 69 72, Andre De Decker 68 73, Ruan de Smidt 70 71, Lyle Pedro 70 71, Lyle Rowe 69 72, Martin Rohwer 72 69, James Mack 74 67
142 – Herman Loubser 71 71, Luke Brown 70 72, Dylan O’Leary 71 71, Graham van der Merwe 69 73, Callum Mowat 68 74, CJ du Plessis 71 71, Yurav Premlall 68 74, Sentanio Minnie 70 72
Missed the cut:-
143 – Stals Swart 71 72, Heinrich Bruiners 70 73, DK Kim 68 75, Trevor Mahoney 65 78, Austin Bautista 69 74, Jacob Oakley 73 70, Wynand Dingle 71 72, Michael Hollick 71 72, Kyle McClatchie 73 70, Irvin Mazibuko 71 72
144 – Makhetha Mazibuko 74 70, Brandon Meads 74 70, Dayne Moore 73 71, Matthew Spacey 67 77, Regan Steyn 72 72, Sean Bradley 73 71, Adam Breen 72 72
145 – Hayden Griffiths 74 71, Steven Le Roux 73 72, Conner Mackenzie 76 69, Vaughn van Deventer 73 72, Christiaan Burke 73 72
146 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi 72 74, MJ Viljoen 71 75, Kyle De Beer 72 74, Jonathan Broomhead 72 74, Jean-Paul Strydom 69 77, Luke Jerling 74 72
147 – Dan Erickson 74 73, Christiaan Basson 72 75, Thabiso Ngcobo 73 74, Otto Van Buynder 72 75, Umar Davids 74 73, Pierre Pellegrin 70 77, Toto Thimba Jnr 74 73, Albert Venter 75 72, Gerard du Plooy 71 76
148 – Merrick Bremner 73 75, Ruan Groenewald 71 77, Slenda Sithebe 75 73, Jacquin Hess 74 74, Brandon Pieters 73 75
149 – Jastice Mashego 75 74, Samuel Simpson 77 72, Malcolm Mitchell 72 77, Allister de Kock 72 77, Jordan Duminy 73 76, Kayle Wykes 73 76
150 – Christian Kriek 78 72, Travis Ladner 77 73
151 – Therion Nel 76 75, Terence Boardman 78 73, Gregory Mckay 77 74
152 – Ethan Smith 77 75, Keagan Thomas 76 76, LB Boshoff 77 75
153 – Werner Deyzel 75 78, Brandon Gildenhuys 76 77
154 – Simon du Plooy 81 73, Jared Harvey 82 72
155 – Christopher Long 78 77, Thabang Simon 77 78
156 – Gary Kemp 72 84, Lindani Ndwandwe 76 80
158 – Teboho Sefatsa 80 78
159 – Pride Sembo 77 82
160 – Alex Haindl 83 77
162 – Richard Kruger 85 77
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