Being newly married and coming off his most successful season yet may have added some extra load onto the broad shoulders of Louis Albertse, but the 26-year-old played with great freedom on Friday as he posted a tremendous eight-under-par 64 to claim a four-shot lead after the second round of the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am at the Irene Country Club.
Claiming eight birdies and an eagle on the 112-year-old parkland course, Albertse will go into the weekend on 14-under-par, with his nearest challengers being Kyle Barker (64), Wynand Dingle (69) and Yurav Premlall (65) on 10-under.
Having been tied for third after his 66 in the first round, Albertse started on the 10th hole and took a while to find the same success on Friday and was just one under after his first seven holes. But the Dundee Golf Club representative broke the shackles around the turn, going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the 17th hole to snatch the lead. A bogey on the par-three fourth did little to break the momentum as he finished strongly with three more birdies in the last five holes.
Albertse, who finished a career-best 17th in the 2022-23 The Courier Guy Order of Merit with seven top-10 finishes, made his eagle on the 368m par-four first hole when he unleashed a fabulous drive that finished just short of the green and he was able to putt the ball into the hole for a two.
“There’s probably a little bit more added pressure when you’re coming off your best season and last week in Zambia wasn’t great, maybe because I was rusty after taking two weeks off to get married,” Albertse said.
“But I know I’m playing nicely and it’s just about trusting the process. It’s nice to see scores coming in though and luckily it all turned out in my favour today.
“I have a game plan before the tournament which I try and follow, but some days are just better than others and you feel able to be more aggressive and it just works out.
“I gave myself quite a few opportunities today and just tried to be patient from the start. Having a birdie-bogey start wasn’t great, but after that things started to fall into place and I had an amazing stretch through the turn when I really hit second gear.
“It doesn’t happen often, but even then you just try and stay patient, although you take those runs with open arms. And it was an amazing drive on the first,” Albertse smiled.
Barker is another who has carried over his form from last season, when he broke through by finishing 22nd on the order of merit and won the Stella Artois Players’ Championship at Dainfern Country Club.
The 25-year-old, who moved over to Titleist in the off-season, started his round with a birdie on the par-five 10th. But he could only pick up more shots on the last two holes of the back nine, before coming home in style with four birdies in his last five holes to claim the lead before being overtaken by Albertse.
“It was a fantastic morning out there, I drove the ball very nicely and hit most of my targets. My wedges were pretty decent and I putted really well – my putts were in the low 20s,” Barker said.
Rookie Premlall was also highly-impressive with his 65. The 19-year-old finished his front nine with three birdies and an eagle, and then came home with birdies on the par-three 16th and par-five 17th holes.
SECOND ROUND SCORES:
130 - Louis Albertse 66 64
134 - Kyle Barker 70 64, Wynand Dingle 65 69, Yurav Premlall 69 65
135 - Stefan Wears-Taylor 68 67, Jovan Rebula 65 70, Malcolm Mitchell 68 67, Martin Rohwer 68 67
136 - Estiaan Conradie 69 67
137 - Sean Cronje 69 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr 67 70, Ruan Conradie 70 67, Robin Williams 69 68, Ruan Korb 73 64
138 - Dan Erickson 71 67, Darren Fichardt 68 70
139 - Adam Breen 72 67, Neil Schietekat 67 72, Merrick Bremner 72 67, Jacques Kruyswijk 69 70, Jacques Blaauw 71 68
140 - Christiaan Basson 69 71, James Mack 71 69, Hennie O'Kennedy 74 66, Callum Mowat 68 72
141 - Madalitso Muthiya 71 70, Quintin Wilsnach 73 68, Luke Jerling 75 66, Steve Surry 71 70, Heinrich Bruiners 69 72, Dylan Naidoo 72 69, Keagan Thomas 69 72, Luca Filippi 72 69
142 - Matthew Spacey 71 71, Luke Brown 75 67, Jack Hawksby 66 76, Danie Van Niekerk 73 69, Vaughn van Deventer 71 71, Nikhil Rama 72 70, Jaco Van Zyl 71 71, Franklin Manchest 72 70, Keegan Mclachlan 72 70, Jared Harvey 73 69, Rupert Kaminski 74 68, Jean Hugo 73 69, Anthony Michael 75 67, Jason Smith 75 67
143 - Chris Cannon 74 69, Ryan Van Velzen 72 71, Richard Joubert 75 68, Hennie Otto 74 69, CJ du Plessis 72 71, Sean Bradley 70 73, Jonathan Broomhead 74 69, Lyle Rowe 75 68, Ulrich van den Berg 73 70, Robson Chinhoi 76 67
144 - Gerhard Trytsman 72 72, Clancy Waugh 68 76, Jacques P de Villiers 73 71, Michael Hollick 74 70, Reinhardt Blaauw 72 72, DK Kim 72 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 72 72