Staff WriterIf you were wondering what eight-under-par looks like in Limpopo heat, the answer arrived wearing a French accent and carrying a scorecard that practically needed its own passport stamp. Maxence Giboudot lit up day two of the SDC Open at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa with a joint low round of the week — a sparkling 64 — and he’ll take a one-shot lead into the weekend with momentum humming like a well-struck 3-wood.
Giboudot’s recipe was simple enough to write on the back of a yardage book: seven birdies, one eagle, and just the solitary bogey that shows he’s human. That moved him to 11 under par for the tournament and one ahead of a packed chasing posse: 2024 SDC Open champion Rhys Enoch (Wales), overnight leader Martin Vorster (South Africa), and Spaniard Joel Moscatel.
And here’s the bit that should make the rest of the field reach for the antacids: Giboudot finished like a man late for dinner, playing the final four holes in three under par to nose in front.
“It was hot, it was tough” — and it was brilliant
Zebula doesn’t hand out birdies like complimentary mints. It asks questions off the tee, then follows up with a few more in the rough — the kind of rough that looks at your ball and says, you sure you want that back? Giboudot, teeing it up here for a third successive year, looked perfectly content answering every one of them.
“It was hot, it was tough but everything went well,” he said. “All the things you can control went well.
“The short game was really good. All my wedges were close, and I made some putts at the end, so that was the best part.
“You need to be on the fairway here, that’s really important because the rough is tough. I was in position on the 15th and made a really good second shot to be in position for eagle, then hit two good iron shots on 17, and then a good wedge into 18 for a birdie too.”
That’s the anatomy of a 64 right there: position, precision, and a wedge game that behaves like it’s on a personal mission.
A promotion dream, and a weekend to chase it
The headline is the lead, but the subplot has teeth. Giboudot is targeting a first promotion to the DP World Tour this season, after finishing 70th and 71st on the Road to Mallorca Rankings in the last two years. That’s close enough to smell the big leagues, but far enough to know you need more than good intentions and a lucky bounce.
A strong early-season surge in South Africa could put him in pole position — and he’s got extra fuel in the tank watching friends Martin Couvra and Oihan Guillamoundeguy graduate recently from the HotelPlanner Tour.
“Those guys make me want to go up to the DP World Tour with them, and I can’t wait to do it,” he added.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard, but I’ll be in a good position. I’ll keep doing my thing and try to keep playing like this to the end.”
That’s a dangerous combination for everyone else at the SDC Open: confidence without chaos, ambition without the frantic steering-wheel grip.
Chasers in the mirrors: Enoch, Vorster, Moscatel and a crowded pack
One shot is barely a sneeze in golf, and the leaderboard behind Giboudot is busy enough to need traffic lights.
- Rhys Enoch (2024 SDC Open champion) sits one back, perfectly positioned to remind everyone he rather likes this tournament.
- Martin Vorster, the overnight leader, is still very much in the conversation.
- Joel Moscatel (Spain) rounds out the group tied for second.
Further down, German Jannik de Bruyn produced a seven-under-par 65 to move into a share of fifth alongside South Africa’s Jaco Ahlers at nine under par. And then it gets properly crowded: five players sit one shot further back in seventh, including South Africans Pieter Moolman, Herman Loubser and MJ Viljoen, plus German Hurly Long and Spaniard Pablo Ereno.
In other words: there are plenty of hands reaching for the steering wheel, and the weekend at the SDC Open is set up to bite anyone who thinks they’re safe.
Tee times: Saturday starts early, leaders out at 12:05 pm
The third round of the SDC Open gets underway tomorrow at 6:28 am local time, with Giboudot teeing off alongside Vorster at 12:05 pm. If the heat keeps rising and the fairways keep narrowing, you can expect a premium on exactly what Giboudot talked about: finding short grass, leaning on wedges, and cashing in when the putter behaves.
Because at Zebula, you don’t so much “take” a low round as negotiate for it — politely, firmly, and preferably from the fairway.
