It was a little tougher for Slade Pickering in the second round on Tuesday as he had his lead trimmed to two strokes after 36 holes in the IGT Challenge Tour’s Road to the Sunshine Tour #16 at Pecanwood Estate Golf and Country Club.
After a bogey-free 62 in the opening round, Pickering dropped two shots during the opening nine on the third and the ninth as he turned in level-par 36. He made birdies on one and five, and he kept the errors off his card after the turn and made two more birdies to card a two-under 72 to move to 12-under for the tournament.
That put him two shots clear of the dangerous trio of Kyle McClatchie, Herman Loubser and Jason Froneman, with Gregory Mckay and Matthew Rushton in a share of fifth on nine-under.
McClatchie carded a three-under 69 to stay in second, but move a shot closer to Pickering. Loubser carded the low round of the day with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65. He made four birdies on the front nine and three coming home. Froneman had a six-under-par 66 with eight birdies and two bogeys.
Pickering is currently in 16th place on the Road to the Sunshine Tour rankings, having played just three tournaments. There is just one more tournament next week ahead of the play-offs, after which the top six players will earn their Sunshine Tour cards. The list is led by Ian Snyman, who just made the cut on one-under after 36 holes. McClatchie is in fifth, Loubser in 11th and Froneman in 13th.
That makes a victory this week very important for all the players congregated at the top of the leaderboard.
