SA quartet struggle in Italy
The South African four-man team will have to dig deep in today’s second round after a disappointing start to their Italian International Under-16 Championship campaign on Tuesday.
Herman Loubser leads the charge at Golf Club Biella with a four-over-par 77, while reigning Nomads SA Boys U-17 champion Dylan Naidoo from Central Gauteng and Western Province’s Luca Filippi both carded 78s.
KwaZulu-Natal’s Luke Mayo stumbled to a tie for 85th with an opening 84.
Loubser reeled in three birdies to offset five drops and a double bogey at the par-four 15th to claim a share of 20th. The Boland golfer finished six shots behind early pacesetters, Kristoffer Reitan from Norway and Italy’s Leonardo Novella.
“All the guys hit some lose shots, which around this layout, is very costly,” said South African Golf Association Golf Integration Manager, Eden Thompson.
“Herman battled the driver all day and missed a lot of putts, especially on the front nine, but he fought brilliantly for a 77.
“Dylan was level through the turn, but two wayward drives cost him double bogeys at the 11th and 13th holes and two more bogeys took him to six over. He recovered well, though, to play the last four holes in one under.”
Filippi was doing well with three bogeys over the first nine holes, and he offset a bogey at the first with a birdie at the par-three second. However, a one shot penalty at the third ended in a double bogey that broke his momentum.
“Luca kept it together, though, and parred the four holes before he holed a great putt from about 30 feet at the ninth for par to put a positive spin on the day,” said Thompson.
“Luke had loops of 41 and 43 and knows he needs a big effort to come back. Ultimately it was a case of too many lose shots from all the guys. They all know they need to dig deeper to ensure that they make the top 40 to make the cut on Wednesday.”
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Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association