Herman Loubser followed up his first round 67 with another five-under-par 67 on Friday to take a commanding three-stroke lead into the weekend of the Mopani Zambia Open played at the Nkana Golf Club.
But it was a round in which he had to rely heavily on his short game as he also overcame a double bogey on the 10th on his way to claiming the lead on 10 under par.
“I didn’t hit the ball that good today, especially off the tee. I left myself a lot of work to do with the short game, but luckily my short game was really good today. My short game saved me today,” he said.
His nearest challenger is Samuel Simpson on seven under par following his round of 65 on Friday. There are a group of players on six under including defending champion MJ Viljoen and veteran Hennie Otto.
Heading into the weekend, Loubser’s gameplan is to keep things simple.
“I’m just going to try to hit the ball a bit better. I’ll keep the putting and chipping as is. But I need to just try to hit a few more fairways. This course gets tricky once you miss,” he said.
Simpson, who has already had two top-10 finishes this year, is also looking forward to a big weekend.
“I got off to a solid start today. My gameplan was just to birdie the par-fives and to plot my way around the golf course. I turned in four under and then just stuck to the strategy. There are still two more rounds, the course isn’t easy, and I’ve just got to stick to my processes. If it adds up to a good total at the end, I will be happy.”
At just four strokes off the lead, Otto is hoping his experience will count on the weekend.
“The golf course is in unbelievable condition, but it gives and takes. You need a bit of luck, especially on the greens. The key this weekend is patience.”
SCORES
134 - Herman Loubser 67 67
137 - Samuel Simpson 72 65
138 - Hennie Otto 67 71, MJ Viljoen 68 70, Luke Jerling 70 68, Matthew Spacey 71 67, Quintin Wilsnach 70 68
139 - Warwick Purchase 69 70, Jacques Blaauw 73 66
140 - Graham van der Merwe 73 67, Fredrik From 68 72, Luke Brown 74 66
141 - Liam Grehan 75 66, Heinrich Bruiners 72 69, Neil Schietekat 72 69, JJ Senekal 70 71, Lyle Rowe 71 70, Keegan Mclachlan 72 69, Aaron Simfukwe Jnr 70 71, Xander Basson 74 67, Stefan Wears-Taylor 74 67
142 - Stals Swart 72 70, Jake Redman 74 68, Jacques P de Villiers 69 73, Ethan Smith 71 71, Benjamin Van Wyk 72 70, Ryan van der Klis 73 69
143 - Danie Van Niekerk 75 68, Wynand Dingle 72 71, Kyle De Beer 72 71, Daniel Cronje 74 69, Simon du Plooy 71 72, Martin Vorster 73 70, Dayne Moore 72 71
144 - Pierre Viallaneix 71 73, Martin Rohwer 74 70, Altin van der Merwe 76 68, Austin Bautista 72 72
145 - Paul Boshoff 71 74, Ruan Conradie 73 72, Louis Albertse 71 74, Jaco Prinsloo 76 69, Rourke van der Spuy 72 73, Jack Hawksby 73 72, Daniel van Tonder 75 70, Tomas Gana 69 76, Thomas Spreadborough 74 71, Jason Roets 73 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr 74 71, Ruan Korb 74 71, Carter Rowe 73 72
146 - Stuart Krog 71 75, Robson Chinhoi 76 70, Christiaan Burke 72 74, Kyle McClatchie 72 74, Franklin Manchest 69 77, Michael Chuma 76 70
147 - Keagan Thomas 74 73, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 73 74, Tristen Strydom 74 73, Jordan Burnand 73 74, Jordan Duminy 72 75, CJ du Plessis 76 71, Gerhard Pepler 75 72, Stephen Ferreira 73 74
Missed the cut:-
148 - Rowan Lester 72 76, Rupert Kaminski 75 73, Ricky Hendler 74 74, Hayden Griffiths 76 72, James Mack 73 75, Luca Filippi 72 76
149 - Toto Thimba Jnr 80 69, Francois van Staden 75 74, Robert Mofya 76 73, Gabriel Chibale 75 74, Wallie Coetsee 74 75, Hennie O'Kennedy 78 71
150 - Dylan Mostert 75 75, Pierre Pellegrin 73 77
151 - Sydney Joseph Wemba 73 78, Tyran Snyders 78 73, Hunter Epson 73 78, Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 75 76
152 - Rhys West 79 73, Johan Theron 75 77, Conner Mackenzie 78 74, Madalitso Muthiya 78 74, Christopher Long 78 74, Stalion Daka 77 75, Keanu Pestana 78 74
153 - Innocent Chalwe 79 74, Patrick Mwendapole Snr 78 75, Dezzie Ngandu 77 76, Promise Sombreiro 80 73, Nyasha Muyambo 77 76
154 - Joe Nawanga 80 74, Dominic Musonda 77 77, Christian Kriek 75 79, Albert Venter 77 77, Joe Knox 74 80, Jacquin Hess 78 76, Simon Lumbwe 76 78, Keegan Shutt 74 80
155 - Adrian Andrade 75 80, Morton Muwowo 76 79, Kelly Tembo 77 78
156 - Raphael Phiri 80 76, Thabang Simon 77 79, Paul Adam Chidale 83 73, Otto Van Buynder 75 81, Boyd Kapalamoto 79 77
157 - Conrad Makoto 82 75, Marcus Sandile Taylor 78 79, Zachary Chegwidden 82 75
158 - Gilbert Chalwe 82 76, Tatenda Makunde 79 79
159 - Ntengwa Mukosa 83 76, Tyron Davidowitz 77 82, Werner Deyzel 80 79
160 - Kyle Barker 81 79
161 - Tanaka Chatora 86 75
165 - Musambo Kapoma JNR 90 75
167 - Kelvin Wemba 81 86
168 - Teleka Chundama 81 87
171 - Joseph Malembe 89 82
174 - Aaron Musonda 88 86
179 - Thomo Mokgatle 93 86