Germany's Guenther New Sport Francis Open Leader

Guenther is at seven under 135 while Rafael Gomez, with matching 69's is alone on second at 138, one shot better than Raul Fretes (69) and Walter Rodriguez who are tied for third.

A group of eight players, including Canadian Mike Mezei (70), Alex Coe (70) and Daniel Im (67) are tied for fifth at two under par 140 along with first round leader Hugo Leon who slipped to a 75 after opening the tournament with a 65.

Guenther began on the back nine and despite a bogey at his second hole, quickly rebounded with birdies at twelve, fourteen and sixteen, before chipping in for eagle at No. 17.

After another bogey at his ninth, Guenther bounced back with another birdie at his tenth before picking up another at his fourteenth hole.

"I didn't let my bogey at my second hole bother me. It was my first bogey of the tournament and it was going to happen at some point," said Guenther. "I just played really steady from there and felt really good."

"You really have to know what you are going to hit off the tee and pinpoint your shots. If you miss the fairway you'll be blocked by tree branches and then are hitting to small greens. If you miss the fairway on the wrong side you are almost always looking at bogey. This isn't the type of golf course that will yield a lot of birdies.

"I believe that if you play well here, you can be successful anywhere."

The morning, however, belonged to Rafael Gómez, who is looking for his third TLA win of the season. Starting the day in a tie for sixth after an opening 69, the Argentinean sank four birdies over his first eleven holes.

His run to the top was cut by two bogeys on his last four holes. "I didn't finish well, but that's the way golf is," said Gomez.

"I'm striking the ball nicely and I feel I have a pretty good chance come Sunday," said the two-time TLA Order of Merit winner.

A group of 66 players made the cut at seven over par 149.

2006 BC Amateur Champion Mitchell Gillis of Williams Lake was disqualified today after failing to sign his scorecard.

Canadian Tour - Sport Francis Open
Sport Frances Golf Club - - 6,857-yard - - par-71
(a-denotes amateur)
Canadians in bold print

Christoph Guenther 69-66--135
Rafael Gomez 69-69--138
Raul Fretes 70-69--139
Walter Rodriguez 68-71--139
Guillermo Encina 71-69--140
Mike Mezei 70-70--140
Clodomiro Carranza 73-67--140
Alex Coe 70-70--140
Daniel Im 73-67--140
Lucas Lee 69-71--140
Julio Noguera 71-69--140
Hugo Leon 65-75--140
Ramon Bescansa 68-73--141
Luis Moreno 72-69--141
Rob Grube 69-72--141
Jim Seki 70-71--141
Martin Ureta 73-69--142
Ramon Franco 72-70--142
Benjamin Alvarado 69-73--142
Milton Jeria 71-71--142
Angel Franco 73-70--143
Manuel Relancio 74-69--143
Cristian Leon 73-70--143
Brian Benedictson 72-71--143
Fernando Figueroa 72-72--144
Angel Fernandez 74-70--144
Nicolas Geyger (a) 72-72--144
Patricio Fernandez 72-72--144
Francisco Valdes 71-73--144
Jose Garrido 72-72--144
Rafael Ponce 71-73--144
Kris Wasylowich 73-72--145
Byron Smith 76-69--145
Kent Fukushima 71-74--145
Luciano Giometti 74-71--145
Luis Figueroa 75-70--145
Mario Hurtado 68-77--145
Matt Johnston 70-75--145
Pierre Relecom 73-72--145
Horacio Leon (a) 74-71--145
Pan Singhaseni 74-72--146
Roy Mackenzie 73-73--146
Luciano Diaz (a) 75-71--146
Luis Graf 74-73--147
Jaime Clavijo (a) 74-73--147
Miguel Fernandez 77-70--147
Maxmiliano Orueta 77-70--147
Luciano Dodda 75-72--147
Jose Buezas 73-74--147
Marcel Haremza 74-74--148
Stuart Anderson 75-73--148
Adam Speirs 76-72--148
Jose Carvacho 74-74--148
Alan Bihan 75-73--148
Derek Oakey 74-74--148
Scott Ford 72-76--148
Mike Grob 68-80--148
Ignacio Besagoitia 77-71--148
Joaquin Estevez 78-71--149
Jesus Amaya 76-73--149
Luis Berrios 75-74--149
Oswaldo Gonzalez 78-71--149
Dale Vallely 73-76--149
Francisco Cerda 73-76--149
Tomas Aravena 71-78--149
Nicolas Gaete 73-76--149

THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS MISSED THE 36 HOLE CUT

Vicente Rojas 77-73--150
Todd Halpen 78-72--150
Garrett Sapp 75-75--150
Hector Beck (a) 77-73--150
Sebastian Salem 76-74--150
Andres Benenati 78-72--150
Anibal Gonzalez 76-74--150
Philippe Guidi (a) 75-75--150
Matias O'Curry 76-74--150
Luis Arechiga 72-78--150
Hugo Contreras 77-73--150
Juan Massai 77-73--150
Diego Larrazabal 79-72--151
Luis Ramirez (a) 74-77--151
James Muir 77-74--151
Diego Perez 72-79--151
Daniel Barbetti 73-78--151
Edgar Gomez 77-75--152
Pedro Bueno 77-75--152
Andres Jabalquinto 81-71--152
Estanislao Goya 76-76--152
Miguel Reinoso 77-75--152
Rodrigo Jeria 79-73--152
Cristian Fornes (a) 75-77--152
Diego Perez de Arce 75-77--152
Mauricio Molino 70-82--152
Guillermo Benenati 81-71--152
Gonzalo Ruiz 77-76--153
Cristian Caballero 76-77--153
Lucas Morande (a) 75-78--153
Eric West 75-78--153
Nilson Cabrera 78-75--153
Nicolas Noranbuena 76-78--154
Santiago Russi 76-78--154
Juan Cortes (a) 77-78--155
Martin Monguzzi 77-79--156
Juan Labbe (a) 79-77--156
Matias Gramajo 80-76--156
Eduardo Miguel 77-79--156
Wesley Burton 83-73--156
Fabian Montovia 84-73--157
Esteban Isasi 81-76--157
Brandon Lawson 78-79--157
Hugo Leon Sr. (a) 78-79--157
Juan Cardenas 78-79--157
Gonzalo Orfila 77-81--158
Flip Timmerman (a) 78-80--158
Ian Schneider 79-80--159
Jose Aranda 77-82--159
Victor Bueno 79-81--160
Andrew Jensen 78-83--161
Pablo Abumohor (a) 84-77--161
Luis Cerda 80-83--163
Adam Britz 91-86--177
Mitchell Gillis 75-DQ
Cristian Espinoza (a) 76-DQ