From Sunshine Ladies Tour

South Africa’s Casandra Alexander had no sooner taken the lead in the Joburg Ladies Open when the second round was suspended for the day after another heavy downpour rendered the Modderfontein Golf Club course unplayable.

The suspended first round had to be completed on Friday morning, and Alexander was one shot off the lead of England’s Mimi Rhodes. Alexander then started her second round strong with birdies at the first and third holes to take the lead on nine-under-par, one clear of Rhodes.

But a waterlogged course after more heavy rain meant the second round will have to be completed on Saturday, with 80 golfers in the field of 132 still out on the course. The round will resume at 8am on Saturday, with the third round set to tee off one hour after the completion of the second round.

Alexander, though, has handled the tough conditions superbly and made a strong move towards a maiden Ladies European Tour title as she flies the South African flag in this tournament.

Iceland’s Alexandra Swayne also took advantage on Friday and climbed to five under par overall with three holes to play.

And France’s Agathe Laisne produced a sublime round of six-under-par 67 to climb to two under overall.

“It rains a lot in France so I’m used to these conditions. I like it. It’s different. I also made a lot of putts and hit 17 greens in regulation which helped,” said Laisne.

But for most of the field it was a challenging day.

“There’s two aspects to playing in weather like this. The first is how the rain affects the flight of your golf ball and things like how your ball rolls on the greens. You never have a constant speed on the greens. Then you have the challenge of keeping everything dry. It’s a logistical nightmare for a golfer and caddie,” said South Africa’s Danielle du Toit, who is on three-over-par for the tournament through two holes of her second round.