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Kleinmond - Chris Swanepoel blitzed the opening nine holes of the Arabella Golf Course in 29 strokes on Thursday to take a two-shot lead in the second round of the R540 000 Vodacom Origins of Golf event there.
He led from Warren Abery, who carded a four-under-par 68 to hold second place with Christiaan Basson who fired a three-under 69.
After a morning during which players seemed to battle to break par on the 6 381-metre par-72 layout, Swanepoel made it look easy with an astonishing assault of three birdies and two eagles on the opening nine holes.
It all started as he holed his approach on the 342-metre first for eagle. He birdied the fourth, and then he went birdie-eagle-birdie to close out the first nine and he had effectively distanced himself from his nearest opposition.
"It was a nice way to start, holing out from about 80 yards on the first, and that really gave me confidence," he said of the first time he carded 29 over nine holes in a professional tournament.
Only a disastrous homeward nine would have denied him the lead.
It wasn't disastrous: He carded a level-par 36 with two birdies and two bogeys for a 65 on a day on which not many players managed to tame the back nine.
"After I made bogey on 10, I thought I got things going again when I birdied 12 and 13, sais Swanepoel.
"But it's a really tough finishing stretch here, especially on 18 where it looks as if you have got a lot of space on the left, but it's a difficult tee-shot."
Only Abery managed to go really low on that stretch, his four-under-par 32 counter-balancing his outward nine of level par.
"I had a double-bogey on the third, but it's easy to get sucked along by a playing partner who is going so well," said Abery.
Behind Swanepoel, Basson and Abery, a somewhat despondent Ulrich van den Berg finished his round in the morning, complaining of battling with his putting.
"The greens are true, but I’m struggling to find the right pace," said van den Bergh.
"I ended up leaving too many short, and I'm sure someone is going to go out in the afternoon and go a lot further under par than three," he added.
Justin Walters was also phlegmatic about the chances of his level-par 72 for a 36-hole total of three-under holding up for the lead.
"It's tough out there, but with no wind, it's entirely possible that someone will go and shoot the lights out," said Walters.
It was Swanepoel who did that, and he will be hunting for his second win on the Sunshine Tour after his maiden victory came way back in 2007.
With three top-10s this year, he's feeling bullish about his chances: "I'm looking forward to playing with Warren again tomorrow," said Swanepoel.
Scores (RSA unless specified):
137 - Chris Swanepoel 72 65
139 - Warren Abery 71 68, Christiaan Basson 70 69
140 - Vaughn Groenewald 71 69
141 - Justin Walters 69 72, Ulrich van den Berg 70 71
142 - Andrew Curlewis 73 69, Justin Harding 70 72, Merrick Bremner 71 71, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 74 68, Divan van den Heever 70 72, Josh Cunliffe 73 69
143 - Mark Fensham 72 71, Irvin Mazibuko 71 72, Ryan Tipping 74 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 73 70, David Hewan 72 71
144 - Johan du Buisson 76 68, Jean Hugo 74 70
145 - Jake Redman 75 70, Jaco Ahlers 75 70, Doug McGuigan 71 74, Teboho Sefatsa 72 73, Bennie van der Merwe 71 74, Oliver Bekker 72 73, Thabang Simon 72 73
146 - Blanche Lamprecht 74 72, Omar Sandys 73 73, Peter Karmis 76 70, Jacques Blaauw 74 72, Louis Moolman 72 74, Albert Pistorius 77 69, Ryan Strauss 73 73, Neil Schietekat 75 71, Tyrone Ferreira 75 71, Darren Fichardt 74 72
147 - Lindani Ndwandwe 78 69, Keenan Davidse 74 73, Lyle Rowe 75 72, PH McIntyre 74 73, Willie van der Merwe 74 73, Bradford Vaughan 74 73
Missed the cut:-
148 - Ryan Thompson 76 72, Charl Coetzee 76 72, Grant Veenstra 74 74, Derik Ferreira 77 71, Louis de Jager 74 74
149 - Francois van Vuuren 73 76, Theunis Spangenberg 75 74, Reggie Adams 75 74
150 - Lourens Kleynhans 76 74, Steven Ferreira 79 71, Prinavin Nelson 75 75, JG Claassen 76 74, Divan Gerber 71 79, Colin Nel 81 69, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 74 76
151 - Stuart Clark (WAL) 78 73, Desvonde Botes 74 77
152 - Grant Muller 75 77
153 - Ryan Hood 81 72
154 - Paul Bradshaw 80 74, Patrick Spindler 75 79, Alan Michell 82 72
155 - JJ Senekal 79 76
157 - Louis Calitz 78 79
158 - Andre Cruse 82 76, Andrew Mackie 81 77
160 - Derick Petersen 82 78
161 - Ben Fouchee 84 77
162 - Dawie van Wyk 82 80
167 - Danie van Niekerk (Jnr) 86 81
He led from Warren Abery, who carded a four-under-par 68 to hold second place with Christiaan Basson who fired a three-under 69.
After a morning during which players seemed to battle to break par on the 6 381-metre par-72 layout, Swanepoel made it look easy with an astonishing assault of three birdies and two eagles on the opening nine holes.
It all started as he holed his approach on the 342-metre first for eagle. He birdied the fourth, and then he went birdie-eagle-birdie to close out the first nine and he had effectively distanced himself from his nearest opposition.
"It was a nice way to start, holing out from about 80 yards on the first, and that really gave me confidence," he said of the first time he carded 29 over nine holes in a professional tournament.
Only a disastrous homeward nine would have denied him the lead.
It wasn't disastrous: He carded a level-par 36 with two birdies and two bogeys for a 65 on a day on which not many players managed to tame the back nine.
"After I made bogey on 10, I thought I got things going again when I birdied 12 and 13, sais Swanepoel.
"But it's a really tough finishing stretch here, especially on 18 where it looks as if you have got a lot of space on the left, but it's a difficult tee-shot."
Only Abery managed to go really low on that stretch, his four-under-par 32 counter-balancing his outward nine of level par.
"I had a double-bogey on the third, but it's easy to get sucked along by a playing partner who is going so well," said Abery.
Behind Swanepoel, Basson and Abery, a somewhat despondent Ulrich van den Berg finished his round in the morning, complaining of battling with his putting.
"The greens are true, but I’m struggling to find the right pace," said van den Bergh.
"I ended up leaving too many short, and I'm sure someone is going to go out in the afternoon and go a lot further under par than three," he added.
Justin Walters was also phlegmatic about the chances of his level-par 72 for a 36-hole total of three-under holding up for the lead.
"It's tough out there, but with no wind, it's entirely possible that someone will go and shoot the lights out," said Walters.
It was Swanepoel who did that, and he will be hunting for his second win on the Sunshine Tour after his maiden victory came way back in 2007.
With three top-10s this year, he's feeling bullish about his chances: "I'm looking forward to playing with Warren again tomorrow," said Swanepoel.
Scores (RSA unless specified):
137 - Chris Swanepoel 72 65
139 - Warren Abery 71 68, Christiaan Basson 70 69
140 - Vaughn Groenewald 71 69
141 - Justin Walters 69 72, Ulrich van den Berg 70 71
142 - Andrew Curlewis 73 69, Justin Harding 70 72, Merrick Bremner 71 71, Adilson da Silva (BRA) 74 68, Divan van den Heever 70 72, Josh Cunliffe 73 69
143 - Mark Fensham 72 71, Irvin Mazibuko 71 72, Ryan Tipping 74 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 73 70, David Hewan 72 71
144 - Johan du Buisson 76 68, Jean Hugo 74 70
145 - Jake Redman 75 70, Jaco Ahlers 75 70, Doug McGuigan 71 74, Teboho Sefatsa 72 73, Bennie van der Merwe 71 74, Oliver Bekker 72 73, Thabang Simon 72 73
146 - Blanche Lamprecht 74 72, Omar Sandys 73 73, Peter Karmis 76 70, Jacques Blaauw 74 72, Louis Moolman 72 74, Albert Pistorius 77 69, Ryan Strauss 73 73, Neil Schietekat 75 71, Tyrone Ferreira 75 71, Darren Fichardt 74 72
147 - Lindani Ndwandwe 78 69, Keenan Davidse 74 73, Lyle Rowe 75 72, PH McIntyre 74 73, Willie van der Merwe 74 73, Bradford Vaughan 74 73
Missed the cut:-
148 - Ryan Thompson 76 72, Charl Coetzee 76 72, Grant Veenstra 74 74, Derik Ferreira 77 71, Louis de Jager 74 74
149 - Francois van Vuuren 73 76, Theunis Spangenberg 75 74, Reggie Adams 75 74
150 - Lourens Kleynhans 76 74, Steven Ferreira 79 71, Prinavin Nelson 75 75, JG Claassen 76 74, Divan Gerber 71 79, Colin Nel 81 69, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 74 76
151 - Stuart Clark (WAL) 78 73, Desvonde Botes 74 77
152 - Grant Muller 75 77
153 - Ryan Hood 81 72
154 - Paul Bradshaw 80 74, Patrick Spindler 75 79, Alan Michell 82 72
155 - JJ Senekal 79 76
157 - Louis Calitz 78 79
158 - Andre Cruse 82 76, Andrew Mackie 81 77
160 - Derick Petersen 82 78
161 - Ben Fouchee 84 77
162 - Dawie van Wyk 82 80
167 - Danie van Niekerk (Jnr) 86 81
