Central Gauteng rebound at SA IPT
The Western Province and Central Gauteng forged ahead in the foursomes while Limpopo took advantage of the benign conditions at Port Elizabeth Golf Club to square off against Boland in the fourth round of the South African Inter-Provincial.
Province will take a decisive 3-1 lead over KwaZulu-Natal into the singles, while the defending champions fared a half point better against Gauteng North to set up what could be an intriguing afternoon.
Central team manager Jock Wellington is confident the defending champions will mount the pressure this afternoon.
“They were well beaten yesterday, but it’s a new round, a new opponent and we’ve come back with renewed focus,” he said. “We have a decent cushion but it means nothing if you don’t back it up with a solid performance in the singles and that’s what we need today.
“Our lead can disappear very quickly, but we had a good chat over lunch and I’m confident every guy on the side will give hundred percent. That’s all a manager can ask for.”
Meanwhile Richard Hargreaves was thrilled that chances he made to his line-up and combinations paid off, but he is expecting much more from his charges as Eastern Province chases double success in the singles to strengthen their bid for promotion.
“It definitely worked to change this up,” said Hargreaves after the local favourites completed the foursomes with a 3-1 lead on Border and all square with Mpumalanga.
“A far more pleasing result in the foursomes,” said Hargreaves. “I put guys together that aren’t friends and wouldn’t normally play together, so perhaps there was a little more respect and resulted in better results for us.”
Losing one of the two matches is not an option said the hosts side’s captain, Naldo Claassens.
“The conditions helped Mpumalanga this morning, but I think if the wind comes up, it could be a different story,” he said.
“We need at least four and a half, five points in the singles to have a chance to challenge for promotion on Friday, so if the wind does blow, it will allow us to play to our strengths and we’ll be in with a chance.”
In the other B-Section matches, Mpumalanga – with two wins and one loss – lead Border 3-1 while North West leads Free State & Northern Cape by the same margin.