Final day battles loom at SA Country Districts

The battle lines have been drawn and this year’s South African Country Districts Tournament will go down the wire as the top teams in both sections combat for glory at the Fish River Sun Country Club on Friday.

After a 5.5 – 6.5 loss to North West on Thursday, expect Ekurhuleni to turn up the heat when they go head-to-head with Boland, who surged to the top of the standings after thrashing Free State 10 – 2.

The Cape side laid the foundation for the thumping by winning three games in the foursomes, while Anton Pieters and Meyer Pauw added a half point from their battle against Almero Theron and Henning de Jager.

Martin Mitchell, Henri van Waart and JF Conradie reeled in three more points, before De Jager hit back for Free State with a 4 & 3 victory against Peter Willemse.

Riaan Gerber, Pieters and Jaco Spies continued the beating, and Pauw denied Free State another point when he halved the final game against Luan Erasmus.

Meanwhile the overnight log leaders came up against a spirited North West assault and couldn’t turn enough games in their favour to ward off a loss.

Ekurhuleni was on the charge after taking a 2.5 – 1.5 lead in the foursomes, but Martin Walsh and Aldre Terblance claimed first blood in the singles to put North West on attack.

Hugo Malan kept their edge intact when he halved against Donovan Malan, but Adolf van der Merwe levelled the score at 4-all when he beat Gary Church 2 & 1.

After Brendan Flynn and Eben-Paul Zietsman halved their game, Eduard van den Berg took North West ahead with a 6 & 5 win against Chris Zietsman, but Teagan Moore hit back to put the teams at 5.5 each when he beat Albert Britz 2-up.

It was down to Francois Kruger and Stefan Cronje in the final match, with Kruger sealing the match for North West at the final hole.

As is the case in the A-Section, the B-Section promotion battle will also come down to the side that survives the battle when Southern Cape and Border face off on Friday.

Overnight log leaders Southern Cape lost their footing after being handed 3 – 9 whipping by KwaZulu-Natal, but Border sealed an 8.5 – 3.5 victory against Limpopo to steal into pole position on eight points.

Although Southern Cape lags in second on six points, the difference in games points between the two sides is just 1.5 in Border’s favour, so either side could secure the coveted promotion with a strong performance.

In the final match on Thursday, the Eastern Province put in a strong performance to beat Northern Cape 7.5 – 4.5.

A-SECTION RESULTS – Click Here
A-SECTION LOG – Click Here

B-SECTION RESULTS – Click Here
B-SECTION LOG – Click Here

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.

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