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Cape Town - Justin Harding made two eagles on the back nine at Royal Cape Golf Club on Friday to rise into a share of the lead at the halfway mark of the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open.
“I didn’t make a birdie, but I made a couple of eagles. It’s not often I break 70 without a birdie on the card, so that was fun. I like this golf course and I’ve played well here in the past – both in amateur days and in the last couple of Cape Town Opens - so I’m comfortable out here,” he said.
According to the Sunshine Tour website, the Stellenbosch local, who lives a short drive from the course, wrapped up 36 holes in nine-under-par to join fellow Capetonians Erik van Rooyen and Andrew Georgiou at the top of the pile.
“I suppose it’s an advantage to come here,” said Harding. “We don’t play that much tournament golf down here in the Western Cape, which is unfortunate. It’s nice staying at home and in the evenings I can talk a bit of nonsense with my parents. There were a couple of guys that came out today, which made it that much nicer.”
The jovial big hitter worked his way around Royal Cape in 69 on Friday and made just one bogey in spite of the brooding weather.
“I haven’t played this wind on this golf course, not since I can remember. A lot of it is cross breeze and the fairways are quite tight, so I found it difficult to put the ball in play.
“The scores are out there, but the weather this afternoon made it difficult to get a rhythm going. That said, I’m quite happy with where I am sitting at the moment,” he said.
The 29-year-old has four Sunshine Tour wins under his belt and had his sights set on a fifth title at this week’s R1,2-million tournament.
“You try to put yourself in position and give yourself a chance on the weekend. For us at the top it’s about grinding it out and seeing if we can make some birdies and set ourselves up for Sunday. If the wind switches to a south-easter then anything can happen, so it’s really going to come down to the last nine holes on Sunday,” he said.
Van Rooyen felt the brunt of the breeze on his second loop, yet managed to reach the clubhouse in a share of the lead on nine-under.
“I knew this course would show her teeth at some stage and she did that today. I think the pins were a bit tougher today and the conditions got tricky. It’s a four-day event and to still go under par like I did today is fantastic, so I’m quite excited for this weekend,” he said.
Georgiou carded a course record 62 during the first round, but slipped back on Friday and settled for a share of the lead ahead of a cut to the leading 50 players and those tied on the number.
“I didn’t play great today, but you’ve got to keep yourself in check. Still at the top of the leaderboard and I want to keep going,” he said.
SCORES (RSA unless otherwise specified):
135 - Andrew Georgiou (CYP) 62 73, Erik van Rooyen 64 71, Justin Harding 66 69
137 - Ockie Strydom 67 70
138 - Michael Hollick 67 71, Wynand Dingle 71 67, Hennie Otto 68 70
139 - Morne Buys 72 67, JJ Senekal 70 69, Brandon Stone 73 66, Maritz Wessels 66 73, Toby Tree (ENG) 68 71, Doug McGuigan 70 69, Richard Sterne 72 67, Roberto Lupini 67 72
140 - Theunis Spangenberg 70 70, Jaco Ahlers 74 66, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71 69, Ruan de Smidt 68 72, Tyrone Ferreira 69 71, Peter Karmis 74 66, Christiaan Basson 64 76
141 - Bradford Vaughan 71 70, Scott Vincent (ZIM) 68 73, Merrick Bremner 71 70, Tjaart van der Walt 71 70, Kevin Stone 72 69, MJ Viljoen 70 71, Jake Redman 68 73, Daniel Greene 72 69, Drikus van der Walt 68 73, Adrian Ford 70 71
142 - Jean-Paul Strydom 71 71, Le Roux Ferreira 71 71, Louis de Jager 70 72, Chris Swanepoel 72 70, Thriston Lawrence 70 72, Drikus Bruyns 73 69, Wallie Coetsee 71 71, Rourke van der Spuy 70 72, Garth Mulroy 73 69, Andrew Curlewis 68 74, Titch Moore 71 71, Steve Surry (ENG) 71 71, Ryan Tipping 70 72, Heinrich Bruiners 71 71
143 - Alan Michell 73 70, Anthony Michael 74 69, Jacques Blaauw 68 75, Shaun Norris 72 71, Antonio Rosado (POR) 73 70, Etienne Bond 74 69, Hennie du Plessis 70 73, Derik Ferreira 68 75
Missed the cut:
144 - Lean Boezaart 76 68, Dylan Frittelli 71 73, Eddie Taylor 74 70, Dongkwan Kim (KOR) 70 74, Omar Sandys 72 72, Pieter Moolman 71 73, Jaco Prinsloo 70 74, Breyten Meyer 72 72, Oliver Bekker 70 74, Lyle Rowe 72 72, Makhetha Mazibuko 74 70
145 - Steven Ferreira 73 72, Allan Versfeld 71 74, Charl Coetzee 73 72, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 75 70, Keenan Davidse 75 70, Vaughn Groenewald 74 71, Grant Muller 73 72, James Kamte 74 71, Louis Calitz 71 74, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 72 73, Colin Nel 72 73, Bryce Bibby 70 75
146 - Tyrone Mordt 75 71, Tyrone Ryan 73 73, Juan Langeveld 73 73, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 70 76, Brett Liddle 72 74, Tyron Roelofsz 74 72, Rhys West 69 77, JC Ritchie 72 74, Zander Lombard 73 73, Henry Featherstone (ENG) 69 77, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 77, Mervyn Galant 73 73, Glen de Waal (NAM) 72 74
147 - Dwayne Basson 75 72, Jack Kutumane 75 72, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 75 72, Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN) 73 74, Burger Heckroodt 81 66, Allister de Kock 73 74, Thabang Simon 71 76, Robert Wiederkehr (SUI) 72 75, Teboho Sefatsa 75 72, Rhys Enoch (WAL) 76 71, Jacques Kruyswijk 73 74, Neil Schietekat 74 73, Callum Mowat 74 73, Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 72 75, Daniel Hammond 70 77, Coert Groenewald 71 76, Jacquin Hess 70 77
148 - Gert Myburgh 74 74, Trevor Mahoney 74 74, Thanda Mavundla 75 73, Matthew Kent 71 77, Mike Michell 75 73
149 - Matthew Carvell 70 79, Jared Harvey 75 74, Mark Murless 74 75, Divan van den Heever 72 77, Calvin Caldeira 74 75
150 - Regardt van Rooyen 78 72, Justin Turner 73 77, PH McIntyre 74 76, Derick Petersen 76 74, Grant Veenstra 75 75, Desvonde Botes 73 77
151 - Nelson Mudanyi (KEN) 76 75, Russel Franz 79 72, Irvin Mazibuko 77 74, Andrew Odoh (NGA) 74 77, Greg Bentley (ZIM) 74 77, Kevin Rundle 76 75, Otto van Greunen 74 77
152 - Callie Swart 76 76, Gary Thompson (ZIM) 76 76, Stephen Ferreira (POR) 75 77
153 - Divan Gerber 77 76, Wayne De Haas 79 74, James Wade 79 74
154 - Dayne Moore (ZAM) 76 78
155 - PJ Woest 73 82, Roy Da Costa (POR) 77 78, Reggie Adams 80 75, Darren Tibshraeny 74 81
156 - Michiel Bothma 78 78, Arthur Horne (SWZ) 76 80
158 - Mohammad Rauf Mandhu (ZIM) 83 75, Gregg Upton 80 78
159 - Mark Williams (ZIM) 81 78, Stuart Smith (BOT) 81 78
162 - De Waal Botha 83 79, Craig Lewthwaite 84 78, Johan Engelbrecht 82 80
163 - JP Laubscher 82 81
