GOLFING NEWS - Sandton amateur Luke Brown maintained a commanding lead as second round action wrapped up in the fourth Race to Q-School on the IGT Challenge Tour at Germiston Golf Club on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old from Sandton will go in search of a maiden title on the country’s premier golf development circuit after a stunning opening round of 63 – the lowest of his burgeoning career – and a second round 69 earned him a five shot lead on Luke Trocado.

Brown seemed to be playing a different course to his peers as he overcame three bogeys on the front nine with birdies at three, five and six and racked up three more gains at 13, 16 and 18 to finish at 12 under 132.
Trocado from the Western Province golfer moved into second place with a 67, while South Africa’s number one ranked amateur Kyle McClatchie and namesake Kyle Lucas trail Brown by six shots after respective rounds of 69 and 70.

Brown admitted that he had some difficulty with his start, but managed to settle down pretty quickly.
“It was the first time I ever led the field on the IGT Tour, so it was a different kind of start and I was a little shaky at the first hole,” he said.

“I bogeyed one, but played the second well and by the time I reached the third, it was just me and the golf course. I made a good birdie and also birdied the par five (fifth).  I hit it over the green at the sixth and couldn’t up-and-down for par and played a poor bunker shot at the seventh for another bogey, but I rallied with a good approach at the eighth and sunk a 15-footer for birdie.”

Brown turned level par for the round and kept his card clean over the last nine holes.
At this stage, the young amateur has just started testing the water on the national amateur circuit and doesn’t plan on playing the Sunshine Tour’s Qualifying School next March.

However, most of the players in the chasing pack will be heading to Q-School and, with 10 spots on the line into the Final Stage for the top 10 ranked players at the end of the 18-event Race to Q-School series, Brown is certain to feel some heat in the final round.

“I played very solid on the home stretch and that has given me quite a boost,” he said.
“Leading is all new territory for me, but having a five shot lead does give me some confidence. The bigger the lead, the better. I will definitely benefit from today’s experience, though. I was able to manage the pressure and I still put in a good score, despite the bogeys on the front nine.”

Second Round Scores
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs are indicated as AMA:
132 - Luke Brown AMA 63 69
137 - Luke Trocado 70 67
138 - Kyle McClatchie AMA 69 69, Kyle Lucas 68 70
141 - Peetie van der Merwe AMA 69 72
142 - Philip Geerts (ITA) 73 69, Bryce Myburgh 76 66
143 - Patrick Thompson 72 71, Ivanna Samu 71 72, Brandon Pieters 70 73, Bradley Diggeden AMA 71 72
144 - Jadrick Fourie AMA 75 69, Pieter Moolman 72 72, Shaun van Tonder 76 68, Teboho Sefatsa 76 68, Cameron Moralee AMA 74 70, Bennie van der Merwe 73 71
145 - Jason Roets 71 74, Tertius van den Berg 72 73, Conway Kunneke 72 73
146 - Ruan Korb 71 75, Zabastian de Jager 67 79, Jade Buitendag 75 71, Cameron Gunning 70 76
147 - Thabi Ngcobo 79 68, Dino di Carlo AMA 76 71, Eric Park (KOR) 69 78
148 - Michael Kok AMA 78 70, Mpho Mafishe 75 73, Angus Ellis-Cole AMA 73 75, Louis Albertse AMA 73 75
149 - Liam Clinton AMA 75 74, Keanu Pestana AMA 79 70, Keaton Slatter AMA 74 75
150 - Adam Botha AMA 73 77, Ruan Groenewald AMA 79 71
151 - Jack Duthie 76 75, Nico du Buisson AMA 74 77
152 - Paulo Serrao AMA (POR) 79 73, Shalan Govender 81 71, Chase Paton AMA 77 75, Gareth Anderson AMA 78 74
Missed the cut:-
153 - Martin Odendaal AMA 73 80, Ruben Labuschagne 74 79, Richard Joubert 73 80
154 - Romano Saincic 79 75, Michael Schutz 75 79, Jabulane Mabilane 78 76
155 - Michael Dreyer 78 77, Byron Sampson AMA 79 76, Quintin Crause 81 74, Duan Nagel AMA 80 75
156 - Jihwan Yeom AMA 75 81
157 - Kyle Opperman AMA 76 81, Dean du Plessis AMA 81 76
158 - Divan de Villiers AMA 85 73, Dean Berkowitz AMA 81 77
162 - Adrian Brabson AMA 79 83, Jesse Jacobs AMA 80 82
165 - Matthew Hands AMA 82 83
169 - Malachi Schulz AMA 86 83

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the IGT Challenge Tour.