Gobel doesn’t even appear on the South African Senior Amateur Rankings, but the unheralded 50-year-old business man from Randpark showed that he is no shrinking violet as he grabbed a share of the second round lead alongside South Africa’s top ranked senior Steve Williams.
A 73 from Gobel and 75 from Williams saw the pair perched at the top on one-over-par 145 on another hugely testing day at Kyalami Country Club that saw just one player shoot level par.
Stephen Rossiter’s 72 left him two back from the leaders in a tie for third with two-time former champion Mellette Hendrikse, who returned a 74.
Gobel was understandably delighted to be in the runner in his debut on senior amateur golf’s biggest stage.
“I travel so much for work that I don’t often get the chance to compete here at home, but when I turned 50 in March, I entered the SA Senior Stroke Play,” he said. “All of us dream of winning a national title and this was my chance to test myself against guys my own age and guys who don’t drive it 100 metres past me.”
He began the second round two shots behind Williams after opening with an even-par 72 and enjoyed an uninterrupted run of 11 straight pars before a double bogey at 12 spoiled his faultless card.
“It was really windy out there, so it wasn’t a day for heroics,” said Gobel, who birdied 14 and followed a drop at 17 with a birdie finish.
“I played solidly up to 12, where my tee shot finished up against a tree. I tried to play a low shot, but I duffed it and the ball hit another tree and ricochet backwards right past me. I managed to salvage a six with a good chip-and-putt.
“I hit eight-iron to eight feet at 14 and holed the putt, but missed the green at 17. Made another good chip, but I two-putted for bogey. At 18, I hit one of my best drives down the fairway, left my approach just short of the green and chipped it to three feet to set up a birdie finish.”
Gobel blames former SA Amateur champion Laurie Canter from England for his great form.
“I met Laurie when I was his marker for the television crew at the Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek and he was my partner at the Alfred Dunhill Links,” he said. “I was playing so poorly that I actually stopped playing for a month before I went to Scotland, but Laurie is such a great kid and he immediately got me back into the swing of things. We ended up in a tie for fourth, so I have him to thank for helping me hit form at the right time.”
Williams – the outright favourite coming into the flagship event – offset a lone bogey with two birdies to protect his overnight advantage on the front nine, but a pair of bogeys at the first and second and a string of three drops from the fourth crippled his challenge.
Always the fighter, the 55-year-old Modderfontein golfer holed a superb birdie at seven and kept his title bid alive with pars at the final two holes.
“I played very nicely on the front nine and turned one under after a birdie at 18, but it all went south on the way home,” said Williams. “Wrong club selections early on saw the bogeys pile up. I began to tighten up trying to salvage the round but this is not the kind of course, where you can play hook or fade or a low shot out of the trees. If you miss the fairway, you pay the price.
“I got that birdie at seven to end the bleeding and just missed another birdie chance at 18 when my third shot caught the lip of the bunker. I held on and I’ve given myself a chance, but I need to keep it in the fairway tomorrow. Besides Rurik there are a few more guys lurking, so the pressure is on.”
Williams leads the President’s Cup Division (55 years and older) by two shots from Hendriks, Ivan Palframan and Richard Bruyns share the lead in the Super Senior division for players 60 years and older on 154 and the Madala team scooped the 36-hole Madala Challenge with a 21 shot victory.
Second round scores:
145 Rurik Gobel 72 73; Steve Williams 70 75
147 Stephen Rossiter 75 72; Mellette Hendrikse 73 74
148 Stephen Johnston 75 73; Greg P Gleeson 73 75
150 Kevin Monk 77 73; Schalk Naude 76 74
151 Gordon Wessels 75 76
152 Chris Delport 76 76; Derek Reyneke 74 78
153 Morgan Phillips 75 78; Conrad Rauch 74 79
154 Ivan Palframan 79 75; Mark Ian Terrey 77 77; Lawrence Franklin 75 79; Colin Hayward 75 79; Richard Bruyns 74 80
155 Christie le Roux 80 75; Christo Reyneke 80 75; Thomas Hubner GER 79 76; Stephen Marais 77 78; Leonard Pienaar 75 80; Anthony Franklin 73 82
156 Bruno van Eck 77 79; Jock Wellington 75 81
157 Adrian Kriel 80 77; Grant Gardiner 80 77; Brian Mampies 80 77
158 Phillipus Bierman 81 77; Ramon Rahme 81 77; Guilliam van Wyk 81 77; Colin Weinstein 81 77; Ian Smith 80 78; Rodney Smith 78 80; Roland Adams 77 81; Grant Lister-James 77 81
159 Udesh Pillay 83 76; Mark O’Brien 81 78; Michael Clatworthy 79 80; Christian Pienaar 79 80; Steve Smit 77 82
160 Lynton Beckett 82 78; Quinten van der Poel 81 79; J G W Kenyon 81 79; Stanley de Beer 79 81; Gerard Blaauw 78 82
161 Conrad de Beer 81 80; Smart Ncube 80 81; Michael Cullen 76 85
162 Sarel Van Heerden 83 79; Fanus van Niekerk 81 81; Norman Phillips 79 83; Derik Piek 75 87
163 Stuart Elliot 83 80; Johan Mostert 81 82; Gary Church 81 82; Frik van Deventer 79 84; Declan O’Loughlin 78 85; Basil King 78 85; Wilhelm de Kock 78 85
164 Johan Smuts 85 79; William Skinner 84 80; Lucas Lebeko 84 80; Keith Rosenbaum 83 81; Trevor Smith 83 81; Zolile Nqana 81 83
165 Etienne Durandt 83 82; Simon Kgwadi 83 82; Dirk Swanevelder 82 83; Johan Marais 80 85
166 Mohapi Malaka 83 83; Alex Pillay 80 86; Japie Koopman 79 87
167 Leon van Schalkwyk 86 81; Cornelius Theunissen 86 81; Tim Hewan 82 85; Henri Swanepoel 82 85; Neil Goosen 82 85; Allan O’Bryan 82 85; Hannes de Witt 81 86
168 John Durie 85 83; Pierre Lotter 82 86
169 Eugene Louw 85 84; K G Lee 83 86; Gregory Lotis 81 88
170 Ernest Motase 84 86; James du Preez 84 86
171 Pieter De Bruto 86 85; Corrie Leonard 85 86; William Berry 84 87; Henry O’Dell 81 90; John Moolman 80 91
172 Joe Phiri 88 84
173 Gavin Light 86 87
174 Ulric Ray Gous 88 86; Francis Themane 86 88
175 Eric du Toit 88 87; Christopher Cottle 87 88; Herman Pieterse 86 89
177 Nur Gqotso 94 83; Diederick Viljoen 89 88; Shadrack Molefe 87 90
179 Meshack Moutloatse 92 87
180 Paul Bezuidenhout 87 93
186 Robert van Zyl 92 94
187 Theo Raveloarison MAD 89 98
192 Lourenzo Liebenberg 99 93
DQ Calvin Nkomotse DQ DQ; Jack Magoro DQ DQ; Phillip Grant DQ DQ
WD Kevin Curren WD WD; Johan Swart WD WD
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER.
