Jaco Ahlers tightened his grip on the season-ending Tour Championship as he moved into a three-stroke lead heading into the weekend at Serengeti Estates.
On another windy day on Friday Ahlers was outstanding with the putter and signed for a 65 to lead on 13 under par. Casey Jarvis is his nearest challenger on 10 under following a 67, and Keenan Davidse continues to do well despite being treated for bronchitis as he posted a 69 to currently lie in third place on eight under par.
Ahlers’s level of comfort at Serengeti Estates, which he calls his second home, is very clear to see. The only errors he made on Friday were two poor iron shots – both of them on par threes – on his second nine.
“I’m very happy. I did make two bad bogeys on the back nine, which were really just bad iron shots. But other than that the putter is working like magic for me. The greens are good, the golf course is good, so you can’t ask for more,” said Ahlers, who is also staying with his sponsor on the estate this week.
And this is clearly a golf course he enjoys.
“I like this golf course a lot. I can see what I need to do around here. The course fits my eye so I know where to miss it and I know how to get it around here. It really just comes down to the putting. There are a lot of birdies out there. You just need to be patient. My gameplan won’t change for the weekend. Hopefully the putter just keeps working like it is.”
Behind him, the 19-year-old Jarvis keeps pushing for that maiden victory in his rookie season on the Sunshine Tour.
It’s been a remarkable season for the young professional who finished second in the South African PGA Championship, tied ninth in the Joburg Open, tied ninth in the Dimension Data Pro-Am, second in the SDC Open, and then tied second in last week’s Stella Artois Players Championship where he shot that memorable 59 in the third round.
SCORES:
131 - Jaco Ahlers 66 65
134 - Casey Jarvis 67 67
136 - Keenan Davidse 67 69
137 - JJ Senekal 67 70
138 - Pieter Moolman 68 70
139 - Ryan Van Velzen 70 69, Jaco Van Zyl 71 68, Martin Rohwer 72 67
140 - Hennie Otto 70 70, Hennie du Plessis 71 69, Hennie O'Kennedy 71 69
141 - Herman Loubser 70 71, Luca Filippi 69 72, Jaco Prinsloo 70 71, Heinrich Bruiners 68 73, Stefan Wears-Taylor 71 70, Louis Albertse 72 69
142 - Jean Hugo 71 71, Kyle Barker 72 70, Jacques Blaauw 68 74
143 - Dylan Naidoo 72 71, Oliver Bekker 68 75
144 - Wilco Nienaber 70 74, Martin Vorster 74 70, Daniel van Tonder 70 74, Benjamin Follett-Smith 73 71, Wynand Dingle 72 72, Jayden Schaper 73 71
145 - Bradley Bawden 73 72, Thriston Lawrence 72 73
146 - Albert Venter 76 70, Sean Bradley 74 72, Brandon Stone 71 75, Jake Redman 71 75, Malcolm Mitchell 73 73
147 - Ockie Strydom 74 73, MJ Viljoen 75 72
148 - Ruan Korb 75 73, Dylan Mostert 72 76
149 - Lyle Rowe 73 76, Dan Erickson 72 77
150 - Combrinck Smit 72 78, Keagan Thomas 76 74
152 - Stephen Ferreira 76 76
155 - Neil Schietekat 76 79