Central Gauteng crowned SA Junior IPT champs
Central Gauteng truly embodied the spirit of team effort when they combined to beat Gauteng North in the final round on Friday and lift the 2013 South African Junior Inter-Provincial at Bellville Golf Club.
The junior side looked great on paper and was among the favourites to challenge ahead of this year’s national championship, yet they didn’t make their presence felt until they pulled together for a superb turnaround victory against hosts Western Province in the fourth round.
That same collective determination carried the team to an 8 – 4 victory against Gauteng North when a clean sweep in the foursomes came under serious threat from the defending champions in the singles.
“This match was a lot closer than it looks on paper, but I have to commend every player on the team for the way they pulled together and played for each other,” said manager Andy Truluck.
“It is never easy to win all five games at the IPT but our guys pulled through in spectacular style, especially in the singles in our final match. We played each match on its own merit, and the guys played for the team, not for the man.”
Gauteng North was 0 – 4 down going into the singles, but quickly chipped away at the deficit.
Ruan Conradie beat Keelan van Wyk 3 & 2, Dylan Naidoo lost 1-down to Adriel Poonan and Stefan Wears-Taylor halved his match against Karabo Mokoena to reduce the gap one and a half points.
MH Steyn beat Juan-Pierre Cooper 4 & 3 to take Central’s tally to 5.5 points, but Gauteng North closed in again when Nicholaus Frade scored another half point against Rupert Kaminski.
Then Albert Venter thumped Dean Martin 5 & 3 to take Gauteng North to 6 – 4.
“It came down to the final two matches but our captain gave us the point we needed when he beat Rosswell Sinclair 3 & 2 and David Meyers put the seal on our victory when he defeated Keegan de Lange at the last hole,” Truluck said.
It has been four years since Central Gauteng last won the title, and Truluck is excited at the prospect of seeing this team added to the prestigious trophy.
“In 2008, Howard McLaren brought a team that included some players that are now making a name for themselves on the pro circuit,” Truluck said.
“I looked at the names on the trophy just this morning and they were a real power team… Haydn Porteous, Allan and Matthew Versfeld, Graham van der Merwe, Danie van Tonder, Siphiwe Siphayi, Callum Mowat and Shayne Allen…it’s so exciting to add the names of these lads to the trophy.
“Moreover, next year we will be hosting the SA Junior IPT and defending our title. We are only losing our skipper, Darren de Smidt, because he will be too old to compete on junior level. It’s great to know that we will have this side for another year.”
Gauteng North’s defeat opened the door for the Western Province to take second in the standings, but the 2012 champions had to pull out all the stops against Ekurhuleni to force the match into a 6-all draw.
Meanwhile A-Section debutants Limpopo avoided the wooden spoon with a well-time first victory.
In a tightly fought contest, Limpopo claimed two crucial points in the singles to defeat Eastern Province by one point 6.5 – 5.5.
Eastern Province will be relegated to make space for Southern Cape, who mowed down their greatest rivals of the week – North West – to gain promotion for next year.
KwaZulu-Natal finished second after downing Mpumalanga 8 – 4, while Boland vaulted to third after handing Border a 9 – 3 trashing.
A-DIVISION: DAY FIVE RESULTS
Central Gauteng Golf Union 8.0 vs Gauteng North Golf Union 4.0
Western Province Golf Union 6.0 vs Ekurhuleni Golf Union 6.0
Eastern Province Golf Union 5.5 vs Limpopo Golf Union 6.5
A-DIVISION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Central Gauteng Golf Union (5, 4, 1, 0, 9, 39.0)
2 Western Province Golf Union (5, 3, 1, 1, 7, 36.5)
3 Ekurhuleni Golf Union (5, 2, 2, 1, 6, 31.0)
4 Gauteng North Golf Union (5, 3, 0, 2, 6, 30.0)
5 Limpopo Golf Union (5, 1, 0, 4, 2, 19.5)
6 Eastern Province Golf Union (5, 0, 0, 5, 0, 24.0)