GOLF NEWS - The pressure mounted during round two of the South African Mid-Amateur Championship on Wednesday, where former champion Neil Homann made a strong case for a repeat success at Ebotse Golf and Country Estate.
Homann, the winner at Vaal de Grace in 2012, bookended his level par 72 round with bogeys, but a trio of birdies moved the Bryanston golfer one shot clear on a jam-packed leaderboard.
The 49-year-old overcame a bogey start at the 10th with a birdie at the next hole and parred his way to the turn.
He made a birdie start on the back nine to go one-under and cancelled a bogey at the fourth with a birdie at the par five fifth, but surrendered a final shot at the closing hole to lead the field on one-over 145.
Hardus Schoeman from Limpopo and Gauteng’s Shaun Stapleton, who came close to the winner’s circle in the flagship event at Silver Lakes in 2016, also went around the challenging Links layout in 72 strokes to tie for second.
Defending champion Derek Scullard will also be in the mix in the final round.
The Mount Edgecombe golfer had a double bogey at the par five 12th and was three over at the turn after dropping a shot at the 16th hole, but birdied the first to get one shot back. He dropped two more shots at the third and fourth holes, but an eagle at the par five seventh for a two-over 74 will see Scullard start the final day just two off the pace.
Kevin Sharp and Mark Beattie carded respective rounds of 73 and 70 to finish on four-over.
The Central Gauteng pair share fifth with Gauteng North duo Danie Viljoen and Louis Jonck, who both registered rounds of 74.
Rowan du Preez and Lawrence Joubert gave the home crowd something to cheer about when the pair finished in the top 10. Du Preez from Benoni Lake returned a 75, while Joubert from State Mines posted a 74 to tie for ninth on five-over.
Two-time champion Gerlou Roux battled to a 77 and the Western Province golfer will have some work to do at six over. Overnight leader, Shaun le Roux from Westlake Golf Club also had a battling day and tied for 17th after an expensive 78.
Round Two Scores
145 Neil Homann 73 72
146 Hardus Schoeman 74 72; Shaun Stapleton 74 72
147 Derek Scullard 73 74
148 Mark Beattie 78 70; Kevin Sharp 75 73; Danie Viljoen 74 74; Louis Jonck 74 74
149 Lawrence Joubert 75 74; Rowan du Preez 74 75
150 Chris Zietsman 74 76; Gerlou Roux 73 77
151 Jaco Rall 79 72; Weyers Janse van Rensburg 78 73; Robert Westray 76 75; Elton James 75 76
152 Brett Langston 76 76; Lean Boezaart 75 77; Menno Malherbe 75 77; Jayson O’Reilly 74 78; Corne van Deventer 74 78; Alex van Heerden 73 79; Shaun le Roux 72 80
153 David Muller 78 75; Ryan Dreyer 78 75; Ernest Botha 76 77; Pieter Swartz 75 78; Travis Fraser 74 79; Jauqo Jacobs 74 79
154 Robert Delaney 76 78; Josef Fourie 76 78; Jeremy Wright 75 79; Shaun Mulligan 75 79
155 Andre du Bruyn 78 77; Martin Pieterse 78 77; Francois van Eyssen 78 77; Henk Geldenhuys 77 78
156 Koos Du Toit 75 81; Morne Nel 74 82
157 Jacques van Schalkwyk 81 76; Armand van Graan 80 77; C J Head 79 78; Gustav Verster 79 78
158 Matthew Emanuel 85 73; Mark Coram 82 76; Norman Raad 81 77; Dino Di Carlo 78 80
159 Tian van der Berg 82 77; Joe Mnyandu 81 78; Kyle Stylianou 81 78; Blaine Mancer 79 80; Jacques Schutte 78 81; Richard Daws 76 83
160 Jason de Gama 82 78; Greg Heuer 78 82
161 Jean-Pierre Meyer 81 80; Thinus Labuschagne 80 81; Rian Coetsee 79 82; Dino De Abreu 76 85
162 Etienne Karsten 84 78; Craig Bell 80 82; Riaan Swanepoel 80 82; Clinton Sangster Duncan 79 83; Pierre Spies 77 85; Kelso Hannay 77 85
163 Eddie Antonie 80 83
164 Gert van Wyk 85 79; Cameron Johnston 84 80
165 Gareth Landon 88 77; Eduard van den Berg 87 78; Johan Jansen van Vuuren 87 78; Brendan Smith 82 83; Hendrik Boshoff 81 84; Kevin Eden 81 84; Bennie van Loggerenberg 80 85
166 Hugo Delport 89 77; John Michaelides 86 80
167 Evan Mackenzie 81 86
168 Trevor Taylor 85 83; Nicholas Geerts 83 85
169 Tyron Luck 83 86
171 Jacques Viljoen 88 83
174 Michael de Jongh 86 88
175 Hardus Maritz 86 89
178 Grant Race 81 97
179 Brad Ross-Jones 95 84; Deon Bezuidenhout 86 93; Johan van der Merwe 84 95
180 Eddie De Sousa 84 96
185 Gustav Erasmus 92 93
WD Martin Kraft 75 WD; Steve Williams 78 WD; Edrich Coetzer 84 WD
