Birdie-king Dingle in control at Pecanwood

(PHOTO – Wynand Dingle; credit CJ du Plooy)

HARTEBEESPOORTDAM, 13 October 2015 – Wynand Dingle came within two strokes of a coveted 59 in the second round of the IGT Tour’s Race to Q-School as he rode a birdie binge to a five stroke lead in the BDGA Academy event at Pecanwood Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Colesburg native lined up his second title on the country’s premier development Tour with a sublime 61 at his home course to surge to 12-under-par 132.

Putts started dropping from all over the greens and, before Dingle knew it, he had seven straight birdies in a row on his card by the time he reached the 16^th hole.

“I parred the last two holes to complete the outward nine in 27 strokes, then sunk four straight birdie putts from the second hole and got another one at the par-five seven,” Dingle said.

“A 59 was definitely on my mind, but I short-sided myself at the ninth when I took the wrong club off the tee. I should have taken a hybrid to give myself a full shot at the pin, which was in the front right.

“Instead I took driver and drove it into the right rough. I had no green to work with and finished with a bogey. I must admit, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“About a year ago, I shot 60 in a social round with my mates, and once you have a 60, you’re always thinking about the magic number. I take a lot of positives out of this round, though.

“I had 31 putts in the first round and only 24 in round two. It was tough playing off the tips and to tricky pin positions and to shoot a low number like that in tournament conditions is very rewarding.

“I withdrew from the Sunshine Tour events because I didn’t have the finance to travel all the way to the Eastern Cape, and I was pleased when I heard the IGT Tour was coming to my home course, because it’s always good value to help you stay competitive.

“Now, thanks to this 61, I might even take some money off the guys.”

Dingle will begin the final round with overnight leader Dean O’Riley in pursuit.

The Benoni Country Club player, who tied for second in the first Race to Q-School last week, fired a sizzling 66 in the opening round, but his putter turned frosty on day two.

O’Riley had just one birdie in his outward stretch, and lost the advantage of four birdies on his back nine to a double bogey at three and a bogey at four to close with a 71.

Louis Taylor, who claimed his second IGT Tour win in the BDGA Academy Classic at Eagle Canyon last month, returned a 68 to Siphiwe Siphayi’s effort. The pair share third at six under with TJ Bekker, who fired a five under 67.

SECOND ROUND SCORES

All competitors RSA unless otherwise specified; amateurs indicated as (ama)

132 – Wynand Dingle 71 61

137 – Dean O’Riley 66 71

138 – TJ Bekker 71 67, Siphiwe Siphayi 70 68, Louis Taylor (ama) 70 68

140 – Bryandrew Roelofsz 74 66, Bryn Flanagan 72 68

142 – Joubert Van Eeden 72 70, Jandre Fullard (ama) 76 66, Amerigo Renieri (ama) 71 71, Pieter Kruger 74 68

143 – Jason Diab 76 67

144 – Matthew Adams (ama) 74 70, Andrew Carlsson (ama) 74 70, Jason Froneman 70 74

145 – NJ Arnoldi 74 71, Carlos Arroyo (ama) 76 69

146 – Brendan Britten NAM 73 73, Paul de Beer 75 71, Wicus Bezuidenhout (ama) 74 72, Armandt Scholtz (ama) 73 73

147 – Ruan Korb (ama) 73 74, Werner van Wyk (ama) 75 72, Herman Minnie 70 77

148 – Gerard du Plooy 76 72, Norman Beggs 77 71, Slade Pickering (ama) 71 77, Michael Schutz (ama) 76 72, Michael van Hoeck (ama) BEL 72 76, Jeff Hopkins (ama) IRE 76 72

149 – Bartjie De Klerk (ama) 81 68, Chris van Tonder (ama) 79 70, Michael Pienaar (ama) 75 74, Justin Levy NLD 82 67, Conway Kunneke 78 71

150 – Cameron Nesmith (ama) 78 72, Matthew Kiewitz (ama) 75 75, Michael Armstrong (ama) 76 74, Gareth Akers (ama) 77 73, Quintin Crause (ama) 75 75, David Ashley ENG 78 72, Duan Nagel (ama) 75 75

151 – David Lamprecht 74 77, Angelo Marques (ama) 74 77, Tom Watson (ama) 70 81, Jonathan Waschefort 79 72, Phillip Kruse (ama) 75 76

153 – JP Schmidt (ama) 79 74, Wayne du Toit 82 71, CJ Levey (ama) 75 78, Jason Viljoen (ama) 77 76, Gavin Miles (ama) 76 77, Armand Azar (ama) 79 74

Missed the cut:-

154 – Simon Kruger 77 77, Waldi Potgieter (ama) 76 78, Romano Saincic 81 73

155 – Dwayne Coetzee 82 73, Alana van Greuning 78 77

156 – Tyran van Lieshout (ama) 80 76, Christiaan Pretorius 82 74

158 – Stephan Erasmus (ama) 81 77, Andre Pistorius 76 82, Shane Heckler (ama) 83 75, Tjaart van Wyk (ama) 85 73

161 – Matthew Vogel 84 77

163 – Jacques de Villiers (ama) 84 79

164 – Ryan Wingrove (ama) 84 80, Tung-nan Lin (ama) TWN 82 82

167 – Michael Kok (ama) 81 86

168 – Marc De Jager (ama) 86 82

171 – Roelof van Tonder (ama) 92 79

182 – Stephane van Neer (ama) (COD) 95 87

N/R – CJ Head (ama) 84 N/R, Mike Quinn 78 N/R