• Patient Coetsee tames St Francis Links, grabs lead

    Wallie Coetsee
    Coetsee during day 2 of the Vodacom Origins at St Francis Links

    How strong was the wind in the second round on Friday at St Francis Links in the second round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament? Well, leader Wallie Coetsee had to take two-iron from 156 metres on 18.

    That set him for a third consecutive birdie to conclude his round of five-under-par 67, which was good enough to give him a two-stroke edge over Doug McGuigan, Hennie du Plessis, Steve Surry and Neil Schietekat going into the final round of the 54-hole event that’s worth R750,000.

    ‘I hit driver off the tee on 18. I was 156 out, and took two-iron,’ said Coetsee. ‘I killed it and it almost went up the embankment at the back, It came down and then just a magic putt. I just tried to get it close and it snuck in on the left through the window there.’

    He needed two-iron for that shot because the winds were gusting up to nearly 60 kilometres per hour.

    And, like the rest of his game, that shot was dialled in. ‘I still don’t know how I shot five-under-par today,’ he said. ‘I stayed very patient. I just had to keep ball down the middle. I hit all 14 fairways, I made 26 putts. I made all the crucial putts, and that always helps.’

    His card had just a single bogey on it. He dropped that shot on the second, but he picked up two birdies ahead of the turn. He made another on 10, and then it was pars all the way until the final three holes.

    With the wind getting stronger all the time, he made three birdies in succession to close out the best round of the day. The first came on the 16th, the par-five playing downwind, and then he made two on the par-three 17th, which was also downwind.

    Then came his epic effort on 18.

    McGuigan was also impressive for his four-under-par 68. He also dropped just a single shot. That came on the 18th, and up until then he’d made five birdies while all around him were battling to keep the dropped shots at bay.

    Du Plessis and Surry made 72 and 73 respectively, while Schietekat carded a three-under 69 to get into contention.

    For the veteran Coetsee, it’s the third time in recent tournaments that he has got himself to the top of the leaderboard going into the final round. ‘I’m excited for tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I’ve been out on the Tour for 25 years. I’m happy to be in contention and to be playing well. Excited? Definitely!’

    Second round leaderboard:
    135 – Wallie Coetsee 68 67
    137 – Doug McGuigan 69 68, Hennie du Plessis 65 72, Steve Surry 64 73, Neil Schietekat 68 69
    138 – N.J. Arnoldi 69 69, Scott Campbell 68 70
    139 – Michael Hollick 70 69, Peter Karmis 68 71, Alex Haindl 66 73, Makhetha Mazibuko 69 70, Vaughn Groenewald 71 68
    140 – Sean Bradley 69 71, JC Ritchie 66 74
    141 – Oliver Bekker 70 71, Breyten Meyer 67 74, Colin Nel 67 74
    142 – Madalitso Muthiya 68 74, Callum Mowat 70 72
    143 – Allan Versfeld 68 75, Titch Moore 70 73, Jonathan Agren 70 73
    144 – Jean Hugo 73 71, Matias Calderon 74 70, Desne Van Den Bergh 73 71
    145 – Thanda Mavundla 74 71, Mark Murless 70 75, Louis de Jager 69 76, Justin Harding 69 76, Andrew Curlewis 72 73, Damon Stephenson 69 76, Anthony Michael 69 76, Chris Swanepoel 69 76, Jaco Prinsloo 71 74
    146 – Andrew van der Knaap 74 72, Cody Martin 73 73, Steven Ferreira 71 75, Stefan Engell Andersen 73 73, Tyrone Ferreira 72 74, JJ Senekal 69 77, Ockie Strydom 71 75, Merrick Bremner 71 75, Ryan Tipping 72 74, Antonio Rosado 71 75

    Missed the cut:
    147 – Charl Coetzee 73 74, Francois Coetzee 68 79, Anton Haig 76 71, Christiaan Basson 72 75, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu 71 76, Luke Jerling 76 71, Jacquin Hess 71 76
    148 – Jacques P de Villiers 73 75, Jake Roos 69 79, Theunis Spangenberg 71 77
    149 – Lyle Rowe 71 78, Ruan de Smidt 70 79, Heinrich Bruiners 74 75, Stuart Smith 72 77, Allister de Kock 72 77, Jason Froneman 76 73, Tyrone Ryan 75 74, James Kamte 75 74, Combrinck Smit 74 75, Aubrey Beckley 70 79, Ruan Huysamen 73 76
    150 – Gert Myburgh 73 77, Martin Rominger 72 78, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 73 77
    151 – Matthew Spacey 72 79, Jason Roets 75 76, Dongkwan Kim 74 77, Sipho Bujela 69 82
    152 – Garth Mulroy 73 79, Lindani Ndwandwe 73 79, Irvin Mazibuko 74 78, Arthur Horne 74 78, Mark Williams 75 77, Jason Smith 77 75
    153 – Omar Sandys 78 75, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 75 78, Matthew Carvell 79 74, Danie Van Niekerk 78 75
    154 – Rhys West 71 83
    155 – Wynand Dingle 75 80, CJ du Plessis 77 78, Herman Loubser 75 80, MJ Viljoen 79 76
    156 – Keenan Davidse 80 76, Jaco Mouton 80 76, Altaaf Bux 78 78, Cameron Esau 79 77
    157 – Dwayne Basson 71 86
    160 – Coert Groenewald 81 79, Gerard du Plooy 77 83
    161 – Jake Redman 75 86, Andre Nel 76 85
    162 – Bryandrew Roelofsz 83 79, William Weidner 79 83
    WDN – Jared Harvey 74 WDN
    RTD – Bradford Vaughan 80 RTD, Hennie Otto 73 RTD
    DSQ – Jeff Inglis 70 DSQ

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