GOLFING NEWS - Merrick Bremner is hoping for a double payday in the Waterkloof Challenge after he launched into the second round lead in the IGT Challenge Tour event yesterday Tuesday 4 April.
The Investec Property player bagged nine birdies in a flawless display at Waterkloof Golf Club to move to 15-under-par 129. If things goes his way in the final round, Bremner will be pocking the winner’s cheque and a little something extra from buddy George Coetzee.
“George and I had a little side bet this week, so I’m looking forward to taking his cash,” said the 31-year-old Els Club Copperleaf player. “It looks promising at this stage, but with George you never know. He is tinkering with his swing, but if he hit a hot streak, he could go very low.
“It’s really great to come off a five-week lay-off and to be in the running. I got the rust of in the Better Ball Challenge at Wanderers last week and I’m leading, so life is good right now.”
Like the other Sunshine Tour campaigners, Bremner competed last week and is playing this week to get in shape for the upcoming Zimbabwe Open.
“I wanted some game time and it’s worked out well for me,” said the five-time Sunshine Tour winner.
“There has been a lot of depth in the field in the last two weeks and it’s very competitive. The two youngsters who won the Better Ball last week (Kyle Barker and amateur Dylan Mostert) impressed me with the way they held their nerve against some proper players from the Sunshine Tour. And I was really impressed with that kid Matias (Calderon), who shot 60 yesterday. No matter what Tour you’re playing, it’s takes game to shoot that kind of score.
“I’m happy with how my game is shaping. I missed a short birdie putt at the first and I didn’t take advantage of the par five, but the putts started dropping from the third hole. I had a nice little birdie run from 10 to 12 and those putts were all really close; collectively less than 10 feet. I’m hitting the ball well and the wedges were really sharp today. I just need to keep it going and I can take my wife out for a nice meal on George this weekend.”
Calderon from Chile wasn’t able to replicate the fireworks of an opening 60, but a mundane 71 still left him within striking distance of a maiden victory on the country’s premier golf development circuit. The Santiago native sits two back from Bremner and will start the final round two strokes ahead of recent Sunshine Tour Qualifying School winner Herman Loubser, who produced rounds of 67 and 66 while watching Bremner and Coetzee at work for two days.
“Herman definitely has game and a great temperament on the golf course and George and I gave him a little advice after the round,” said Bremner. “I’m looking forward to playing with him and Matias in the final round and having George wait for me in the clubhouse.
Second Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as (AMA)
129 - Merrick Bremner 66 63
131 - Matias Calderon (CHL) 60 71
133 - Herman Loubser 67 66
135 - Matthew Spacey 66 69, Breyten Meyer 68 67
136 - Antonio Costa (CHL) 68 68, Bryce McCabe 70 66
137 - Jacquin Hess 67 70, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 71 66, NJ Arnoldi 68 69, Wayne Stroebel 71 66, Dwayne Coetzee 68 69
138 - George Coetzee 66 72, Tyron Mc Comb 69 69, Makhetha Mazibuko 69 69, Teagan Moore 69 69
139 - Clinton Grobler 71 68, Estiaan Conradie 69 70, Bennie Van Der Merwe 68 71, Thabang Simon 72 67, Ruan Korb AMA 72 67, Jason Smith 70 69
140 - Matthew Vogel 70 70, Michael Palmer 69 71, Tyrone Ryan 73 67, Toto Thimba Jnr 73 67, Heinrich Bruiners 70 70, Stephan Erasmus AMA 69 71
141 - Sipho Bujela 70 71, Andi Dill 70 71, Dwayne Basson 71 70, John Bele 71 70, Richard O'Donovan (IRE) 68 73, Wessel Duvenhage AMA 69 72, Brendan Britten (NAM) 73 68
142 - Jaco Mouton 73 69, Wesley Baptiste 69 73, Joshua Galt (TTO) 69 73, Jadrick Fourie AMA 72 70
143 - Pieter Kruger 70 73, Teboho Sefatsa 70 73, Arthur Horne (SWA) 71 72, Gerard du Plooy 73 70, Altaaf Bux 73 70, Divan Marais 68 75
144 - Ruhan van Dijk AMA 72 72, Vaughn van Deventer AMA 71 73, Matt Westner 71 73, Paul Rodrigues AMA 71 73, Brandon Cloete 74 70
145 - Ruan Conradie 74 71, Ockert Strydom 74 71, Bryce Myburgh 73 72, Thanda Mavundla 69 76
146 - Eric Nel AMA 72 74, Andrew Van Der Knaap 71 75, Quintin Wilsnach 74 72, Thabi Ngcobo 73 73, Marc De Jager AMA 72 74, Deon Bredenkamp 73 73
Missed the cut:-
147 - Albert Cawood AMA 73 74, Nicklas van Wyk AMA 73 74, Etienne Janse van Rensburg AMA 76 71
148 - Leon Visser AMA 71 77, Dylan O'Leary 73 75, Ivanna Samu 71 77, Chase Paton AMA 70 78
149 - Jaco van der Merwe AMA 76 73, Tristan Barnard AMA 77 72, WM Coetzee AMA 76 73, Jandre Fullard 75 74, Duan Nagel AMA 73 76, Jason Ackerman AMA 77 72
150 - Irvin Mazibuko 74 76
151 - Armandt Scholtz 76 75, Sam Metcalfe AMA 78 73, Quintin Crause 76 75
152 - Jay Dean Fourie AMA 72 80
153 - Reinard Vermeulen AMA 77 76, Martinus Barnard 79 74
154 - Handre Truter AMA 79 75, Alex Krebs AMA 75 79
156 - Eric Park (KOR) 81 75, Michael Kok AMA 77 79
157 - Paulo Serrao AMA (POR) 78 79
158 - Terry Smith 77 81, Keagan Martin AMA 85 73, Martin Odendaal AMA 80 78
159 - Christopher De Beer AMA 78 81
160 - Rudolph Van De Venter AMA 80 80, Donald Makhafola AMA 80 80
161 - Dylan Morton AMA 82 79
162 - Morne V D Waltsleben AMA 79 83, Gareth Anderson AMA 86 76
163 - Cameron Gunning 85 78
165 - Jacques Snyman AMA (NAM) 83 82, Tumie Motale 80 85
166 - Phillip De Waal AMA 89 77
170 - Gustav Erasmus 84 86
179 - Schalk Burger AMA 87 92
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
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