Italy’s Filippo Celli will take a one-stroke lead into the weekend of the Cell C Cape Town Open in association with Honor, but it was Frenchman Sebastien Gros who grabbed the spotlight in Friday’s second round with his remarkable course record 60 at Royal Cape. MICHAEL VLISMAS reports.
Celli maintained his hold on this Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour co-sanctioned tournament with a round of 67 to lead on 11 under par.
His nearest challenger is Spain’s Borja Virto on 10 under par following a 67 of his own. Daniel van Tonder and Malcolm Mitchell are the leading South Africans on eight under par following
respective rounds of 67 and 69.
Van Tonder has won the last two tournaments on the Sunshine Tour and HotelPlanner Tour and should he achieve a hat-trick of wins this weekend he will automatically earn a DP World Tour card for next season.
But Celli said he is determined not to focus on anything but his own game this weekend.
“I’m very happy. It was another solid round. Hopefully I can keep the same mindset and patience over the weekend. I’m just staying focused on my own game. I like this golf course, but it is tricky. You have to be careful off the tee here. That’s the secret,” said Celli.
If anybody unlocked the secret of this venerable golf course then it was Gros. After three course record 62s – all of them occurring in this tournament over the years – Gros took full advantage of an early morning start in perfect conditions and wrote his name into the history of South Africa’s oldest golf club.
His 60 was made even more remarkable considering it came on the back of an 80 on day one.
“The first round was a nightmare and today was amazing. We never know what can happen in this game,” he said.
Teeing off on the 10th, he went out in 32 and then came home in 28 with not a single bogey on his card.
“When I made the putt on the last, even if it wasn’t for 59, I honestly felt like I’d won the tournament. It was the same kind of emotion,” he said.
“The evening before I just thought something like this was possible. You never know with this game, but I just had a feeling. As soon as you start believing, sometimes good things can happen. To get a course record is always a good sign. But especially here where you’ve got 140 years of history in a wonderful golfing country. To get the lowest round on this golf course is one of the biggest milestones I’ve ever achieved in my life. I’m very proud and humble.”
Photo: Carl Fourie/Sunshine Tour
