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Mbabane - Christiaan Basson made his first bogey of the tournament during round two of the Investec Royal Swazi Open but he had done more than enough to hold the second round lead with 29 points in an event which uses a modified stableford scoring system.
The scoring system allocates eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for birdies, none for pars, and subtracts one for bogeys and three for double bogeys or worse.
“I actually hit the ball better today than I did in the first round,” he said. “I was hitting them a little bit closer but I didn’t make as many putts.”
Putting is the aspect of the game that could end up giving the winner the edge on the final day, with people like Bradford Vaughn, a three-time winner at this course, taking solace from the fact that he is familiar with the greens.
“They have a little bit of grain, and I know them well,” he said, “so I feel as if I have a little bit of an advantage.”
He made his second consecutive 13-pointer and was on 26 points, three behind Basson, together with Irvin Mazibuko who followed his first round 15-pointer with a solid 11 and continued to be pleased with his putting.
They were in a share of third behind Omar Sandys, who started his second round on the 10th and made eagle three on the 461-metre 12th to kick start his points-scoring for the day.
Sandys kept his card bogey-free and made five birdies to go with his eagle for 15 points and a total of 28.
That wasn’t even the round of the day: Justin Walters had two eagles and four birdies on his card, and he would have had even more than his 19 points had he not dropped a shot on the 187-metre third.
Jake Roos also had a good round with his 16-pointer – his card had seven birdies, and eagle and three bogeys, so he could have been higher on the leaderboard than his share of fifth with Neil Schietekat and Toto Thimba (Jnr).
And Oliver Wilson turned round his fortunes after his opening one-pointer with 17 points in round two. He had six birdies and an eagle in his eight-under-par round of 64.
But Basson’s round showed the recipe for success in the tournament, especially on a course that is short enough to conspire with the scoring format to encourage the pros to fire at the pins in search of birdies and eagles.
He gave himself plenty of birdie opportunities, and, when he could, he tried to reach the greens of the par fives in two to set up shots at eagle.
He has had three of his 16 top 10 finishes on tour on the course. “I love this place,” he said. “I’ve had some of my best results here. It’s just beautiful nestling in the valley here.”
Scores (RSA unless specified):
29 - Christiaan Basson 16 13
28 - Omar Sandys 13 15
26 - Bradford Vaughan 13 13, Irvin Mazibuko 15 11
24 - Jake Roos 8 16, Neil Schietekat 9 15, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 14 10
23 - Thabang Simon 14 9
22 - Dion Fourie 8 14, PH McIntyre 8 14, Justin Walters 3 19
21 - Jaco Van Zyl 9 12, Jacques Blaauw 8 13, Jaco Ahlers 12 9
20 - Doug McGuigan 15 5, Keith Horne 10 10, Alan Michell 5 15, Vaughn Groenewald 10 10, Cameron Johnston 13 7
19 - Alex Haindl 11 8, Clinton Whitelaw 11 8, Andre Cruse 12 7, Lindani Ndwandwe 11 8, Peter Karmis 9 10
18 - Mark Murless 7 11, Grant Muller 4 14, Oliver Bekker 1 17, Charl Coetzee 9 9, Daniel Greene 10 8
16 - Darren Fichardt 6 10, Hendrik Buhrmann 10 6, Ulrich van den Berg 8 8, Merrick Bremner 11 5, Attie Schwartzel 10 6
15 - Brandon Pieters 6 9, Jean Hugo 8 7
14 - Albert Pistorius 3 11
13 - Marc Cayeux (ZIM) 12 1
12 - Chris Swanepoel 10 2, Des Terblanche 1 11, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 6 6, Kevin Stone 7 5, James Kamte 9 3, Shaun Norris 1 11, Divan van den Heever 7 5, Eugen Marugi 2 10, David Hewan 6 6
11 - Prinavin Nelson 4 7, Josh Cunliffe 4 7, Darren Blair 10 1
Missed the cut:-
10 - TC Charamba (ZIM) 8 2
9 - Willie van der Merwe 5 4, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 0 9, Ryan Tipping 3 6, Michael McGrady 6 3
8 - Ben Hatchwell (CAN) 4 4, Meshack Zwane (SWZ) 1 7, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 3 5
7 - Louis Moolman -2 9
6 - Keenan Davidse 4 2
5 - Jbe' Kruger 0 5, Reggie Adams 0 5, Warrick Druian 6 -1
4 - Nic Henning 4 0
3 - Theunis Spangenberg -1 4, Morne Buys -2 5
2 - Dean Burmester 6 -4, Steve Basson -3 5
0 - Alan McLean (SCO) 0 0
-2 - Titch Moore -2 0, Divan du Piesanie -4 2
-4 - Teboho Sefatsa -8 4
The scoring system allocates eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for birdies, none for pars, and subtracts one for bogeys and three for double bogeys or worse.
“I actually hit the ball better today than I did in the first round,” he said. “I was hitting them a little bit closer but I didn’t make as many putts.”
Putting is the aspect of the game that could end up giving the winner the edge on the final day, with people like Bradford Vaughn, a three-time winner at this course, taking solace from the fact that he is familiar with the greens.
“They have a little bit of grain, and I know them well,” he said, “so I feel as if I have a little bit of an advantage.”
He made his second consecutive 13-pointer and was on 26 points, three behind Basson, together with Irvin Mazibuko who followed his first round 15-pointer with a solid 11 and continued to be pleased with his putting.
They were in a share of third behind Omar Sandys, who started his second round on the 10th and made eagle three on the 461-metre 12th to kick start his points-scoring for the day.
Sandys kept his card bogey-free and made five birdies to go with his eagle for 15 points and a total of 28.
That wasn’t even the round of the day: Justin Walters had two eagles and four birdies on his card, and he would have had even more than his 19 points had he not dropped a shot on the 187-metre third.
Jake Roos also had a good round with his 16-pointer – his card had seven birdies, and eagle and three bogeys, so he could have been higher on the leaderboard than his share of fifth with Neil Schietekat and Toto Thimba (Jnr).
And Oliver Wilson turned round his fortunes after his opening one-pointer with 17 points in round two. He had six birdies and an eagle in his eight-under-par round of 64.
But Basson’s round showed the recipe for success in the tournament, especially on a course that is short enough to conspire with the scoring format to encourage the pros to fire at the pins in search of birdies and eagles.
He gave himself plenty of birdie opportunities, and, when he could, he tried to reach the greens of the par fives in two to set up shots at eagle.
He has had three of his 16 top 10 finishes on tour on the course. “I love this place,” he said. “I’ve had some of my best results here. It’s just beautiful nestling in the valley here.”
Scores (RSA unless specified):
29 - Christiaan Basson 16 13
28 - Omar Sandys 13 15
26 - Bradford Vaughan 13 13, Irvin Mazibuko 15 11
24 - Jake Roos 8 16, Neil Schietekat 9 15, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 14 10
23 - Thabang Simon 14 9
22 - Dion Fourie 8 14, PH McIntyre 8 14, Justin Walters 3 19
21 - Jaco Van Zyl 9 12, Jacques Blaauw 8 13, Jaco Ahlers 12 9
20 - Doug McGuigan 15 5, Keith Horne 10 10, Alan Michell 5 15, Vaughn Groenewald 10 10, Cameron Johnston 13 7
19 - Alex Haindl 11 8, Clinton Whitelaw 11 8, Andre Cruse 12 7, Lindani Ndwandwe 11 8, Peter Karmis 9 10
18 - Mark Murless 7 11, Grant Muller 4 14, Oliver Bekker 1 17, Charl Coetzee 9 9, Daniel Greene 10 8
16 - Darren Fichardt 6 10, Hendrik Buhrmann 10 6, Ulrich van den Berg 8 8, Merrick Bremner 11 5, Attie Schwartzel 10 6
15 - Brandon Pieters 6 9, Jean Hugo 8 7
14 - Albert Pistorius 3 11
13 - Marc Cayeux (ZIM) 12 1
12 - Chris Swanepoel 10 2, Des Terblanche 1 11, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 6 6, Kevin Stone 7 5, James Kamte 9 3, Shaun Norris 1 11, Divan van den Heever 7 5, Eugen Marugi 2 10, David Hewan 6 6
11 - Prinavin Nelson 4 7, Josh Cunliffe 4 7, Darren Blair 10 1
Missed the cut:-
10 - TC Charamba (ZIM) 8 2
9 - Willie van der Merwe 5 4, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 0 9, Ryan Tipping 3 6, Michael McGrady 6 3
8 - Ben Hatchwell (CAN) 4 4, Meshack Zwane (SWZ) 1 7, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 3 5
7 - Louis Moolman -2 9
6 - Keenan Davidse 4 2
5 - Jbe' Kruger 0 5, Reggie Adams 0 5, Warrick Druian 6 -1
4 - Nic Henning 4 0
3 - Theunis Spangenberg -1 4, Morne Buys -2 5
2 - Dean Burmester 6 -4, Steve Basson -3 5
0 - Alan McLean (SCO) 0 0
-2 - Titch Moore -2 0, Divan du Piesanie -4 2
-4 - Teboho Sefatsa -8 4
