Tyrone Davidowitz will take a slim one-stroke lead into the final round of the sixth event of the Betway Big Easy Tour in Soweto, thanks to a fine four-under 68 in tough conditions on Wednesday.
The Hermanus Golf Club player withstood some testing wind on day two at Soweto Country Club, coming in with a 68 to take his tournament total to seven-under and a shot clear of local man, Musiwalo Nethunzwi.
Davidowitz had signed for 69 on day one and backed it up with an even more impressive score on moving day to take the lead with 18 holes to play.
“It was tough with the wind out here,” admitted Davidowitz after his round. “But I took advantage of the downwind holes pretty well and I just made my pars when into the wind. Over all, it was a pretty good day.”
Davidowitz was four-under and blemish-free on the back nine where he started his round but the birdies were hard to come by on the tougher front nine of this parkland track here in Pimville.
On his homeward stretch, a solitary birdie was accompanied by a bogey on three – his 12th hole of the round – and thereafter, Davidowitz would not allow for any more big numbers to enter his scorecard.
“This course is really tough and you just have to keep the ball in the right places,” he said of the challenge posed by this golf course.
“With the fairways being this firm and the big doglegs, you just have to make sure that you miss on the right sides to give yourself a chance to get to the greens.”
Davidowitz is fully aware of the potency of the chasing pack which is led by local favourite, Nethunzwi, but isn’t fazed. His approach to the final round will be very simple, he said.
“I’m excited,” he exclaimed. “I see there’s a couple of good names up there, so I’m excited to compete and just stick to the process and keep doing what I’ve been doing. I won’t put any pressure on myself, though.”
EVENTFUL ROUND
Meanwhile, Nethunzwi took advantage of the course he knows well on moving day. He came in with a 68 of his own to get his total to six-under for the week; giving himself a real chance at glory in front of his home supporters.
His was an eventful round, characterised by seven birdies, an eagle and five dropped shots.
He is known to play well on competing on home turf and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the final round.
Recently-turned-pro Ryan Van Der Klis also proved his mettle as he signed for the lowest round of the day; a 67 which catapulted him to a share of third with recent winner Slade Picketing and Stals Swart who is yet to taste victory on this circuit.
They are five-under-par and two shots adrift.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s premier development circuit and the top 12 players on the Order of Merit will earn their main Tour cards at the end of the season.
SCORES:
137 - Tyron Davidowitz 69 68
138 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 70 68
139 - Ryan van der Klis 72 67, Slade Pickering 67 72, Stals Swart 67 72
140 - Luke Mayo 72 68, Kayle Wykes 72 68, Drikus Joubert 66 74, Jaden Deltel 71 69
141 - Andre De Decker 70 71, Ulrich van den Berg 69 72, David Amm 70 71
142 - Marcus Taylor 72 70, Brandon-Jude Rennie 72 70, Thanda Mavundla 71 71, Xander Basson 68 74, Louis Liebenberg 69 73
143 - Travis Ladner 72 71, Richard Joubert 72 71, Irvin Mazibuko 74 69, Paul Boshoff 66 77
144 - Ruan de Smidt 71 73, Keelan Africa 70 74, Francois van Staden 70 74
145 - Steven Le Roux 76 69, Jason Froneman 73 72, Joe Knox 73 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 70 75, Makhetha Mazibuko 69 76, Allister de Kock 69 76, Christopher Long 72 73, Thabang Simon 69 76, Keelan van Wyk 75 70, Jonathan Waschefort 73 72
Missed the cut:
146 - Nicholas Adams 75 71, Jastice Mashego 73 73, Philip Geerts 71 75, Njoroge Kibugu 75 71, Eben Spangenberg 73 73, Brandon Pieters 72 74, Luke Trocado 71 75
147 - Francois Van der Walt 74 73, Warwick Purchase 74 73, Leon Vorster 73 74, Kian Coetzer 73 74, Matthew Rushton 73 74, Johan Theron 73 74, Khanya Mkhize 72 75, Shaydon Johnson 71 76
148 - Lyle Pedro 73 75, Dean Ralphs 74 74, Coert Groenewald 74 74, Sentanio Minnie 76 72, Thabiso Ngcobo 73 75, Thomas Spreadborough 74 74
149 - Shaunak Rama 77 72, Ryan Tipping 78 71, Slenda Sithebe 75 74, Shalan Govender 67 82, Leon Visser 71 78, Bradford Vaughan 76 73, Mutahi Kibugu 71 78
150 - Tyrone Ryan 78 72, Samuel Simpson 73 77, Harry Konig 75 75, Eugene Du Plessis 75 75, William Geach 75 75, Karabo Mokoena 75 75
151 - Nicholaus Frade 79 72, Vaughn van Deventer 73 78, Erhard Lambrechts 74 77, Eric Wowor 74 77
152 - Richard Kruger 76 76, Kyle Lucas 76 76, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 72 80, Ronald Rugumayo 74 78
153 - Letsoso Letsai 81 72
154 - Matt Saulez 75 79, Jabulane Mabilane 81 73, John Bele 77 77, Adriel Poonan 78 76
155 - Ivan Mare 77 78
156 - Ace Andile Adam 78 78, Reece Mc Kain 80 76, Gerard du Plooy 76 80, Jacquin Hess 73 83
157 - Sandi Nqobile Qhena 80 77, Umar Davids 76 81
158 - Jonathan Williams 81 77, Mark Maart 77 81, Michael Kok 74 84
159 - TJ Sandys 79 80
160 - Alphius Kelapile 76 84, Ricco Motsa 81 79
161 - Christiaan Pretorius 77 84
166 - Kael Strydom 84 82
167 - Evance Vukeya 84 83
168 - Boeta Nasie 80 88, Llewellyn Leibrandt 84 84
WDN - Jarryd Govender 83 WDN