The 18-year-old Randpark golfer blamed his caddie Francois Olivier after making an almighty push up the leaderboard with a seven-under-par 65 to join former IGT Tour winners Juan Swart and Rhys West in a three-way tie at six-under-par 138.
“It’s Franna’s fault that I am in the pressure cooker now,” the Central Gauteng player teased.
“On a serious note, though, I’m really thankful to Jacques Blaauw for letting me have Franna this week. It’s not only nice to have a great friend with me on the course, but his experience was great when I put myself under pressure.
“I hit the ball well and the putter was hot, but I had a couple of scary holes and he guided me through those holes. I began playing the IGT Tour more regularly this year to step out of that comfort zone on the amateur circuit and get used to this environment. It’s a big gap and having Franna in support just gives me an added sense of confidence.”
Barker reached the turn in three under and added gains at 10, 13 and 15 before signing off with a birdie at the final hole.
“I left a birdie putt in the throat at the first hole, so I was pleased to nail the birdie at two and get off to a solid start,” he said. “I sunk a 12-footer for birdie at four, made a great up-and-down for par at six and two-putted from 15 feet for birdie at seven.
“I left another birdie chance on the edge of the cup at the ninth, but I made up for it at 10. I smacked driver down the middle of the fairway, hit the approach to 12 feet and holed the birdie putt. I duff-hooked the tee shot into the trees at 11 and had to hook a wedge from 165 metres around the trees. I hit it to 15 feet, but also left that putt in the throat.:
Barker hit his second pin-high right at the par five 13th and two-putted for birdie number five.
“I found the right bunker at 14, but made the up-and-down to save par and hit a perfect drive down 15 to set up another two-putt birdie,” he said.
“I nearly holed out with a gap-wedge after I left it short at the 16th. The 17th was another hairy hole. I flew the green with my second, fluffed the first chip and holed the next chip to save par. Hit a great six-iron into the green at 18, though, and two-putted for birdie.
“Like I said, a few scary holes coming in as the pressure mounted, but I handled it well with Franna’s support. I’m excited to play in the final group tomorrow. Juan is a former IGT Tour winner and Rhys also won a couple of IGT Tour events before he got his card for the Sunshine Tour in 2013. It’s all a learning curve for me at the moment, so it’s going to be a great experience for me to play with them.”
Swart from Port Elizabeth posted an equally impressive bogey-free 66 and West from Glendower stayed in the mix with a successive 69s.
Jonathan Waschefort moved into sole fourth with a 68, while Ockie Strydom – targeting back-to-back victories after success in the Killarney Challenge two weeks ago – finished just two off the pace after signing for a 69.
SECOND ROUND SCORES
All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as AMA
138 - Kyle Barker AMA 73 65, Juan Swart 72 66, Rhys West 69 69
139 - Jonathan Waschefort 71 68
140 - Ockert Strydom 71 69
141 - Dean Martin AMA 73 68, Damian Naicker 72 69
142 - Morne Buys 71 71, Danie van Tonder 71 71
143 - Alex van Heerden AMA 68 75, Michael Schutz 75 68
144 - Ruan Potgieter AMA 75 69, Matthew Vogel 73 71, Ruan Conradie AMA 76 68, Matthew Spacey 69 75, Gary Daoust AMA (BEL) 73 71
145 - Stephan de Beer 74 71, Johary Raveloarison (MDG) 73 72, Quintin Crause AMA 75 70, Phillip Kruse AMA 72 73, Dwayne Coetzee 74 71, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 73 72, Andrew Carlsson AMA 74 71
146 - Hendrikus Stoop AMA 72 74, Divan Marais 73 73, Christiaan Jonck 72 74, Ruan Korb AMA 74 72
147 - Matt Wollmann AMA (ZIM) 75 72, David McIntyre AMA 71 76, Wayne du Toit 75 72
148 - Keanu Pestana AMA 73 75, Fanie Wolmarans AMA 76 72, Brendan Britten (NAM) 78 70, Theunis Bezuidenhout AMA 77 71, Eric Nel AMA 76 72, Juan Pierre Cooper AMA 76 72
149 - Hayden Griffiths AMA 74 75, Angelo Marques AMA 75 74, Matt Bright 78 71
150 - Arno Pretorius AMA 74 76, Marco de Beer AMA 74 76, Andrew Plint AMA 73 77, Michael Kok AMA 73 77
151 - Ruhan van Dijk AMA 77 74, Adriel Poonan AMA 79 72, David Nortje AMA 75 76, Paul de Beer 72 79, Albert Visser AMA 72 79
152 - Pieter Muller AMA 75 77, Martin Kraft AMA 76 76, Pieter Cooper AMA 74 78, Nicklas van Wyk AMA 79 73
153 - Clinton Grobler 75 78, Nico du Buisson AMA 79 74, Hilton Hughes AMA 77 76, Xander Basson AMA 76 77
154 - JP Schmidt AMA 77 77, Gregg Blainey (ENG) 78 76, Duan Nagel AMA 78 76, Shaun van Tonder 79 75
Missed the cut:
155 - Leon Visser AMA 80 75, Quintin Wilsnach AMA 80 75
156 - Romano Saincic 78 78, Bradley Diggeden AMA 78 78
157 - Walter Behr AMA 80 77
158 - Ricky Hendler AMA 83 75, Zander Potgieter 79 79, Adriaan Vorster 81 77, Jason Thalrose AMA 81 77, Pieter Woest 79 79, Jacques de Villiers AMA 85 73, Teagan Moore AMA 76 82
159 - Werner Lourens 78 81, Jason Ackerman AMA 82 77
160 - Tommie Brits AMA 81 79, Stephane van Neer AMA (COD) 82 78
161 - Anthony Serrao AMA (POR) 81 80
162 - Haydn Driver AMA 80 82
163 - WM Coetzee AMA 84 79
165 - Hanro Booysen 92 73
166 - Jordan Parsons AMA 81 85, Dean Du Plessis AMA 93 73, Liam Bezuidenhout AMA 87 79
168 - Charles Grobler AMA 85 83
169 - Tobie De Haas 86 83
170 - Gareth Anderson AMA 78 92, Paulo Serrao AMA (POR) 84 86
175 - Gustav Erasmus 87 88
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER.
