The South African Boys and Girls teams made positive headway in Wednesday’s second round at the 2016 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL in Toyota City, Aichi-Prefecture, Japan.

GIRLS COMPETITION

The United States and Spain are in hot pursuit of Japan, who returned an even-par 144 to maintain pole position in the Girls Competition. The defending champions lead at nine under 279, but the USA and Spain are just one shot back after respective rounds of 143 and 141.

South Africa left Mexico behind to take sole seventh at two over 290.

Gauteng’s Kaleigh Telfer set the tone with a two-under-par 70, while fellow Gauteng player Samu added a 72 to take the team’s tally to two under 142. Danielle du Toit from Gauteng North returned a non-counting 75.

Telfer surrounded a brace of birdies with bogeys at the second and the fifth, and added a birdied at seven to turn one under. She moved to two under after a birdie at 11, but shanked her approach from 80 metres at the 12th and walked off with a triple bogey.

“Credit to Kaleigh, she hit back immediately with a birdie at 13 to get her round back on track,” said Womens Golf South Africa national coach Val Holland. “The rest of her round featured some solid iron play and great putting and she collected two more birdies at 15 and 17 for a 70.

“Ivanna mixed four birdies with four soft drops and the highlight of her day was birdies at 11 and 15, where she boxed two putt of six metres each. Danielle started the day with a great drive and put her approach within a metre of the hole and made the birdie putt. She had six bogeys, but managed to reel in two more birdies and the highlight of her round was a great wedge to a tough pin position at 16 to set up her third birdie.”

American Kristen Gillman will sleep on a three shot advantage in the Girls Individual Competition after rounds of 66 and 69. Samu slipped to a tie for sixth and is eight shots, while Telfer moved to joint 16th on three over.

BOYS COMPETITION
Dylan Naidoo, Dylan Mostert and Herman Loubser all dipped under par at the Ishino Course at Chukyo Golf Club to combine for a six-under-par 207 that moved South Africa into a tie for fourth with Sweden at nine under 417.

Team USA and Thailand both opened with 206 and added rounds of 202 to replace Germany at the top of the standings at 18 under 408.

Central Gauteng’s Naidoo – the low scorer in round one – once again led the way once with a three under 68. Mostert from Ekurhuleni shrugged off a disappointing start to return a 69 and Loubser from Boland boosted their tally with a 70. Gauteng’s Marco signed for a non-counting 72.

Naidoo also moved into a share of the lead in the Individual Boys Competition with American Matthew Wolf at eight under, while Loubser joined the five-way tie for 10th at three under.

“Despite a good showing and improving over the first round, the boys felt that they left some shots on the course,” said South African Golf Association Golf Integration Manager Eden Thompson.

“Dylan M hit back with a 69 to go 17 shots better than his first round. As happy as he was, Dylan pointed out that he could have had a 19 shot swing. He was four under through 14 bit caught terrible lies in the rough at 15 and 17, resulting in late bogeys.

“Marco played unbelievable golf tee to green, but the putter just did not come to the party. He hit 17 greens but a double at 17 meant he finished one over for the day. Herman got off to a better start and was one under through nine. He missed a handful of makeable putts, but played solid golf for 17 before he dropped his only shot of the day at the par five 18th.

“Dylan N started the round in the same fashion he finished yesterday. He was four under through the first four holes, but a three putt bogey at nine saw him turn three under. By his own admission, he got a little defensive. The back nine was not as great as in the first round, but he offset a pair of bogeys with two birdies for a 68.

“All said, though, we made good strides and aim to keep on improving. In the meantime, everyone is looking forward to Sushi Night at the hotel, hosted by Chukyo TV, who are apparently bringing in a specialist sushi chef for the occasion.”

GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS
279 (-9) Japan 135 144
280 (-8) United States 137 143; Spain 139 141
284 (-4) Italy 145 139
286 (-2) Argentina 139 147
287 (-1) Korea 141 146
290 (+2) South Africa 148 142
295 (+7) Mexico 148 147
299 (+11) Australia 152 147

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top 10 plus SA players)
135 Kristen Gillman USA 66 69
138 Angelica Moresco ITA 68 70; Riri Sadoyama JAP 67 71
141 Ana Pelaez ESP 69 72; Maria Parra ESP 70 71
143 Ivanna Samu RSA 71 72; Mone Inami JAP 68 75
144 Macarena Aguilera ARG 73 71; Kim Sojung KOR 69 75; Jung Ahram KOR 73 71; Marta Perez Sanmartin ESP 72 72
147 Kaleigh Telfer RSA 77 70
152 Danielle du Toit RSA 77 75

BOYS TEAM STANDINGS
408 (-18) Thailand 206 202; United States 206 202
415 (-11) Germany 204 211
417 (-9) South Africa 210 207; Sweden 205 212
425 (-1) Japan 206 219
426 (L) Canada 210 216; Korea 211 215
428 (+2) Chile 214 214; Norway 212 216
434 (+8) Netherlands 220 214
437 (+11) Mexico 216 221; New Zealand 222 215
441 (+15) Zimbabwe 220 22
446 (+20) Brazil 223 223

BOYS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top 10 plus SA players)
134 Dylan Naidoo RSA 66 68; Matthew Wolff USA 68 66
136 Sadom Kaewkajana THA 71 65; Atiruj Winaicharoenchai THA 68 68; Kousuke Hamamoto THA 67 69
137 Austin Eckroat USA 72 65
138 Takumi Kanaya JAP 67 71; Tony Gil CAN 65 73; Marc Hammer GER 66 72
139 Marcus Svensson SWE 67 72; Oh Seungtaek KOR 70 69; Herman Loubser RSA 69 70; Joaquin Niemann CHL 68 71; Timo Vahlenkamp GER 67 72
147 Marco Steyn RSA 75 72
155 Dylan Mostert RSA 86 69

Photo = Gauteng North’s Danielle du Toit; credit Yuya Fuzita