GOLF NEWS - She might be the only rose among the thorns on the IGT Challenge Tour this week, but Nobuhle Dlamini sure made her presence felt in the Killarney Challenge as she charged into contention on day two at Killarney Country Club.
Callum Mowat shot to the top of the leaderboard on Tuesday with a four-under-par 66, but Dlamini used her power drives to fire a blistering 64 that featured four birdies and two eagles.
The effort not only earned her R500 for the lowest round of the day, but propelled the Swazi golfer to a tie for second with Pretoria amateur Arno Pretorius at five under 135.
The pair will start the final round trailing Mowat by just one shot.
“It’s a good score, but I felt like it could have been lower,” said the Gary Player Class of 2017 player. “I fired on all cylinders and it’s good to be in contention again. Length does come into it, especially on the par fives around this course, but you have to position yourself to score and I did that well. The putter also came to the party, and that always helps.”
The Sunshine Ladies Tour campaigner began the second round four off the pace after opening with a 71, but she made quick work of the deficit with birdies at the third and fourth holes and the first of her two eagles at the par five fifth.
“I hit a big drive at the fifth and had 178 metres left to the pin,” said Dlamini. “The green was downhill and downwind, so I took a six-iron. The ball bounced four metres short of the green and rolled five metres past the pin. I had a tricky downhill putt, but I knocked it in.
“I practice at Killarney often with my coach, Warrick Druian, so I know what’s required to score here, so I had a target in mind. I let two shots slip at the eighth and the 13th, because I got over-cautions, but after the second bogey, I went back on the attack. I had some good nervous energy and I used it to birdie 14 to get back on track.”
She backed up the birdie with an eagle at the par five 15th and a birdie at the final hole.
“I hit another great drive at 15 and a seven-iron pin high right and hold a real slider from eight feet for the second eagle,” Dlamini said. “Nice to finish with a birdie to put myself right up there with Callum.
“I’ll be heading back to the United States in a few weeks to play the Symetra Tour. I’m going to play the next couple of IGT Challenge Tour events to get really sharp, because it was tough coping on my first trip to the USA earlier this year.
“It was all so new, but I’ll be better prepared this time. The competition is really tough and most of the courses are ball-strikers courses, but the weather is nice. The things I found the toughest was finding my way around, locating caddies, accommodation, caddies, playing partners for the practice rounds and even where to do your laundry. I just want to make the most of the next few weeks and leave with some confidence.”
Second Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA
134 - Callum Mowat 68 66
135 - Arno Pretorius AMA 68 67, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWA) 71 64
136 - Eric Nel AMA 68 68, Jason Roets 71 65, David McIntyre AMA 67 69
137 - Kyle Barker 69 68
139 - Rupert Kaminski AMA 72 67
140 - Tyrone Ferreira 73 67, Makhetha Mazibuko 73 67
141 - Steven Ferreira 73 68, Paul Boshoff 70 71, Shaun van Tonder 70 71, Simon Kruger 73 68
142 - Angus Ellis-Cole AMA 70 72, Matt Bright 75 67, Jaco van der Merwe AMA 71 71
143 - Neil Cheetham (ENG) 71 72, Ruan Korb 78 65
144 - Jade Buitendag 72 72
145 - Jordan Prytz AMA 70 75
146 - Breyten Meyer 73 73, Heinrich Bruiners 72 74, Mpho Mafishe 75 71, Dylan Mostert AMA 71 75, David Mofokeng (LSO) 72 74, Donald Thompson AMA 73 73
147 - JP Schmidt AMA 72 75, Luke Brown AMA 75 72
148 - Jancarel Rossouw AMA 72 76, Albert Visser 70 78
149 - Matthew Rossouw AMA 77 72, Bradley van Biljon AMA 76 73, Matthew Hands AMA 76 73
150 - Matthew Kiewitz AMA 77 73, Nico du Buisson AMA 75 75, Ricardo Towell 73 77
151 - Ruhan van Dijk AMA 77 74, Jadrick Fourie AMA 76 75, Liam Clinton AMA 74 77
152 - NJ van der Walt AMA 79 73, Aneel Kallan AMA 76 76
Missed the cut:-
155 - Mohit Mediratta AMA (KEN) 74 81, Terence Mogapi 78 77
156 - Michael Jooste 78 78
157 - Divan Marais 79 78, Nikola Uskokovic AMA 82 75, Christiaan Pretorius 78 79
158 - Conner Mackenzie AMA 78 80
159 - Gavin Mawson AMA 84 75
162 - Ricki Dembo 82 80, Tristan Webel AMA 80 82, Malachi Schulz AMA 84 78
163 - Joshua Leo AMA 82 81, Bryce Webel AMA 81 82
168 - Gareth Anderson AMA 85 83
172 - Jesse Jacobs AMA 94 78
186 - Emmanuel Roodt 86 100
187 - Sandi Qhena AMA 86 101
WDN - Deon Bredenkamp 85 WDN, Jabu Radebe 92 WDN
RTD - Ramon Kritzinger AMA 82 RTD
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER ON BEHALF OF THE IGT CHALLENGE TOUR
