Double delight for Gauteng North at 72 Hole Teams Champs

Gauteng North celebrated an unprecedented double victory at the 72 Hole Teams Championship after lifting both the Swiss Teams Trophy and Challenge Trophy at Maccauvlei Golf Club on Wednesday.

The defending champions did not only retain their A-Division title, but their B-team finished second while their C-team held off a spirited challenge from Limpopo to capture the B-Division title.

This marks the first time that one province has won both the coveted Swiss Teams Trophy and the Challenge Trophy since the B-Division was introduced in 2008.

Kim Williams, Nobuhle Dlamini and Magda Kruger were as imperious as last year, successfully combining again to lift the Swiss Teams Trophy and seal Gauteng North’s fourth A-Division victory in a row in this prestigious annual national team competition.

As expected, Gauteng North A took early control of the championship with an opening 145. The trio piled on the pressure with a second round 146 and 142 in the third and extended their advantage to take a 16 shot lead going into the final round.

While Kruger signed for a non-counting 79, Williams eagled the par-five 15th on her way to a closing one-under-par 72 and Dlamini birdied the 18th for a 74.

The defending champions closed with an even-par 146 and claimed the title on a winning score of five-under-par 579, 17 shots ahead of team mates Gauteng North B.

Carrie Park (72) and Gina Switala (75) produced a final round 147 for Gauteng North B, with Chrystal Cooper carding a non-counting 79.

The battle for the Challenge Trophy went down the wire, with Gauteng North C and Limpopo both throwing everything into the fight for glory.

The two teams began the final round in a tie for the lead on 477, but a 74 from Sylvia Masango and an 81 from Eugenie Clack gave the Gauteng North C side a final round 155. They edged out Limpopo for the B-Division title by a solitary shot.

Megan Bissett and Lynn-Marie Nagel shot matching 78s for Limpopo’s final round 156, while Lenanda van der Watt carded a non-counting 88.

An elated Dot van Ryneveld, president of the Gauteng North Golf Union said, “ This was our goal – to win both divisions of both national team championships. I’m really proud that we also managed top three individual spots, and having three teams in the A Division next year will only serve to make the girls work harder.”

Meanwhile Dlamini extended her dream run when she edged out defending champion Kim Williams to win the Governor’s Trophy for the best individual performance in the championship.

The Swazi golfer, already an eight-time winner this season, carded rounds of 69-74-72-74 to finish on three-under-par 289, one shot ahead of Williams, the only other player to finish below par with rounds of 76-72-70-72.

Another record set in this year’s championship was the amount of junior entries. Last year’s event drew 31 juniors and the 2013 event saw 32 juniors (under 18s) tee it up in the 72-player field. A total of 11 juniors made their A-Division debut, including Park from Gauteng North, Ji Sun Kang and Cara Gorlei from the Western Province, Bianca Theron from Boland and Gauteng North’s Kruger, who finished third, fifth, sixth, tied eighth and 10threspectively in the final individual standings.

Click HERE for the Team Results

Click HERE for the Individual Standings

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