Tyrone Davidowitz will take a slim one-stroke lead into the final round of the sixth event of the Betway Big Easy Tour in Soweto, thanks to a fine four-under 68 in tough conditions on Wednesday.
The Hermanus Golf Club player withstood some testing wind on day two at Soweto Country Club, coming in with a 68 to take his tournament total to seven under and a shot clear of local man, Musiwalo Nethunzwi.
Davidowitz had signed for 69 on day one and backed it up with an even more impressive score on moving day to take the lead with 18 holes to play.
“It was tough with the wind out here,” admitted Davidowitz after his round. “But I took advantage of the downwind holes pretty well and I just made my pars when into the wind. Over all, it was a pretty good day.”
Davidowitz was four under and blemish-free on the back nine where he started his round but the birdies were hard to come by on the tougher front nine of this parkland track here in Pimville.
On his homeward stretch, a solitary birdie was accompanied by a bogey on three – his 12th hole of the round – and thereafter, Davidowitz would not allow for any more big numbers to enter his scorecard.
“This course is really tough and you just have to keep the ball in the right places,” he said of the challenge posed by this golf course. “With the fairways being this firm and the big doglegs, you just have to make sure that you miss on the right sides to give yourself a chance to get to the greens.”
Davidowitz is fully aware of the potency of the chasing pack which is led by local favourite, Nethunzwi, but isn’t fazed. His approach to the final round will be very simple, he said.
“I’m excited,” he exclaimed. “I see there’s a couple of good names up there, so I’m excited to compete and just stick to the process and keep doing what I’ve been doing. I won’t put any pressure on myself, though.”
Meanwhile, Nethunzwi took advantage of the course he knows well on moving day. He came in with a 68 of his own to get his total to six under for the week; giving himself a real chance at glory in front of his home supporters.
His was an eventful round, characterised by seven birdies, an eagle and five dropped shots. He is known to play well on competing on home turf and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the final round.
Recently-turned-pro Ryan van der Klis also proved his mettle as he signed for the lowest round of the day; a 67 which catapulted him to a share of third with recent winner Slade Picketing and Stals Swart who is yet to taste victory on this circuit. They are five under par and two shots adrift.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s premier development circuit and the top 12 players on the Order of Merit will earn their main Tour cards at the end of the season.
Photo: Deon van der Merwe/Sunshine Tour
