Ekurhuleni, Province battle on the cards at Rondebosch

6 October 2021 – Ekurhuleni barely kept their bid for a hat-trick alive as Western Province flexed their muscles with a convincing victory in the first round of the A1 Division of the 60th Women’s Inter-Provincial Tournament, held at Rondebosch Golf Club in Cape Town.

A-SECTION

Having won the seeding event by nine strokes, Province hit the ground running in the first round of the match play and threw down the gauntlet with a comprehensive 8-1 result over Gauteng.

Taking a clean sweep in the foursomes, the host union won all bar one of the afternoon singles games as the Cape Southeaster made its first appearance of the week

GolfRSA National squad rookie Zara le Keur and Anita Chen – playing at 6 and 6 respectively – banked the first 2 points. Reigning SA Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Vicki Traut notched their third point after Lizemari Richter prevented a whitewash with a 4 & 3 win against Erica Chen.

Reigning Nomads SA Girls Rose Bowl champion Isabella van Rooyen beat Holly Lau 5 & 4 and Bobbi Brown, who won the Nomads SA Girls Championship last month, sealed the runaway victory when she ousted Larissa du Preez 6 & 5.

Province will face defending champions Ekurhuleni in what appears to be a title decider in the second of the round robin matches.

Having drawn the foursomes, the Roses edged neighbours Gauteng in a tightly-fought afternoon session that went right down to the wire. It came down to the final game between two No 1s, Kyra van Kan and her Gauteng counter-part Cara Ford. The 2020 SA Women’s Amateur finalist hit a fantastic chip into the 17th hole to win the hole and halved the 18th in pars to edge Ford 1-up and secure the 5 & 4 triumph for Ekurhuleni.

In the bottom half of the A-Division. Southern Cape got off to a strong start, beating Mpumalanga 7-2, while KwaZulu-Natal edged Boland 5.5 to 3.5. The two winning teams face each other in the second of the round robin matches.

B-SECTION

Free State opened their bid for promotion into the A Division next year with a 5-1 win over North West, while Border edged neighbours Eastern Province 4-2.

Border and Eastern Province halved the foursomes, but Sanet Pieterse, Kesha Louw and Demi Flanagan were unstoppable in the afternoon session and reeled in 3 points to give Border the win. Free State dominated the morning session, but their bid for a clean sweep received a blow from Mandie Badenhorst, who defeated Adri Vorster 3 & 2.

Border will face North West in the second round and Free State play Eastern Province.

In the bottom half of the B Section, it was Western Province B and Mpumalanga who opened with wins over Limpopo and Northern Cape respectively. The third round will see Western Province B and Northern Cape go head-to-head, while neighbours Limpopo and Mpumalanga face off.

MATCH PLAY ROUND 1 RESULTS

A DIVISION A-1
Western Province A 8 – Gauteng North 1
Gauteng 4 – Ekurhuleni 5

A DIVISION A-1 LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Western Province A (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 8)
2 Ekurhuleni (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 5)
3 Gauteng (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 4)
4 Gauteng North (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1)

A DIVISION A-2
KwaZulu-Natal 5.5 – Boland 3.5
Mpumalanga A 2 – Southern Cape 7

A DIVISION A-2 LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Southern Cape (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 7)
2 KwaZulu-Natal (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 5.5)
3 Boland (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 3.5)
4 Mpumalanga A (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2)

B DIVISION B-1
Border 4 – Eastern Province 2
Free State 5 – North West 1

B Division B-1 LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Free State (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 5)
2 Border (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 4)
3 Eastern Province (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2)
4 North West (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1)

B DIVISION B-2
Western Province B 4.5 vs Limpopo 1.5
Mpumalanga B 5 vs Northern Cape 1

B DIVISION B-2 LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Mpumalanga B (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 5)
2 Western Province B (1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 4.5)
3 Limpopo (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1.5)
4 Northern Cape (1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1)