Altin van der Merwe spent the festive season hitting golf balls on the beach and even putting in his room in a bid to keep his game sharp for the new year.
And it’s paid off as he retained his lead going into the weekend of the SDC Open at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa.
Van Der Merwe signed for a second round of 67 in which he finished with four straight birdies to climb to 11 under par overall in this Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour co-sanctioned event.
His nearest challengers are Nikhil Rama, Sebastien Gros and Jason Roets on 10 under par.
Rama posted a 67 while Gros climbed through the field with a 65 and Roets signed for a sublime 63.
Van Der Merwe spent his holiday break working to be in exactly this kind of position, and he’s determined to take advantage on the weekend.
“Look I felt nervous on the first tee shot of this tournament. Then today was cut day and it’s like there’s something to play for on every day of the tournament. I haven’t been in this position much, but that’s when the practice kicks in. I had a pretty hectic break and didn’t allow myself much time off. I still went to the range or hit balls on the beach or was putting in the room. So I’m hoping for some good things to come,” he said.
Van Der Merwe knows exactly the opportunity that awaits on the weekend, especially in his rookie season on the Sunshine Tour.
And after an uncertain start to his round on Friday, he found his momentum on those last four holes which he hopes to carry with him over the next two days.
“I’m very pleased with that finish. At the start I just couldn’t hit it close enough and was two-putting from 30 feet and more.”
An eagle on the par-five 18th helped to settle the nerves. Van Der Merwe then made his only bogey of the week thus far on the fourth before his strong finish.
“The finish was incredible. I didn’t actually realise it myself. I was just busy trying to not mess up my score. So I ended up going for four flags almost accidently and it paid off. Those four birdies at the end really helped my score. I’m pretty pleased to move forward from here. I’ll play more aggressive golf going forward,” he said.
SCORES:
133 - Altin van der Merwe 66 67
134 - Sebastien Gros 69 65, Nikhil Rama 67 67, Jason Roets 71 63
136 - Benjamin Follett-Smith 68 68, Lucas Vacarisas 69 67, George Bloor 71 65, Jaco Van Zyl 68 68, Nick Carlson 68 68, Liam Nolan 69 67
137 - Wilco Nienaber 69 68, Daniel van Tonder 72 65, Albert Boneta 70 67, Quim Vidal 70 67, Jovan Rebula 69 68, Malcolm Mitchell 69 68, Baard Skogen 68 69
138 - Keenan Davidse 68 70, Gerhard Pepler 69 69, Thabiso Ngcobo 71 67
139 - Jack Floydd 70 69, Felix Mory 70 69, Rupert Kaminski 67 72, Samuel Jones 70 69, Gabriel Morgan 73 66, JC Ritchie 70 69, Danie Van Niekerk 69 70
140 - Clement Sordet 71 69, Heinrich Bruiners 70 70, David Law 69 71, Lee Slattery 70 70, Jean Hugo 71 69, Graham van der Merwe 72 68, Herman Loubser 69 71, Jacques P de Villiers 69 71, Jacques Blaauw 71 69, Jens Fahbring 71 69, Ricky Hendler 72 68
141 - Kyle De Beer 71 70, Daniel Young 69 72, Lars van Meijel 74 67, Filippo Celli 71 70, Keagan Thomas 73 68, Michael Hollick 72 69, Maximilian Steinlechner 71 70, Benjamin Van Wyk 71 70, Per Langfors 74 67, Tyran Snyders 69 72, Justin Walters 71 70, Maxence Giboudot 68 73, Trevor Fisher Jnr 70 71, Calum Fyfe 67 74, Robin Petersson 68 73, Rhys West 71 70, Vince van Veen 69 72, Joshua Berry 71 70, Aymeric Laussot 72 69
142 - Robson Chinhoi 70 72, Yurav Premlall 73 69, Rhys Enoch 72 70, Matthis Besard 72 70, Sebastian Garcia 71 71, Kyle Barker 74 68, Borja Virto 70 72, Neil Schietekat 68 74, Tomas Gouveia 73 69, Jordan Duminy 70 72, Adri Arnaus 69 73, Callum Mowat 71 71, Marc Hammer 72 70, Martin Vorster 75 67, Stuart Krog 68 74, Gregor Graham 74 68
Missed the cut:
143 - Jonathan Broomhead 77 66, Ryan Lumsden 70 73, Hennie O'Kennedy 74 69,
Joe Long 72 71, Matt Sharpstene 76 67, Nathan Legendre 72 71, Alexander Settemsdal 71 72, Fredrik From 73 70
144 - Oliver Bekker 76 68, Victor Pastor 72 72, Jeremy Freiburghaus 75 69, Peter Karmis 71 73, CJ du Plessis 74 70, Ethan Smith 75 69, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 72
145 - Combrinck Smit 75 70, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 72 73, Euan Walker 77 68, Davis Bryant 74 71, MJ Viljoen 74 71, Jean Bekirian 73 72, Ruan Korb 74 71, Sentanio Minnie 72 73, Ilirian Zalli 72 73, Chris Paisley 72 73, Martin Rohwer 71 74, Henric Sturehed 71 74, Lorenzo Scalise 70 75, Wynand Dingle 70 75, Rourke van der Spuy 70 75, Jack Hawksby 74 71
146 - Max Kennedy 73 73, Julian Perico 74 72, Dan Erickson 70 76, Palmer Jackson 74 72, Ben Sigel 73 73, Callan Barrow 72 74, Werner Deyzel 73 73, Keith Horne 71 75, Quintin Wilsnach 74 72, James Mack 74 72, Franklin Manchest 74 72, Keegan Mclachlan 71 75
147 - Robin Sciot-Siegrist 76 71, Pieter Moolman 70 77, Tiger Christensen 73 74, Dayne Moore 73 74, Christiaan Burke 75 72
148 - Aron Zemmer 71 77, Louis Albertse 75 73, Tom Lewis 68 80, Luke Brown 72 76, Jaco Prinsloo 70 78, Brandon Pieters 76 72
149 - Matt Oshrine 75 74, Soren Broholt Lind 75 74, Jamie Rutherford 75 74, Renato Paratore 77 72, Bastien Amat 73 76, Stefan Wears-Taylor 75 74, Lyle Rowe 74 75, Chase Hanna 72 77, Hennie Otto 74 75, Matthew Spacey 75 74, Stals Swart 72 77
150 - Luke Jerling 74 76, Tristin Galant 78 72
151 - Albert Venter 78 73, Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 73 78, Dylan Mostert 74 77
152 - Frank Kennedy 75 77, Daan Huizing 74 78, Ruan de Smidt 72 80, Bryce Easton 77 75
153 - Christofer Blomstrand 78 75, Pierre Pellegrin 74 79
154 - Lyle Pedro 76 78, John Gough 82 72
155 - Hayden Hopewell 82 73, Bradley Bawden 78 77, Jiri Zuska 79 76, Christofer Rahm 74 81
156 - Keelan van Wyk 79 77