SA quartet pull clear at All-Africa Junior
Herman Loubser and Marco Steyn posted a pair of 71s, while Dylan Mostert and Dylan Naidoo returned level par 73s to give the South African team a solid boost in the second round of the 2016 All-Africa Junior Golf Championship at the El Kantaoui Golf Course in Sousse, Tunisia.
The team combined for a four-under-par 215 to edge further ahead of second-placed Zimbabwe on two over 440.
The 2015 silver medallists returned rounds of 70, 74 and 75 for an even-par 219 and lag 15 shots behind South Africa, while Morocco combined for 236 to sit in third at 36 over 474.
Steyn was pleased to turn around a disappointing opening 82 at the Sea Course with a counting 71.
“I played really nicely,” said South Africa’s top ranked amateur. “The conditions were pretty good and the wind didn’t blow nearly as hard as the gale force conditions we had to deal with on day one.
“I had a really great start, but a couple of three-putts in the middle of the round broke my momentum. I just kept grinding and hung in there on the back nine. It felt really good to make a contribution.”
Naidoo had a rough start and was three over through six holes, but rallied to get his round back to level par.
“I boxed some birdie putts on the back nine to come home in 73,” said the Central Gauteng golfer. “Dylan (Mostert) played great golf. It could have been a low one, but he struggled with a couple of short putts on the closing holes. I think he is saving them for the third round. Herman is just the best; solid as a rock.”
Loubser tops the Individual Leaderboard at one-under-par 145 and leads Mostert and Kieran Vincent from Zimbabwe by three strokes.
FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
440 South Africa 225 215
455 Zimbabwe 236 219
474 Morocco 238 236
485 Tunisia 252 236
488 Kenya 247 241
493 Egypt 250 243
512 Uganda 263 249
515 Zambia 269 246
550 Nigeria 284 266
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.