Ahlers tops leaderboard at his ‘friend’ The Links

JACO Ahlers didn’t make a single birdie on the five parfives on The Links at Fancourt yesterday as he signed for a five-under-par 68 in the second round of the Dimension Data Pro-Am to take a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark.

Ahlers led defending champion George Coetzee and last week’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship runner- up Dylan Frittelli by two in the tournament which is played over all three courses at Fancourt Hotel and Golf Estate – The Links, Outeniqua and Montagu. After the players have completed a round on each, a cut is made and the final round takes place on Montagu.

Ahlers moved to George in 2015, and he has found the move helpful in this tournament. “The Links is becoming more and more my friend since I’ve moved to George,” he said. “It treated me nicely today. Just the par-fives didn’t treat me well at all – I didn’t birdie one of them! That’s a bit disappointing on a course that has five of them. But overall, it was a good round. It could have been so much better, but we all say that after a good round.”

Coetzee, on the other hand, managed to make birdies on three of the par- fives, but still seemed to battle his way around a course the players regard as the most challenging in the tournament. “It was a bit of a struggle,” he said. I hit a couple of loose tee-shots in the middle third of the round but I felt that I putted pretty well and I hope tomorrow is even better. I wasn’t really on it today, so I’m ecstatic with the score. It shows that if you concentrate and think your way around, you can survive.” ● Lee-Anne Pace looked to have blown her chances on the first day of the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Dimension Data Challenge, but the defending champion rallied with a birdie flurry to finish on 70, two off the pace of 68 set by Nicole Garcia ( and Carrie Park at George GC yesterday.

Pace hit the front with a trio of birdies in the first four holes, but bogeys at seven and 10 started a downward spiral that opened the door for Garcia and Park. Garcia racked up four birdies and led by one shot from Park on three under through the turn. She never relinquished control after birdie number five at 11 and seven straight pars down the homeward stretch saw her set the clubhouse target at four under.

Tandi von Ruben is alongside Pace on 70.