Skogen and Giboudot lead tight battle for SDC Open trophy

Baard Skogen. Sunshine Tour

Norway’s Baard Skogen and France’s Maxence Giboudot will head into the final round of the SDC Open tied for the lead on 15-under par after a thrilling third round of low scoring at the Zebula Golf Estate & Spa on Saturday.

Skogen signed for a 64 to top the leaderboard and Giboudot birdied the last for a 68 to join him.

“I’m over the moon. I made some long putts and couldn’t be more pleased,” said Skogen, who finished fifth in this tournament last year.

The key to his round on Saturday was some incredible putting, especially for his two eagles on the 15th and 18th holes.

“I hit a nice shot into 15 and it stayed just short of the ridge, and I got lucky with the putt. On 18, that putt had some speed but went in the hole so I got lucky with that one,” he said.

His round of eight under was one better than he’d told his friend would be needed for him to get back into this tournament.

“I told my friend yesterday that if I shoot seven under I’d get back in the tournament. I played poorly on moving day here last year so I did better than that today. I felt like I did good work over the winter so hopefully I’m seeing the fruits of my labour.”

Giboudot remains in contention to become the second French winner of this title after Clement Sordet in 2022.

The leaders are one stroke clear of South Africa’s MJ Viljoen, who posted a 66, and Germany’s Jannik de Bruyn, who signed for a 67.

It’s a tight leaderboard going into Sunday’s final round and it’s exactly what Skogen is looking forward to.

“Who wouldn’t be excited? We get to play for a win. That’s what we work for. Everybody wants to win. I haven’t won as a pro and didn’t win much in college. It’s been a long time since I’ve won something.”

Maxence Giboudot. Sunshine Tour

SCORES

201 - Baard Skogen 72 65 64

201 - Maxence Giboudot 69 64 68

202 - MJ Viljoen 66 70 66

202 - Jannik de Bruyn 70 65 67

205 - Marc Warren 71 69 65

205 - Stuart Krog 69 70 66, Alex Goff 70 68 67, Deon Germishuys 70 68 67, Kyle Barker 69 68 68, Tobias Eden 68 69 68, Martin Vorster 65 69 71

206 - Max Kennedy 69 72 65

206 - Jean Hugo 68 70 68, Graham van der Merwe 68 69 69, Herman Loubser 68 68 70, Pieter Moolman 72 64 70, Jaco Ahlers 67 68 71, Rhys Enoch 69 65 72

207 - Justin Walters 68 73 66

207 - Nikhil Rama 72 68 67, Dan Erickson 70 70 67, Liam Nolan 72 67 68, Julien Quesne 69 69 69, Callum Farr 67 71 69, Luke Brown 67 70 70, Pablo Ereno 69 67 71

208 - Wilco Nienaber 73 67 68

208 - Jaco Prinsloo 66 73 69, Lucas Vacarisas 69 69 70, Charles Huntzinger 69 68 71, Robin Williams 70 67 71, Hurly Long 72 64 72, Joel Moscatel 69 65 74

209 - Matthis Besard 71 70 68

209 - Tyran Snyders 68 72 69, Kieron van Wyk 71 69 69, Ronan Kleu 69 70 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr 68 71 70, Julien Brun 70 68 71, Tristen Strydom 71 67 71, Jordan Burnand 68 69 72

210 - Jason Roets 73 68 69

210 - Austin Bautista 71 69 70, Martin Rohwer 70 70 70, Haydn Porteous 69 70 71, Clement Sordet 69 70 71, Adam Wallin 69 69 72, Julien Sale 67 70 73

211 - Palmer Jackson 70 71 70

211 - Sam Hutsby 74 66 71, Jack Hawksby 68 70 73

212 - Hennie Otto 72 69 71

212 - Ryan Van Velzen 68 72 72, Lorenzo Scalise 70 70 72, Yurav Premlall 68 72 72, Toto Thimba Jnr 71 68 73, Robert Foley 70 69 73

213 - Nick Carlson 72 69 72

213 - Gary Hurley 72 69 72, Rupert Kaminski 73 67 73, Ruan Korb 68 71 74

214 - Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 72 69 73

214 - Robin Sciot-Siegrist 73 68 73, Kyle De Beer 69 71 74, Gerhard Pepler 69 71 74

215 - Altin van der Merwe 72 69 74

215 - Ryan van der Klis 70 69 76

217 - Warwick Purchase 70 71 76

217 - Bjorn Akesson 70 71 76

219 - Thomas Spreadborough 72 69 78

220 - Luis Carrera 70 71 79

Missed the cut

142 - Conor Purcell 75 67

142 - Dylan Mostert 73 69, Hamish Brown 73 69, Lukas Nemecz 75 67, Steven Brown 71 71, MJ Daffue 72 70, Alexander Knappe 71 71, Jacques Blaauw 71 71, Robson Chinhoi 71 71, Calum Fyfe 71 71, Hennie O'Kennedy 71 71, Makhetha Mazibuko 70 72, Jacques P de Villiers 72 70, James Mack 72 70

143 - JJ Senekal 73 70

143 - Franklin Manchest 72 71, Josh Hilleard 73 70, Christofer Blomstrand 69 74, Samuel Simpson 74 69, Victor Pastor 72 71, Albert Boneta 72 71, Kieran Vincent 68 75, Benjamin Rusch 74 69, Wynand Dingle 73 70

144 - Matthew Southgate 74 70

144 - Jovan Rebula 73 71, Adri Arnaus 74 70, Robin Petersson 71 73, Ricky Hendler 71 73, Haraldur Magnus 71 73, Malcolm Mitchell 74 70, Collin Adams 73 71, Estiaan Conradie 69 75

145 - Keenan Davidse 74 71

145 - Heinrich Bruiners 74 71, Yannik Paul 75 70, Andres German Gallegos 71 74, Callum Tarren 72 73, Alfie Plant 78 67, Wouter De Vries 70 75, Santiago Tarrio 72 73, Will Enefer 74 71, Louis Albertse 74 71, Jean-Paul Strydom 74 71, Canon Claycomb 75 70, Ronan Mullarney 73 72

146 - Sam Jones 72 74

146 - Rhys West 74 72, Julian Perico 76 70, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 74, Karabo Mokoena 70 76, Ayden Knight 72 74, Lars van Meijel 72 74, Matthias Schwab 72 74, Anton Albers 78 68, Callan Barrow 76 70, CJ du Plessis 73 73

147 - George Coetzee 75 72

147 - Neil Schietekat 77 70, Keelan van Wyk 72 75, Sebastian Friedrichsen 78 69, Victor Sidal Svendsen 75 72, Nick Bachem 69 78, Christiaan Burke 76 71

148 - Asier Aguirre 71 77

148 - Anders Ejlersen 77 71, Joe Long 71 77, Trevor Mahoney 79 69, Kayle Wykes 76 72, Luke Jerling 75 73, Lyle Rowe 75 73, Stephen Ferreira 74 74

149 - Rory Franssen 74 75

149 - Bryce Easton 78 71, Daan Huizing 77 72, Javier Barcos Garbayo 76 73, Christofer Rahm 68 81

151 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 78 73

152 - John Gough 78 74

152 - Pedro Figueiredo 80 72, Vince van Veen 74 78

153 - Kristian Hjort Bressum 79 74

153 - Keagan Thomas 75 78

155 - Thabiso Ngcobo 77 78

RTD - Per Langfors 75 RTD