Almost while no-one was looking on Friday, Louis Albertse posted one of the low rounds of the day as his seven-under-par 65 lifted him into a share of the halfway lead in the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour co-sanctioned SDC Championship at Zebula Country Club.

It was a bogey-free effort by the one-time Sunshine Tour winner, with five birdies and an eagle, and, at 12-under for the tournament, he shares the lead with Frenchman Alexander Levy and Rhys Enoch of Wales by way of Potchefstroom where he now lives.

They were one clear of Wilco Nienaber in fourth, while five players shared fifth on 10-under, including Gerhard Pepler who was one of three players who carded eight-under 64. The others were Dylan Naidoo and Daniel van Tonder. Naidoo was in a share of 10^th on nine-under, and Van Tonder was on six-under in a share of 30^th.

Albertse started his round on the 10^th, and soon had two birdies under his belt on the 11^th and 12^th. He eagled the 15^th to turn in four-under, and then made three more on his homeward stretch, on the first, fourth and fifth.

Levy added a second round of 68 to his opening 64. “I’m really pleased,” said Levy, who set the clubhouse target on Friday morning before he was caught later in the afternoon. “I didn’t have my A game today so to shoot under par was really good.”

Levy, a five-time winner on the DP World Tour who is looking to regain that form, turned level-par for his round while not feeling entirely comfortable with his game. But his experience showed on the back nine as he made four birdies to maintain his place at the top of the leaderboard after also sharing the lead in the first round.

“I’m proud of what I did on the back nine. I was struggling on the front nine and didn’t feel my swing was good. It was the first time I’ve played here in the morning so it was a little bit more windy. But I just said to myself to stay calm and try to hit good shots at the right time. Then I started to play a little better and it’s nice to come back like I did and hit some good shots at the end of the round. I had a good birdie on the last to get some good momentum for tomorrow. The game is there.”