Van Buynder leads Nomads North & South
Former Tshwane Junior Open champion Otto van Buynder birdied the final hole at Bloemfontein Golf Club to edge one shot clear of four challengers at the 36-hole mark of the Nomads North and South National Order of Merit in Bloemfontein on Monday.
The Blue Valley junior lagged one off the pace from local favourite Wilco Nienaber after opening with a three-under-par 69. He countered a double bogey at seven with four birdies on the back nine for a 72 to replace the reigning Curro SA Juniors International champion in pole position.
Niebaber – chasing his fourth victory of the season after additional victories in the season-opening Nomads National Order of Merit Inland at Benoni Country Club in January and the Northern Cape Open in March – made a solid start with five birdies and a sole bogey at 10.
The Grey College struggled to keep a grip on the lead after bogeys at seven, 12 and 15, though, and a double-bogey at 17 was a further setback, but he rallied with a birdie finish to stay in touch with Van Buynder.
Nienaber shares second with Kian Rose from Central Gauteng, Werner Deyzel from Gauteng North and Southern Cape’s Bradley de Beer.
De Beer made his debut for South African in the GolfRSA Junior Team that battled Scotland and the South African Golf Development Board in March. The Fancourt golfer was well off the pace after a first round 72, but he reeled in a pair of eagles to get within striking distance of the lead.
Successive rounds of 72 helped Lisanthan Moodley from KwaZulu-Natal to joint sixth at even-par 144 with Yurav Premlall from Ekurhuleni, who posted rounds of 70 and 74.
“We had stunning conditions and the wind never really got more than half-a-club,” said tournament director David Younge. “We will set the course up a little longer for the final round, but for the first two rounds the set up was short. We toughened up the course with the pin positions tucked into all the corners and that put a premium on the second shots and the up-and-down games. The leaderboard is pretty bunched up heading into the final round, suggesting another tight finish on Tuesday.”
Second Round Leaderboard (top 20)
141 Otto van Buynder 69 72
142 Werner Deyzel 72 70; Bradley de Beer 72 70; Kian Rose 71 71; Wilco Nienaber 68 74
144 Lisanthan Moodley 72 72; Yurav Premlall 70 74
145 Christiaan Burke 75 70; Jordan Duminy 73 72
146 NJ Botha 73 73; Tiaan van der Bank 73 73
147 Carlo Heunis 76 71; Alex van Wyk 75 72
148 Martin Vorster 73 75; Liam Cloete 73 75
149 Keanu Pestana 76 73; Samual Mckenzie 74 75; Luhan Bester 73 76; Cole Stevens 73 76
150 Carl Mwale 77 73; Liam van Deventer 76 74; Marcus Taylor 76 74; Cade Cryer 76 74; Jacques du Preez 73 77
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of GolfRSA, a SAGA and WGSA Not-For-Profit company.