CENTURION, South Africa — South African professional golfer Casandra Alexander signed for a course record eight-under-par 64 to lead the second round of the Platinum Ladies Open in Centurion, South Africa.
Alexander, the winner of the 2023 Jabra Ladies Classic, bettered the previous women’s course record of 66 and took the lead in this tournament on nine under par overall.
She leads by one over South Africa’s Tandi McCallum and England’s Hayley Davis going into final round.
“I had a really slow start to the front nine,” Alexander said according to AFP. “I started with a drop and then made a hallelujah putt on the par-five 5th to bring it back.
“I then made a bunch of pars in a row and said to my caddie, let’s change our ball to a different colour – a little bit of superstition going on there, I guess.
“Maybe there are some birdies in my pink ball and yes, things started getting going from there. I started firing through the back nine after a very long and boring front nine
Alexander has had an impressive season to date on this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour, claiming a win at the Jabra Ladies Classic in February and posting two top-three performances in the Standard Bank Ladies Open and the SuperSport Ladies Challenge.
“I think generally as a team we’ve made some good improvements to be able to play courses that don’t suit me and to get the ball in the hole no matter what the situation.
George Coetzee and JJ Senekal set the tone for the Sunshine Tour’s new Courier Guy Playoffs Series as they both opened with rounds of seven-under-par 65 to share the first-round lead in the Serengeti Playoffs, and with Dylan Naidoo just one shot behind them.
Coetzee, a 14-time Sunshine Tour winner, and Senekal, a three-time champion on tour, took advantage of a receptive Serengeti Estates golf course to claim a one-stroke lead in the first tournament of the new Courier Guy Playoffs Series.
Naidoo, the Investec South African Open champion, signed for a six-under-par 66 to join Altin van der Merwe, the current leader on the Fortress Rookie of the Year standings, as the leaders nearest challengers.
But while Coetzee and Senekal signed for the same score, they were two very different rounds of golf.
Coetzee’s round had it all, including 11 birdies and four bogeys, with routine pars a rare commodity on his scorecard.
“It started off pretty good, then good in the middle and good in the end. There were a couple of silly errors, but altogether I think it was finally a decent round of golf from my side. The good golf was good. I’ll just try and build on that,” said Coetzee.
Coetzee is searching for his first win since 2022 and, faced with a strong field and a golf course in pristine condition this week, has decided to play an attacking game.
“It’s a bit wet so you can attack the flags with the longer clubs, and I think the guys will take advantage of that. That was the plan for me. It worked most of the time. I obviously paid the price a couple of times, but that’s the price you pay for being aggressive.”
