Rowan Lester and Liam Grehan are both safely through to the weekend at the Sunshine Tour’s Rwanda Open, but though they’ve got a lot of ground to make up if they’re to feature on the first page of Sunday’s leaderboard, there was cause for celebration as Lester got the beers in after a hole-in-one.
After a career-high best finish of T2 at the Sunbet Challenge at Mount Edgecombe in his last start, Lester carried that good form into Thursday’s opening round where a bogey-free, four-under 68 left him inside the top 20. But he found the going a little tougher on day two and bogeyed two his first five holes before opening his birdie account on six.
Another birdie on nine got him to the turn at level-par for the day, but after bogeying the 13th, he fell to -3 overall and outside the projected cutline. He climbed back inside with a birdie on the par-5 15th, then earned some breathing room in the best way possible on 16.
From 169 metres (185 yards), he selected an 8-iron and watched his ball slam dunk into the cup for the first ace of his career.
Two pars later, and he was in the clubhouse with a two-under 70 that left him tied for 39th, but even though he’d signed his card, his day’s work wasn’t done.
“I’m getting the beers in,” he said. “I can’t afford to buy for the whole field – I’m not that rich, not yet anyway.
“I haven’t won a trophy yet this year, but there’s my trophy [holding aloft a case of beer].”
Grehan had cause for celebrations of his own as he shot a bogey-free 68 after opening with a level-par 72. The score lifted him from outside the cutline and he made it on the number.
Another man celebrating was England’s Joe Sullivan, though had he found a birdie in either of his final two holes he’d have shot a magical 59. Still, his round of 60 which featured eight birdies and an eagle was enough to lift him to the top of the leaderboard at -15.
“I made eagle on the ninth hole to turn in six under and then went on a nice little run from the 10th hole to the 12th hole. I was thinking about a 59 in the back of my head and we got close. The chip-in on the ninth hole for eagle was the highlight of the round as that just boosted my momentum,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan is one shot clear of Estiaan Conradie. Conradie moved into contention with his round of 64.
First-round co-leader Travis Procter and Kyle de Beer head into the weekend in joint third place on 13-under-par.
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