Only 12 of the 145-man field managed to break par on the testing Nkana Golf Club, and the best score of the day was the pair of 69s carded by Daniel Green and the 2015 champion here, Ross McGowan of England.

Ferreira shared the lead with rookie Juran Dreyer, who is playing in his first Sunshine Tour tournament and carded a second successive round of one-under 71.

“I’m finding it pretty easy on the greens,” said Ferreira. “I’m used to putting on greens like this, coming from Zimbabwe. I used to play quite a lot on stuff like this when I was growing up, so I love these kinds of greens and I’m putting well.”

He made just one bogey in the opening round, but there were two and a double-bogey on his card in the second to go with his three birdies. “I felt like I hit the ball a bit better today than I did yesterday,” he said. “Obviously the score was a bit worse. I didn’t make up and down when I needed to, just to save the pars, but I’m still happy with the round. I’m leading at the halfway mark.

“My short game was good yesterday, but today there were just a couple of bad bounces on some chips and I left myself a bit too far. I did hit some good putts, just shaving the edges. It was pretty solid still, and I’m happy.

“I’m hitting the ball pretty straight. I think I only missed three or four fairways today, which is pretty good, and I just have to keep it going over the weekend.”

Dreyer was thrilled with his first two rounds on the Sunshine Tour. “I love this life obviously,” he said. “I am enjoying the first tournament. I want to be a pro-golfer. I am beating all the older guys out here at the moment. My goal was just to make the cut here and just to settle in. I didn’t set big goals for myself, but I am here now and I am going to give it my all at the weekend.”

Ferreira and Dreyer had a one-stroke edge over the only other player who was under par after two rounds, Neil Schietekat, who carded a level-par 72 with a disappointing final three-hole run of bogey-birdie-bogey.

Jacques Blaauw, who shared the first-round lead with Ferreira, was one of six players on level-par in a share of fourth after his second-round of three-over.

For the final two rounds, Ferreira does not see any reason to do things differently in conditions he’s familiar with. “I think I’m just going to stick to what I’m doing over the weekend,” he said. “Obviously, I’ll try to keep the bogeys off the card, but I’m happy with the game plan so far and we’ll see what the weekend brings.”

– African News Agency