Scheepers, Cheetham share lead in NMB Classic

Gerhard Scheepers used a relaxed approach and a hot putter in windy conditions to card the day’s best score with a respectable 69 in the second round of the Nelson Mandela Bay Classic golf tournament at Humewood in Gqeberha on Wednesday.

The Pretoria professional, who shot 74 on the opening day, topped the leader board going into the final round on 143 and was joined by Neil Cheetham, who added a one-under-par 71 to his first round of 72.

They were followed by a trio of seasoned campaigners on even par in Chris Williams (71 73), James Kingston (69 75) and Andre Cruse (70 74).

Cruse, though, was kicking himself at the end after playing a wrong ball on the third hole, incurring a two-stroke penalty.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head.

“The first time in 35 years of pro golf.

“I was so annoyed but eventually after a few holes I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and I played OK — just need a few putts to drop.”

The Sunshine Seniors Tour is visiting Nelson Mandela Bay for the first time and the players received a taste of what golfing life can be like in the city as the westerly gusted up to around 35km/h.

Yet Scheepers, who only experienced the unique conditions of links golf at Humewood for the first time on Monday, found his rhythm to card three birdies on the back nine after ending the front nine with a level 35.

“I am really not used to this sort of wind so my approach was not to force it, but to focus on swinging easily and just to keep the ball in play,” Scheepers said.

“That was very important to do, especially on the par-fours into the wind.

“Also I was able to sink several putts of about four to five metres to get some pars and birdies, and that sort of thing always makes a big difference with your scoring.”

Scheepers has not won on the Seniors Tour before and knows that it will not be easy closing out the tournament in the final round on Thursday.

“There are other guys in the field with much more experience than I have,” he said, “so I am just going to play my game to the best of my ability.

“I want to be relaxed and just try to enjoy the final round.”

After eagling the par-five seventh, he was disappointed to double-bogey the relatively short par-four ninth, which showed that even with the wind at your back, all the holes required your full attention.

But he enjoyed a profitable back nine with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th holes to give himself a window of opportunity going into the final day.

Following his opening even-par round, Cheetham produced another solid display in testing weather.

There were three bogeys, but he finished on a high as he birdied three of the last five holes (14, 17 and 18) and he will take some good memories into the final day.

First-round leader Kingston did not have a happy day but his 75, which included seven bogeys and four birdies, leaves him only one shot off the pace and still very much in contention.

His round was marked by his tee shot on the downwind par-four ninth which went through the green and forced him to take a drop from the bushes at the back.

Play will start at 8am on Thursday, with the last group teeing off at 9.30am.

Leading second round scores:

143 — Gerhard Scheepers 74 69, Neil Cheetham 72 71

144 — James Kingston 69 75, Chris Williams 71 73, Andre Cruse 70 74

145 — Rodger Wessels 70 75

146 — Doug McGuigan 75 71, Mark McNulty 75 71

147 — Grant Muller, 74 73, Ben Fouche 73 74, Kenneth Dube 73 74, Mike Scholz 71 76

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