The top of the leaderboard took on a distinctly South African hue on Thursday at Leopard Creek in the R&A Africa Women’s Invitational and the Africa Amateur Championship as Gia Raad was the only woman under-par and Roelof Craig topped the scores with a second successive four-under-par 68.
Raad unfurled three birdies without dropping a shot on the back nine for her three-under-par 69, and, at three-under with just the final round ahead, is in a good position to push for the win.
She was three shots clear of Bobbi Brown, who had a level-par 72 to remain even for the tournament, and four of GolfRSA’s No 1 player, Lisa Coetzer, whose three-over 75 put her on one-over.
“I’m really happy,” said Raad of her round. “I played some really solid golf. I surprisingly didn’t make a lot of putts today, just the short ones, which was okay, but hopefully tomorrow the longer ones will drop.
Raad, who won the English Girls’ Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at the Caversham Golf Club in 2023, bogeyed the par-four third, but immediately birdied the fourth and she turned in level-par 35. Then she worked the homeward stretch.
🇿🇦 The @GolfRSA star moves into the lead with 18 holes to go 📈 pic.twitter.com/s58T9OjHcz
— Africa Amateur Championship (@AfricaAmChamp) February 6, 2025
“My back nine was pretty good,” she said. “I didn’t make many mistakes. I didn’t really capitalise on the 13th or 15th holes, the short par-fives, though. I had tough drives up there and just didn’t hit them very well.
“For the birdie on 12, I hit a soft gap wedge and I stuck it pretty close, and on the 14th, I also stuck it close with a pitching wedge. I didn’t have a really long shot into 18. I only had 148 and it was downwind and downhill, so I tried to hit a soft eight-iron. It bounced really hard and went just over the green. I hit a good chip and made the short putt.”
For Brown, it was a frustrating day with the putter as she made five birdies and five bogeys for her even-par. “I’m hitting the ball the best I ever have, but I’m missing about five three-to-four-foot putts in each round,” she said. “I had 35 putts today and the same yesterday, and both in both rounds, I hit about 16 greens in regulation.
“So I’m going to use my dad’s Scotty Cameron, because mine is too light. I can’t keep it straight on the short ones, so I’m going to practice with my dad’s putter this afternoon.”
Coetzer had three birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey in her second-round 75, and, at one-over ahead of the final round, she has daylight between herself and the rest of the field.
Kenya’s Kanana Muthomi was on nine-over after a 73 in the second round in fourth place, and another Kenyan, Chanelle Mwangi shared fifth with South Africa’s Zane Kleynhans at 10-over after rounds of 81 and 75 respectively.
SOLID ROUND
Craig had a solid if unspectacular round going up to the turn, with just a single birdie. But things got interesting for the 17-year-old from Silver Lakes on the back nine as he made three birdies in five holes from the 11th, bogeyed the 17th, and then birdied the 18th off the back of a bad drive.
A new leader takes charge. pic.twitter.com/yEW8gpHFvx
— Africa Amateur Championship (@AfricaAmChamp) February 6, 2025
“Probably the birdie on 11 got me going,” said Craig of the gain he made on the short par-four that drops down into a valley and then up a hill.
“And then I had a great up-and-down on the 13 for birdie. I think those are probably the highlights of my round.”
He also made birdie on the par-five 15th, before dropping a shot on the 17th. But he kept things together heading for home with a birdie on the last.
“Actually, I had a terrible tee shot on the 18th and somehow made a birdie, a great birdie.”
Craig was inducted into the GolfRSA National Squad in the middle of 2024 and quickly backed his selection with victory in the Nomads North & South Junior Championship. He is currently third in the Junior Rankings.
“I played very solid today,” he said. “I didn’t really make mistakes. Just kept the ball on the planet. I had two bad shots today – one on 14 and maybe the tee shot on 18 – but I recovered pretty well, so that was good. With two rounds to play, there is still a lot of golf to come. I’ll stick with my strategy, focus on the job at hand and play the course.”
At eight-under for the tournament, he was two clear of fellow-South African Bryan Newman and Kenya’s Michael Karanga.
Newman’s round exploded into action on the back nine after he had made a birdie and three bogeys through the first 10 holes.
Then he birdied 12 and 13, and made three in a row down the stretch from the 16th to the 18th.
“I had a really good finish, sweet finish, so I’m really happy,” said Newman. “The highlight was definitely on 16 when I hit my eight-iron really close. It gave me a great opportunity for birdie and that kick-started my finish on the way in.
“It gives me a lot of confidence. I’ve been playing well on the back nine over the last two days. Yesterday I shot five-under on the back nine; today four-under. Yesterday’s back nine gave me confidence into today’s back nine, so I really felt I was going to do well.”
Karanga had a two-under-par 70. “Yesterday was four-under, today minus-two,” he said. “I’m still in contention. Now is good because now I’ll be in the pressure group probably competing with the best; it’s a privilege. Hope to show them my skills.”
In a share of fifth were South Africans Johndre Ludick and Jack Buchanan on five-under-par, just three off the lead.
Ludick closed with an eagle-three on the 18th to get into red numbers for his round with a 71, while Buchanan had a double-bogey five on the 16th which dropped him to level-par. He made six birdies and four bogeys during the rest of his round.
“I didn’t start off too well,” said Buchanan. “Kind of when we made the turn I got a bit hot, birdied 10, 11, and 13, which was nice. Couple bogeys, few small errors coming in, but nice to finish with a birdie on 18.”
For the leader, like everyone else who will be playing the final two rounds, it’s about more of the same: “It’s only halfway now, so really, it’s two rounds of golf that’s left,” said Craig. “I don’t really think about what’s possible. My strategy will be the exact same as it was in the previous two days.”
📽️ a little action from day 2 at Leopard Creek
— GolfRSA (@GolfRSA) February 6, 2025
2025 Africa Amateur Championship | Africa Amateur Women's Invitational#golfrsa #itstartshere pic.twitter.com/rplJEQWOjT