He made his first bogey of the tournament on his fifth hole of the day, but it was the only shot Albert Venter dropped as he maintained his five-stroke lead after the second round of the Sunshine Tour’s SunBet Challenge hosted by Time Square Casino at Wingate Park Country Club.

Venter carded a three-under-par 69 in his second round to move to 12-under through 36 holes, and he stayed five strokes ahead of his closest pursuers, as he was after the first round. His pursuers were Wingate Park local Estiaan Conradie and veteran Jean Hugo on seven-under. Conradie had a three-under-par 69, and Jean Hugo overcame two bogeys in his round on his way to a four-under 68.

Venter started his second round on the 10^th hole, and he picked up his first birdie of the day on the par-five 13^th and it was already apparent that his scoring was not going to be as impressive as it was in his opening nine-under. He made bogey on the par-three 14^th, but he got back into red numbers with a well-taken birdie on the par-five 18^th to turn in one-under.

Two more birdies on one and three, and that was the sum of his scoring on the day. But, with experience on the course behind him from his university days, a five-stroke lead is a comforting cushion for the man who won the FBC Zimbabwe Open in April.

Conradie bogeyed the first hole, and birdied the second. Pars all the way to the turn saw him start the second nine at level-par. He made a birdie on the par-four 10^th, and picked up two more on two of the three par-fives on the back nine, the 13^th and 18^th.

Hugo made an eagle on the second, and followed it with a birdie on the third to make exactly the fast start needed if he was going to be able to chase down the lead. But he made bogey on four and again on nine, with a birdie on seven in between the dropped shots. He picked up two more birdies on the back nine, on the 13^th and 18^th.

The round of the day came from Luke Brown, who carded a six-under 66 to climb into a share of fourth with the left-handed Ruan Korb, who won this tournament in November 2020.