Kruse finished in a four-way tie for the lead after an opening five-under-par 67, but pulled clear of Dylan Mostert and Luke Jerling with a 68 in the second round.
An eagle at the par-five seventh, four birdies and two bogeys later, the 19-year-old Woodhill golfer leads at nine-under-par 135.
Recent Central Gauteng Open champion Mostert from Ekurhuleni strengthened his bid for back-to-back victories with a 68, while Jerling from Eastern Province returned a 70.
Albert Venter from Gauteng North and Central Gauteng’s David McIntyre share fourth on 138 after respective rounds of 71 and 67.
Gauteng North’s James du Preez mixed nine birdies with a lone bogey to post the low round of the day and the eight under 64 lifted Du Preez to sixth on 139.
Aubrey Beckley from North West also fired a 68 to vault to joint seventh n alongside Boland’s Herman Loubser (71), Jason Viljoen from Central Gauteng (69) and local favourite Pieter Swartz, who returned a 68 at his home course to join the bus at 140.
SECOND ROUND SCORES
135 Philip Kruse 67 68
137 Dylan Mostert 69 68; Luke Jerling 67 70
138 Albert Venter 67 71; David Mcintyre 71 67
139 James du Preez 75 64
140 Aubrey Beckley 72 68; Jason Viljoen 71 69; Herman Loubser 69 71; Pieter Swartz 72 68
142 Darin de Smidt 70 72; Andre Nel 70 72; Brandon Cloete 67 75; Cameron Moralee 71 71; Blaine Dormehl 72 70
143 Angus Ellis-Cole 71 72; Slade Fick 69 74; Jason Smith 76 67; Keegan de Lange 74 69; Werner van Wyk 68 75
144 Theunis Bezuidenhout 72 72; Allan Lones 74 70; Amerigo Renieri 71 73
145 Nico du Buisson 76 69; Marc de Jager 75 70; Jacques Schutte 73 72; Kyle Barker 72 73
146 Bryce Leach 73 73; Neal Herman 73 73; Richard Maree 73 73; JP Schmidt 75 71
147 Henri van der Walt 73 74; Elmo Barnard 72 75; Ruhan van Dijk 72 75
148 Matthew Kiewitz 72 76; Chris van Tonder 73 75; Jack Duthie 76 72; Garrick Higgo 73 75; Dalan Tait 80 68
149 Loris Schuepbach (SUI) 77 72; Melvin Geldenhuys 73 76
150 Joe Lekhasi 75 75; Lloyd Herbst 77 73; Malcolm Mitchell 74 76; Reinhardt Blaauw 75 75; Hein Dreyer 76 74; Evance Vukeya 76 74
152 Marco de Beer 77 75; Mohit Mediratta 76 76; Byron Sampson 77 75
153 Niel du Preez 77 76; Hendrikus Stoop 79 74; Jason Rossiter 77 76; Blaine Sansom 82 71; Dean Martin 75 78; Michael Pienaar 76 77; Karl Lehmacher 74 79
154 Samuel Gouma 80 74; Jacques de Villiers 78 76; Sean Bradley 78 76; Danus Kruger 78 76; Riaan Swanepoel 80 74; Jihwan Yeom 76 78
Missed cut:
155 Daniel Joubert 81 74
156 FG Dorfling 78 78; Christo Strydom 78 78; Walter Malevu 76 80
157 Martin Langa 80 77; Phumlani Mkhoma 78 79
158 Ricki Dembo 78 80; Brett Langston 83 75; Tjaart van Wyk 78 80; Stephen du Plessis 82 76
159 Waldi Potgieter 81 78
160 Fritz Orren 81 79; Shaun Bernstein 81 79
161 Jadrick Fourie 80 81; Adam Sheldrake 85 76
162 Matthew Jacobs 82 80; Lindani Mthiyane 83 79
163 Stephen Pienaar 80 83
164 Nico le Roux 83 81
165 Adriel Poonan 85 80
166 John Synodinos 82 84; Simphiwe Mfene 88 78; Werner Burger 83 83; Nicholaus Frade 79 87
167 Arno van Heerden 86 81
171 Adriaan Nel 89 82
175 Joe Raliopane 86 89
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
