Free State in pound seats at SA U-19 IPT
Free State steamed to a solid six point lead in the promotion battle with another convincing performance, while Mpumalanga and Eastern Province both secured victories to stay in the hunt at the South African U-19 Inter-Provincial at Worcester Golf Club on Wednesday.
Free State will definitely enjoy their fourth round bye after whipping Northern Cape 11 – 1 and handing Eastern Province an 8.5 – 3.5 drubbing to surge to top of the standings with 10 points.
Nicky Nel’s charges carried a 4 – 0 lead into the Singles against Northern Cape.
Leander Snyman, GeRico Muller, Steven le Roux, Attie van Wyk, Ruan Pretorius, Wilco Nienaber and Therion Nel collected the seven points, but Arno Esterhuysen spoiled their party when he beat Franco Froneman 1-up.
The log leaders led Eastern Province 3 – 1 in the Foursomes and Nel set the tone for the Singles when he downed Eastern Province number one Jacques Smith 6 & 4.
Snyman, Le Roux, Pretorius and Nienaber boosted their tally, while Muller added a half point after a draw against Lukas Pretorius.
“This team has really punched well above their weight this week,” said Nel.
“Every player on the team has given 100 percent, like our number two Wilco. He fought like a demon to come back from three down with five to play to beat Dehan Joubert from Eastern Province. The commitment and the determination of these players are just amazing.”
Eastern Province exacted their revenge on Northern Cape to triumph 9 – 3.
Having scored a clean sweep in the Foursomes, Lukas Pretorius won 6 & 5 and Tiaan van der Bank 4 & 3 to keep the momentum going and Andrew Jeffrey, Kyle de Beer and Dehan Joubert notched the rest of the their points.
Brandon Esterhuizen, Banele Mavuso, Ian Jacobs, Jacques Brits and Ivan Mare were the point scorers in the Singles for Mpumalanga, who also enjoyed a 4 – 0 whitewash in the Foursomes and defeated Limpopo 9 – 3.
B-SECTION ROUND 3 RESULTS
Free State 8.5 – Eastern Province 3.5
Free State 11 – Northern Cape 1
Eastern Province 9 – Northern Cape 3
Limpopo 3 – Mpumalanga 9
B-DIVISION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Free State (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 48.5)
2 Eastern Province (4, 2, 0, 2, 4, 24.0)
3 Mpumalanga (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 22.0)
4 North West (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 18.5)
5 Northern Cape (4, 1, 1, 2, 3, 17.5)
6 Border (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 13.5)
7 Limpopo (5, 0, 1, 4, 1, 24.0)
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.