Henry in hunt in Joburg as Seniors face 9-hole course
Two-time LET winner Kylie Henry is chasing her first success on the Sunshine Ladies Tour after moving into contention at the Joburg Ladies Open.
A second-round 69 for a three-under-par total left the Scot sitting fifth, four shots behind England’s Lauren Taylor, heading into the final 18 holes at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club.
Henry, who’d opened with a 72, picked up five birdies in eight holes around the turn before taking the gloss of her day’s work by running up a double-bogey 5 at the short 16th.
Having carded rounds of 68 and 69, Taylor leads by a shot from home player Kim Williams, while another South African, Ashleigh Buhai, is a shot further back in third position.
Meanwhile, the European Senior Tour will make history in the United Arab Emirates this month as the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters will become the first European Tour, European Challenge Tour or Senior Tour event to be played on a nine-hole golf course.
Staged at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club, the event will see competitors negotiate the nine-hole Peter Harradine designed course twice on each tournament day, with the par3 and par-5 holes being played from varying tees throughout the tournament week, a format which has never been used during a European Toursanctioned event.
“With the recent and exciting innovations on the European Tour such as Golfsixes, and on the European Challenge Tour with their Match Play 9 event in May, we are delighted to create our own piece of European Tour history at the inaugural Sharjah Senior Golf Masters,” said David Maclaren, head of the European Senior Tour.
Elsewhere, Chris Doak carded the day’s best score – a fiveunder-par 67 – to claim a share of fourth spot in an Algarve Pro Tour event at Quinta da Ria Golf Club. Doak’s effort gave him a six-under-par total, finishing two shots behind Englishman Jamie Abbot (67-69).
Closer to home, long-time friends Graham Fox and Alan Reid joined forces to win a PGA in Scotland fourball event with an eight-under-par 64 at Archerfield Links. They finished two clear of the field.