IT was a tough second day for the junior golfers taking part in the First Capital Bank Zimbabwe Junior Golf Open after all, but one managed to record a below par score at Borrowdale Brooke Golf Club yesterday.
Zimbabwean Vincent Chidambidzana, who shot a round of 2 under par 70 was the best performer of the day as he moved 14 places up the boys' class leaderboard to tie for fourth place on 4 over par 148 going into the final round.
Chidambidzana is now the highest placed Zimbabwean in the competition after local favourite Keegan Shutt and Tanaka Chatora, who carded below par scores on the first day, struggled in the second round.
Shutt was tied for second after an impressive 3 under par 69 but a forgettable day in the course saw him gross 81 on a par 72 track to slip ninth place and dent his chances of winning the championship.
Just like Shutt, Chatora finished the day on 6 over par after grossing 79 in the second round as the two Zimbabweans share position nine with South Africans Dylan Kayne and Peter Watt.
However, the South Africans maintained a strong grip on the competition with Devon Valentine gaining a single stroke over overnight leader compatriot Marno Lange as the two went into the final day tied at the top with a total of 1 under par 143.
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Valentine shot 2 over in the second round while Lange carded 3 over.
And three shots adrift is another South African Ethan Fichardt who carded 2 over yesterday with Conor Elfson also from South Africa sharing fourth place with Shijie Li from China and Chidambidzana.
In the girls class, Charlotte Millard from South Africa maintained top spot while compatriot Ellandri van Heerden, who was a joint overnight leader slipped to third after grossing 82 in the second round.
Another South African Phenyo Sebata took advantage to move into second place two strokes behind Millard on 9 over after 36 rounds of golf.
Yixuan Mu from China moved into fourth place but remains a massive 18 shots behind the leader going into the last day.
Zimbabwe’s top performer is Zarina Makwarimba who gained two places up to seventh on the leaderboard on the second day with Miriam Masiya a shot further on plus 32.
This year’s competition saw 61 budding golfers from eight countries taking part.
The final day tees off at 7:30 am today