Scott Jamieson was devouring the course with a record-setting 63 as a pride of lions dined out close-by on day two of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
Jamieson muscled his way to a three-shot lead at 13-under-par on the host Leopard Creek course that borders the famed Kruger National Park at Malelane, some 250-miles east of the capital Johannesburg.
The Scot’s nine-under score is one fewer than Tartan colleague David Drysdale’s course record low of 64 on day three in 2016 and Jamieson’s best since a similar 63 on day two of last April’s ISPS Handa Championship in Spain while his effort is easily a best Leopard Creek round and four shots fewer than a prior best of 67 on day one of the 2016 event.
And Jamieson, wearing long trousers with a rule allowing shorts, did so with the sighting of many wild animals, including lions lazing close to the 13th green, that Jamieson birdied for a second day, and with the lions clearly seen licking their paws no doubt after a tasty lunch.
There have also been crocodiles spotted lazing along the banks of the appropriately named Crocodile Creek while a male Bushbuck was seen casually walking across the first fairway.
As well, all those teeing-up this week have been donating money for every birdie they record to help elephants from being poached.
Jamieson said: “It was one of those days where almost everything clicked.
“I wasn’t’ aware it was a course record but then it’s a special place to hold the course record. It’s also always nice to do so bogey-free. I love playing golf here”.
The Florida-based Scot capped his bogey-free round of nine birdies with four birdies in succession from the fifth hole and then grabbed a birdie hat-trick from the 12th while it could have easily been a score of 60 with the Scot failing to birdie the two inward half par-5s.
He said: I got a nice run in the middle of the front nine where I just kept holing every single putt and that was a nice feeling. To be five under on the front nine, I knew I was in really good shape.
“But you can’t rest on your laurels here. You’ve got to keep the pedal down and thankfully I was able to make more birdies on the back nine. I also holed some crucial par putts which kept the momentum on my side.
“And I drove it a lot better today. I made some good swings and hit my targets. We had some rain so the greens were a bit softer as well. It was a good day for me.”
As for the wildlife, Jamieson said: “The variety of wildlife is all part of what makes this course so stunning. You get all sorts of animals and reptiles, like crocodiles, crossing the course so you have to be on your guard.”
Some halfway house views are better than others 🦁 #DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/2LZP7elvnq
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 9, 2022
It was also a mixed bag with the weather as Jamieson played his opening two holes and the closing two with the umbrella up, with the heavy rain softening the course.
As reported yesterday by GolfByTourMiss, Jamieson is no stranger to playing well on the course with results of third in 2012, fourth in 2016, third in 2018 and sixth in his last showing in 2019 is a pretty good excuse to add the event to his schedule.
Of course, it’s been exactly 10-years (December 9th, 2012) since Jamieson’s only tour victory at both the event and course shortened 2012 Nelson Mandela Championship at Royal Durban.
Three players – Frenchman David Ravetto (67) and the England pair of Nathan Kimsey (64) and Eddie Pepperell (65) – share second place at 10-under.
Top world ranked and LIV star Louis Oosthuizen posted a 66 for the World No. 51 to be sharing 10th while fellow South African Ernie Els, contesting a first ‘regular’ DP World Tour event since early last year, made the cut with scores of 70 and 69.
