A bogey-free eight-under-par 63 on Wednesday took Franklin Manchest’s tournament total to nine-under par, handing him a one-stroke lead ahead of the final round of the Betway Big Easy Tour #3 at The Wanderers Golf Club.
Manchest, a member of the Papwa Sewglum Class, came into the second round five shots behind Jacquin Hess who was leading at six-under. A birdie on the 10th, his first hole of the round, gave Manchest a good start to the day. That was followed by three straight pars before the George-native found some joy with a birdie on the 14th which was his fifth.
Manchest made further gains on the 16th, walking off with a birdie there to turn in 32. After the turn, Manchest let loose, making five birdies on the trot as he ascended to the summit of the leaderboard.
“My mental skills really kicked in today, said Manchest after his round. “I’m feeling a little under the weather but I kept my composure in the last two days, especially today, to keep myself bogey-free.
“But beyond that, I think what was really good about my round today was the putting. It has been off for a while but today I found something in my putting that I really enjoyed.”
He goes into the final round leading the pack, even if by a slim margin, but Manchest is not fazed by the moment. Afterall, he has been in contention in big moments before and Thursday’s final round will provide him with another shot at victory.
“For me the feeling of being up there is familiar,” he said. “There’s aways pressure in professional golf, so it’s not too much of a big deal. I am really looking forward to seeing what I can do out there tomorrow.”
Manchest will be very much aware of the chasing pack led by the experienced Tyrone Ryan whose second-round 66 catapulted him to second on the leaderboard on a tournament total of eight-under par.
Moreover, young guns like Oliver Goldhill and eSwatini’s James Pennington, both at seven-under, aren’t too far off the lead and will relish their chances of unseating Manchest from the summit.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els among other patrons.
SCORES
133 - Franklin Manchest 70 63
134 - Tyrone Ryan 68 66
135 - James Pennington 68 67, Oliver Goldhill 67 68
136 - Joe Sullivan 69 67
137 - Jacquin Hess 65 72, Jordan Duminy 68 69, Austin Bautista 69 68, Ulrich van den Berg 69 68, Joe Knox 68 69, Peter Karmis 69 68
138 - Travis Procter 73 65, Brandon Pieters 71 67, Karabo Mokoena 70 68
139 - Adam Breen 71 68, LB Boshoff 68 71, Harry Konig 69 70
140 - Daniel Cronje 73 67, Heinrich Bruiners 73 67, Joshua Koekemoer 71 69, Shaheed Patel 70 70, Keagan Crosbie 71 69, Matthew Rushton 72 68
141 - Toto Thimba Jnr 73 68, Sentanio Minnie 69 72, Leon Visser 73 68, Jason Froneman 73 68, Ryan Tipping 73 68, Jaden Deltel 74 67
142 - Liam Ross 72 70, Kian Coetzer 72 70, Christopher Long 72 70, Vaughn van Deventer 73 69, Mandla Dlamini Jnr 71 71, Kayle Wykes 74 68, Reece Mc Kain 72 70, Brandon Gildenhuys 71 71, Lwazi Gqira 75 67
MISSED THE CUT:-
143 - Richard Joubert 71 72, Johan Theron 72 71, Eric Wowor 70 73, Slade Pickering 73 70, Andre De Decker 72 71
144 - Ryan Fricker 73 71, Keelan van Wyk 74 70, Haydn Porteous 72 72
145 - Shaunak Rama 74 71, Matt Millar 76 69, Jastice Mashego 76 69, Khanya Mkhize 76 69, Hayden Garcia 75 70, Trevor Mahoney 74 71
146 - Jacques Van der Merwe 75 71, Travis Ladner 72 74, Johnathan Ackerman 72 74
147 - Gary Kemp 76 71, Therion Nel 74 73, Siyanda Mwandla 75 72, Keanu Pestana 76 71, Dillon Germshuys 73 74, Thomas Spreadborough 74 73, Ryan van der Klis 77 70, Austin Cherichella 73 74
148 - Keelan Africa 75 73, Louis Liebenberg 76 72, Carl Mwale 77 71, Kyle Kistensamy 75 73, Makhetha Mazibuko 72 76, Tristan Leonard 76 72, David Amm 74 74, Teboho Sefatsa 71 77
149 - Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko 82 67, Thabiso Ngcobo 76 73, Bradley De Beer 75 74, Richard Kruger 75 74, Steven Le Roux 81 68, Philip Geerts 73 76
150 - Andrew Williamson 77 73, Lyle Pedro 80 70, Matthew Dennis 75 75, Nick Beart 78 72, Slenda Sithebe 75 75, Allister de Kock 79 71
151 - Ace Andile Adam 74 77, Austin Mashego 78 73, Marcel Steyn Scholtz 75 76, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 79 72, Brandon-Jude Rennie 81 70
152 - Drikus Joubert 79 73
153 - Caden Sanders 77 76
154 - Ivan Mare 78 76, Umar Davids 76 78
155 - Jarryd Govender 78 77, Tawriq Abrahams 79 76
156 - Kael Strydom 82 74
161 - Wade Jacobs 83 78, Wandre Snyman 85 76
WDN - Jabulane Mabilane 81 WDN, John Bele 84 WDN, Nkosikhona Dilla 82 WDN, Tiger Adams 72 WDN