Wilco Nienaber continued his fine form at The Amateur at Royal Aberdeen in Scotland, progressing to the next round of the matchplay thanks to a 5 & 4 victory on Wednesday.
The Bloemfontein golfer was out first and set the tone for a commanding day for the young South Africans.
Nienaber wrote his name into the history books after his medal-winning performance and showed no signs of slowing down against Sweden’s Niclas Weiland with a crushing win. That victory set up an encounter with Switzerland’s Perry Cohen for a place in the quarter-finals.
There was more success to write home about with Jovan Rebula, Malcolm Mitchell, Therion Nel and Luca Filippi booking their places in the next round.
There was good and bad news for the quartet, the good being that Mitchell sent Ben Ferguson (Australia) packing while Rebula saw off Billy McKenzie (England).
Nel advanced in a tough match against England’s Laird Shephard with a win at the 19th hole and Filippi dispensed with Italian Stefano Mazzoli in convincing style, 3 & 1.
The bad news is that the last 32 pits Rebula against Mitchell and Filippi against Nel for a place in the last 16.
EE&FF member Therion Nel wins his 1st round match on the 19th at The Amateur Championship. In a slightly cruel twist of fate, he will meet fellow EE&FF member Luca Filippi in the 2nd round tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/l7NReYYz6i
— Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation (@EEandFF) June 20, 2018
The lone South African eliminated was Matt Saulez after losing by a two-hole margin to Benjamin Jones (England). Despite a hole-in-one, Saulez was unable to reduce the early margin which saw Jones four up through six holes.
Matt Saulez gets the first hole in one of the The 123rd Amateur Championship on the 11th hole at Royal Aberdeen.
Well done Matt! 1⃣⛳?? pic.twitter.com/zRyjH1FZAd
— The R&A (@RandA) June 20, 2018
