JOHANNESBURG, 23 January 2018 – Tokkie van den Berg from Pretoria Golf Club kept control in the 13th Race to Q-School, but he will have Gary Player School member Heinrich Bruiners breathing down his neck in Wednesday’s final round.
Van den Berg carded a two-under 70 to hold on to pole position at nine-under 135, but Bruiners pulled within a shot of the lead when he fired six birdies down the back nine of Modderfontein Golf Club for a stunning round of 66.
The top two will tee it up alongside 2013 IGT Challenge Tour Race to Q-School Series winner Callum Mowat, who posted a 68 to move to third on six under.
Van den Berg slept on a two shot lead after opening with a flawless 65.
The HPC Tuks Golf Academy player made a strong statement at the start of the second round when he eagled the par five first, but he gave a shot back at the ninth. He rallied with birdies at both par fives on the back nine – the 10th and 13th – but suffered another bogey at 16 just as Bruiners fired up his broom-handle putter on the back nine.
The 30-year-old George golfer was level through the turn after he cancelled a lone bogey at the second with a birdie at the par five eighth.
He followed back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 with a fourth gain at 13, added another pair of birdies at 15 and 16 and produced a grand stand finish with birdie number seven at the par four closing hole.
“It was funny, really, because I lipped out four times for birdies on the front nine, so I set myself a goal to play the back nine in six-under,” said Bruiners, a graduate of the South African Golf Development Board and Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation.
“I holed two 25-footers and that really felt like justice after the lip outs. I putted really well on the back nine and I was so pleased when I got it to five under with two holes to play. But I nearly threw it away at 17 when I hit a terrible tee shot that left me deep in the trees.
“I could either chip out, or go for the little gap between two trees and I thought to myself “it’s do or die” time, so I opted for the gap. I squeezed it through but overshot the green. Then I made a seriously great up-and-down to save par. And then I birdied 18 for a 66.
“I’ve been using the IGT Challenge Tour as a stepping stone for big Sunshine Tour events coming up next month and I’ve put in a lot of hours practicing, so it’s really rewarding to be in contention. Tokkie and Callum are both class acts and I’m looking forward to playing with them on Wednesday.
“The only thing to remember is that you can’t control what your opponents do on the day. The only thing within your control is what happens between you, your clubs and the course. But if I’m in the mix coming down the stretch, I’m definitely not holding back.”
Italy’s Philip Geerts, Ryan Huyshamen and Makhetha Mazibuko – another member of the Gary Player School of 2017 – carded respective rounds of 72, 71 and 71 and the trio will start the final round four off the pace.
Second Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
135 – Tokkie van den Berg 65 70
136 – Heinrich Bruiners 70 66
138 – Callum Mowat 70 68
139 – Philip Geerts (ITA) 67 72, Ruan Huysamen (NAM) 68 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 68 71
140 – Clinton Grobler 71 69, Allister de Kock 69 71, Werner van Wyk 69 71, Damian Naicker 68 72, Wynand Dingle 69 71, Juan Langeveld 74 66, Gerard du Plooy 71 69, Antonio Costa (CHL) 71 69
141 – Paul Boshoff 71 70, Juran Dreyer AMA 70 71, Basil Wright 73 68, Andre van Heerden AMA 68 73, Duane Keun 76 65, Dongkwan Kim (KOR) 72 69, Coert Groenewald 71 70
142 – Omar Sandys 67 75, John McClean (NIR) 71 71, Jason Roets 70 72, Albert Venter 72 70, Matt Bright 73 69, Sipho Bujela 74 68
143 – Dylan Mostert AMA 74 69, Kyle Barker 72 71, Antonio Rosado (POR) 73 70, Eric Park (KOR) 72 71
144 – Dwayne Basson 74 70, Carlo Heunis AMA 77 67
145 – Luke Brown AMA 71 74, Ruan Conradie 73 72, Azelia Meichtry AMA 73 72, Divan Marais 73 72
146 – Teboho Sefatsa 74 72, Conway Kunneke 73 73, Dayne Moore (ZAM) 71 75, Norman Beggs 74 72, Andi Dill 75 71, Breyten Meyer 70 76
147 – Andrew Carlsson AMA 74 73, Jade Buitendag 75 72, Aubrey Beckley 74 73, NJ Arnoldi 74 73, Pieter Moolman 73 74, Sean Bradley 75 72
148 – Estiaan Conradie 74 74, James Pennington (SWA) 77 71, Marco de Beer 76 72
149 – Theunis Bezuidenhout AMA 74 75, Eric Nel AMA 79 70
150 – Matthew Vogel 74 76, Thriston Lawrence 73 77, Michiel Bothma 76 74, Albert Visser 75 75, Adriel Poonan 75 75
151 – Ruhan van Dijk AMA 74 77, Leon Visser 75 76, Jason Viljoen 76 75, Matthew Kiewitz AMA 76 75
Missed the cut:-
152 – Roberto Lupini 76 76, Nick Loake 71 81, Gilson Filho (BRA) 76 76
153 – Andrej Skrbinsek AMA 78 75, Shaun van Tonder 75 78, Nic Watson 76 77, Mpho Mafishe 78 75, Tristan Brice AMA 78 75
154 – Songezo Sonamzi 75 79, Ruan Korb 78 76
155 – Shaun Bernstein AMA 83 72
156 – Igor Milicic (SRB) 77 79, David Rebelo AMA 79 77, Ruben Labuschagne 77 79, Duan Nagel AMA 80 76, Dylan Morton AMA 81 75, Aneel Kallan AMA 79 77, Allan Jirek AMA (CZ) 82 74
157 – Michael Dreyer 78 79, Luke Jerling 78 79
158 – Mohammed Ismail AMA 79 79, Stephane van Neer AMA (COD) 77 81, Daniel Joubert 78 80, Thabi Ngcobo 76 82
160 – Shalan Govender 84 76
162 – Alwyn Smith AMA 82 80, Liam Clinton AMA 84 78, Neville Mitchell AMA 85 77
164 – Kyle Murphy AMA 85 79, Donald Makhafola AMA 83 81
167 – Terence Mogapi 85 82, CJ Brits AMA 87 80
