NATIONAL NEWS - Connor Syme from Scotland will be stalking South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht when the third round of the African Amateur Championship tees off at Leopard Creek Golf Estate on Thursday.
Lamprecht started the day with a one shot cushion over the world number 16 ranked Syme.
The 16-year-old Southern Cape junior moved to 10 under with birdies at nine, 10, 12 and 16, but he ruined a promising run with a bogey-bogey finish. Although he protected his overnight lead with a two under 70, Syme matched his score when he covered three dropped shots with five birdies and the Scotsman still lurks just one off the pace at seven under.
There is even more trouble for Lamprecht further down the leaderboard.
Liam Johnston from Scotland fired a five under 67 and Luca Filippi from Western Province a 69 to finish three off the pace, while Frenchman Anthoine Auboin and Jeremy Freiburghaus from Switzerland carded 67s to finish four shots of the lead.
More Scottish pressure lurks at three under 141, with Jamie Stewart and Eric McIntosh joint seventh after with respective rounds of 68 and 72. England’s Joseph Long shot 69 and Khaled Attieh from Saudi Arabia even-par 72 to close out the top 10 at three under 141.
Syme – a member of the visiting Scottish Golf National Squad – lifted the Australian Amateur trophy last year. He was a member of the victorious Great Britain & Ireland Team that won the St Andrews Trophy and he helped Scotland to retain their European team title last year.
University of Tennessee graduate Johnston is just as fearsome.
The 24-year-old Dumfries golfer has been in the country since January and showed great form with a top five finish in the South African Stroke Play. He reached the quarterfinals of the Sanlam South African Championship at Humewood Golf Club last week, but was ousted by Caylum Boon, who bowed out to Lamprecht, the youngest champion of the country’s premier amateur championship.
The South African youth is taking it all in his stride, though.
“You can’t control what the other players do out there, so it’s pointless to worry about them,” said Lamprecht. “I like to keep it simple. I keep the focus on my own game, I play shot-for-shot and I try to produce the best score that I can. If my score is good enough, I’ll keep the lead. If it isn’t, I’ll just have to work harder in the final round.”
Meanwhile South Africa lost ground to Scotland in the Teams Competition.
Syme, Johnston and Craig Howie, who shot a 69, combined for a second round 206 to give the team a two-shot lead at 420.
Team RSA Juniors finished second on 422 and Team RSA (seniors) in third on 233.
Second Round Scores (top 20)
136 Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 66 70
137 Connor Syme SCO 67 70
139 Liam Johnston SCO 72 67; Luca Filippi 70 69
140 Anthoine Auboin FRA 73 67; Jeremy Freiburghaus SUI 73 67
141 Jamie Stewart SCO 73 68; Eric McIntosh SCO 69 72
142 Joseph Long GBR 73 69; Khaled Attieh KSA 70 72
143 Darin de Smidt 69 74
144 Craig Howie SCO 75 69; Theunie Bezuidenhout 74 70; Marco Steyn 72 72; Kyle McClatchie 71 73
145 Josh Hilleard GBR 78 67; Herman Loubser 78 67; Tapendra Ghai IND 74 71
146 Calum Fyfe SCO 77 69; Clayton Mansfield 73 73; Alexandre Fuchs FRA 72 74
Team Competition – Round 2
Singles: Best 3 scores of 4 to count
420 Team Scotland 214 Connor Syme 67 Liam Johnston 72 Craig Howie 75; 206 Liam Johnston 67 Craig Howie 69 Connor Syme 70
422 Team (Jnr) RSA 214 Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 66 Luca Filippi 70 Jayden Schaper 78; 208 Garrick Higgo 69 Luca Filippi 69 Christo (Jnr) Lamprecht 70
433 Team RSA 216 Kyle McClatchie 71 Marco Steyn 72 Aubrey Beckley 73; 217 Marco Steyn 72 Albert Venter 72 Kyle McClatchie 73
434 Team Switzerland 217 Francesco Quirici 71 Jeremy Freiburghaus 73 Loris Schuepbach 73; 217 Jeremy Freiburghaus 67 Loris Schuepbach 75 Neal Woernhard 75
438 Team England 227 Dan Brown 73 James Walker 76 Josh Hilleard 78; 211 Josh Hilleard 67 James Walker 71 Sean Towndrow 73
443 Team France 225 Pierre Pineau 74 Victor Veyret 75 Dimitri Mary 76; 218 Dimitri Mary 71 Pierre Pineau 73 Victor Veyret 74
444 Team India 224 Tapendra Ghai 74 Yashas Chandra 75 Aalaap Indira-Lakshminarayana 75; 220 Tapendra Ghai 71 Aalaap Indira-Lakshminarayana 74 Yashas Chandra 75
475 Team Zimbabwe 245 Tafara Mpofu 77 David Amm 83 Never Milazi 85; 230 David Amm 71 Tafara Mpofu 79 Liberty Gumisa 80
475 Team Mauritius 244 Florent Toulet 79 Rakesh Channoo 82 Phil Minkley 83; 231 Phil Minkley 75 Ritish Venkamah 78 Florent Toulet 78
477 Team Reunion 243 Romain Payet 77 Alexandre Lasalarie 80 Johane Mouniama 86; 234 Jeremy Ablancourt 77 Alexandre Lasalarie 78 Romain Payet 79
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
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