Before strong winds forced play to be abandoned for the day on Friday, Albert Venter had carded a five-under-par 67 to put himself one stroke off the clubhouse lead in the second round of the SDC Championship at St Francis Links.
Venter made seven birdies and a double-bogey to move to seven-under-par through 36 holes, while much of the field will have to complete their rounds from 7am on Saturday. Venter was in a share of second, one stroke behind Julien Brun of France, who also carded a 67 to move to eight-under. Sharing second with Venter were Matthew Baldwin of England, who had a 67 too, and Jens Dantorp of Sweden, who had a superb nine-under 63 ahead of the wind.
Venter had a day where he followed up a double-bogey six on the 11th hole with five birdies in six holes as he took advantage of the easier morning conditions. “I played well and fought back quite hard,” he said. “My caddie and I have worked out the golf course and how we want to play it. There are scoring opportunities out there but you have to start by keeping the ball in play here. It’s still anyone’s game out there and I’m looking forward to the weekend and the challenge that lies ahead.”
The early calm conditions didn’t make things easy after a windy opening round. “This morning was the first time I’ve played this course without wind this week,” said Brun. “It was definitely a lot more receptive so you could make more birdies and have more fun out there. But it’s extremely tricky. First off, you have to recover and get the energy back from a very long and tiring first round in that wind. Then your swing is also messed up because you have to go back to playing normal shots without the wind. I struggled with that adjustment to my game. It’s a big mental test.”
Veteran Jean Hugo also put together a 67 to move to five-under through 36 holes and a share – for now – of fifth. It’s a position he shares with overnight leaders David Ravetto of France, who was level-par through nine, and Kristian Krogh Johannessen of Norway, who had played just two holes in level-par when play was suspended.
