Yorkshire golf: White Rose champion Jamie Bower right on trail of Southern Cape Open leaders

His display is all the more impressive given that the Meltham man revealed he "struggled" with his swing.

He was out in level par at Mossel Bay GC in South Africa having surrendered the shots gained at holes two and five with bogeys at seven and eight.

But then he produced a back-nine birdie blitz, gaining shots to par at four consecutive holes from the 11th for a 36-hole aggregate of 138.

"I was really bad on the front nine and then managed to put together a few decent shots on the back," said the 24-year-old.

"One (of his four consecutive birdies) was an up-and-down on a par-5 and the other three came after average approach shots and mid-range putts.

"Overall I'm happy with my scoring considering how I've played."

He trails South African joint leaders Alex van Wyk (Fancourt CC) and Irene CC's Jason Smith by just one shot heading into the weekend.

Bower is part of the England Golf men's squad that is on a six-week competitive tour in South Africa.

The Yorkshire county player won the first of the events he played in, the Gauteng North Open, and then placed third in the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Leopard Creek last week.