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Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan will take a one-stroke lead into the weekend of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player, with Christiaan Bezuidenhout leading the South African challenge just three strokes behind him.

Reitan signed for a 69 on Friday that was more of a battle compared with his opening 63, and he leads this field on 12 under par overall.

“I’m pretty happy. I struggled with the approach shots, but my short game saved me a few times,” said Reitan.

His nearest challenger is Frenchman Adrien Saddier, whose round elicited comments of “outrageous” from the commentators on more than one occasion as he produced sublime bunker shots on his way to a 67 and a total of 11 under par.

And Bezuidenhout produced a 65 to lead the South African challenge in joint third place on nine under par alongside France’s Julien Guerrier.

Reitan again started strong with a birdie at the first, but he wasn’t able to unlock all of the secrets of this Gary Player Country Club course as he stumbled with back-to-back bogeys on 15 and 16 before finishing with a birdie on 18.

“It’s a tough course and I’m happy to finish strong with a birdie at the last. It’s difficult to stay patient out there. The wind goes in circles here so I had no idea what I was doing. It feels like it could be in any direction and that’s not a huge confidence boost when you’re standing over the golf ball. But I felt like I dealt with it as best as I could. You need to stay on it out there, and today I needed to grind a bit as well. I felt like I could’ve done a bit better with what I have control over. But it’s a good overall score. I’m happy to keep the momentum up with that birdie on the last after those back-to-back bogeys,” he said.

Behind him, Saddier made an equally fast start with an eagle on the par-five second after a magnificent bunker shot to within six feet of the hole. He birdied the third to keep his charge going. But the closing holes were also a challenge for him as he bogeyed two of the last three. In the midst of that was another terrific bunker shot on 17 to save par there.

“It was a pretty hot start which is good on this course. It’s a pity about the finish. The second on 17 was quite lucky because I didn’t expect to reach the green to be honest. It came off hot off the face, so it was lucky but I’ll take it. My long game is pretty solid and I just need to keep going for the next two days.”

Bezuidenhout is flying the South African flag heading into the weekend and following a second round highlighted by his hole-out from the bunker on the 11^th for his fourth consecutive birdie.

“It was a solid day tee to green. I don’t feel like I’ve had my best yet iron wise, but I’ll work on that for the weekend. This has always been a tournament I’d love to win. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and I’ve come close. I’ve put myself in a good position again,” he said.

KNYSNA, Western Cape – Casey Jarvis claimed his second victory in three weeks on the Sunshine Tour when he won the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final in arguably the most thrilling finish on the Sunshine Tour this season at the Pezula Golf Estate on Sunday.

Jarvis signed for a final round of 65 to finish regulation play tied for the lead with Barend Botha, who carded a 64, on 24 under par.

Both golfers had already thrown everything at each other over the closing holes of their final rounds as they each made twos on the par-four 17^th and then both birdied the 18^th hole.

Then they decided to take it further.

The drama continued in the playoff as they each birdied the par-five 18^th twice to remain locked in a battle for the title. But Jarvis eventually made the breakthrough when he eagled the third playoff hole against Botha’s birdie.

The victory comes shortly after Jarvis’ win in The Hyundai Open in early November. He moves into eighth place on the Sunshine Tour’s Courier Guy Order of Merit.

It’s also the second victory in a short space of time with his new caddie Conrad Loubser, the brother of Sunshine Tour professional Herman Loubser.

And it makes him a serious threat as he takes this form to this week’s Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship where he finished runner up in 2022.

The playoff alone summed up a week in which the Sunshine Tour’s prodigious talent was on full display.

There were two holes-in-one this week, as well as two rounds of 62 from Bryce Easton and Jarvis himself, who built his around a second nine of 29. And the halfway cut of six under par was the lowest on the Sunshine Tour this season.

Christiaan Burke, who led from day one, shared third place with Albert Venter on 23 under par as both of them closed with final rounds of 67. – Michael Vlismas

JOHANNESBURG – Daniel van Tonder overcame a bee sting on the first tee to claim a share of the lead going into the weekend of the Sunshine Tour’s Fortress Invitational at Glendower Golf Club.

Van Tonder signed for a second round of 69 on Friday to share a one-stroke lead with Christiaan Burke (67) on nine under par overall.

“On the first tee box, just before we teed off, a bee stung me on my right hand, causing a bit of swelling. My hand was swollen and burning. It wasn’t easy to hold the club and get some feel,” Van Tonder said.

Despite the discomfort, Van Tonder birdied the first hole and played his way into contention for his third victory this year.

“It was a tough day with the wind, and the greens were really tricky in the afternoon. But I think I coped well with everything. I’m happy with my game,” he said.

Alongside him, Burke claimed a share of the lead with a run of three consecutive birdies in his final six holes.

“Today was really good, but it was quite tough with the wind. It was swirling a lot, so it was difficult to get the distances right. I was putting solid and just tried to manage my game around the course,” said Burke, who is hunting his maiden title on the Sunshine Tour this weekend.

“I know this course well. I play here a lot. Heading into the weekend I’ll just stick to my own game and not worry about the other golfers. I’ll just focus on hitting the fairways and greens and the putts will come. I am hitting the ball well, so it will be an exciting next two days.”

It’s still a tight leaderboard with a group of five players just one shot off the leaders and including Kyle Barker, Tyrone Ryan, Jonathan Broomhead, Deon Germishuys and Rhys Enoch. – Michael Vlismas Media

STELLENBOSCH, Western Cape – A magnificent 62 earned Jacques Kruyswijk a two-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf at the Devonvale Golf & Wine Estate.
 
Kruyswijk produced a bogey-free round highlighted by an eagle two on the eighth hole – his 17^th – to lead on 12 under par.
 
His nearest challengers are George Coetzee and Ryan van Velzen on 10 under par following their second rounds of 65 and 64 respectively.
 
Kruyswijk is looking for his second victory on the Vodacom Origins of Golf series, and as a vastly more experienced player to the one he was when he won in 2023.
 
“Today was special. I always play well in the Cape. I played well and managed the course very well. That gave me a lot of scoring opportunities. If you get momentum on this course there are a lot of scoring opportunities out there. I’m looking forward to the final round. I’m getting a bit older so there is a lot more experience coming in. Hopefully that will show in the final round,” he said.
 
Behind him, Coetzee has his own ambitions for a final round on a series where he won his first Sunshine Tour title.
 
It’s been a long time since a young golfer who turned professional in 2007 and who used to wear his beloved Liverpool Football Club’s team jersey to pro-am functions broke through with his maiden Sunshine Tour title on the series that year.
 
A victory on Sunday would put Coetzee second on the list of all-time Vodacom Origins of Golf wins with six titles. Jean Hugo holds the series record with his 12 titles.
 
“The Vodacom Origins of Golf series has been there for my whole career. It was my first professional victory. They’ve been great to the Sunshine Tour and have been very loyal, and as players we’re very grateful for that,” said Coetzee.
 
He birdied his opening three holes and then added another two birdies before the turn. His back nine had one bogey and two birdies.
 
“I didn’t feel like I was playing superb golf but I capitalised on the holes I played well on. I was very disappointed in the bogey on 11 because I had a five iron in on a par five and made bogey. But my caddie just told me to get over it.” 
 
Gabrielle Venter was the only Sunshine Ladies Tour professional to make the cut and will tee off on Sunday at two under par after her round of 71. – Michael Vlismas
 

PARYS (Free State) – Defending champion Yurav Premlall made his intentions clear during the second round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf played at the Parys Golf & Country Estate by taking a two-shot lead on eight-under-par heading into Sunday’s final round.

South Africa’s Marcus Taylor is in second place on six-under-par with George Coetzee, England’s Joe Long and first-round leader Herman Loubser, three strokes back on five-under-par.

Nadia van der Westhuizen is the leading Sunshine Ladies Tour professional on two-over-par.

Premlall started his round on the back nine and after making a bogey on the par-three 12^th immediately bounced back with six consecutive birdies.

“The round was good after a slow start. I’ve been putting poorly the past couple of weeks but I stayed patient after doing a lot of work on the putting green, and it clicked today. I went on a nice run and played very solidly,” said Premlall.

Premlall is the Free State/Northern Cape regional defending champion after claiming his first title on the Sunshine Tour during this event in Kathu last year.

“It’s been a year since I last won, so it will be nice to go out and do it again tomorrow. At the end of the day, you have to go out and play golf. For tomorrow the game plan is to get the ball into play and hit as many greens as possible in order to make putts. That formula normally works well, so more of the same tomorrow.”

With play suspended on Saturday afternoon first due to lightning and then due to bad light, the second round will resume tomorrow at 07:00 with the final commencing at around 08:20. – Michael Vlismas Media