Free State, Limpopo in fiery form at SA Mid-Am IPT

12 October 2021 – A good day for Western Province and a great day for Free State, while Limpopo banked some vital points in the promotion battle on day two of the SA Mid-Amateur Inter-Provincial at Elements Private Golf Reserve.

A-SECTION
After a win and a loss in the opening round, Free State renewed their title bid with a commanding performance. The side painted both their opponents, routing Gauteng North 9.5 – 2.5 and beating Eastern Province 8 – 4.

After going 0 – 4 down in the foursomes, it looked like 2019 winners Gauteng North would turn the tide when they won the first two games in the singles, but Free State rallied with a strong assault to win the next five on the trot. Pieter Schwartz was 1-up in the final game but bogeyed the par-3 15th, however the Free State No 1 held on to halve.

The double win boosted Free State to the top of the standings with 6 points and 28.5 game points, but Western Province is a close second after scoring their third straight win. WP took their points tally to 6 and 25 game points when they managed to edge Ekurhuleni 6.5 – 5.5 in a tightly-fought contest.

The defending champions did manage to score 2 vital points when they beat Eastern Province 7 – 5 to hang on to the third spot in the standings.

EP, the 2019 B-Section champions, will hope to rescue their campaign with a strong showing against Western Province and Central Gauteng in Wednesday’s third round.

A refreshed KwaZulu-Natal will be looking to score their first points against Gauteng North, but after three successive losses, Ekurhuleni will need to regroup on their rest day with Free State.

B-SECTION
Limpopo breathed some fire into their promotion bid with a convincing win against Border and a draw against Southern Cape.

The host union led Border 3 – 1 after the foursomes and cemented their 9 -3 victory with wins from Morne Myburgh, Neil Rathmann, Shaun Mouton, Antony Hawken, TJ Bekker and Tiaan Diederiks.

Southern Cape proved a tougher nut to crack.

Having won 2 games each in the morning session, Southern Cape stormed out of the gates in the singles to win the first 4 games, but the local heroes back to take the last four, forcing the draw.

Southern Cape moved into the top spot on 5 points, with Boland taking second on 4 points after running down Northern Cape to claim a 9 – 3 win.

North West and Mpumalanga, who had a second-round bye, dropped to third and fourth respectively on 4 points, while Limpopo sits in fifth on 3 points.

While the hosts and Northern Cape enjoy their rest day, North West will face off against Boland and Border on day three, while Mpumalanga play Southern Cape.

Day 2 Results

A-SECTION
Free State 9.5 – Gauteng North 2.5
Free State 8 – Eastern Province 4
Gauteng North 7 – Eastern Province 5
Western Province 6.5 – Ekurhuleni 5.5

A-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Free State (4, 3, 0, 1, 6, 28.5)
2 Western Province (3, 3, 0, 0, 6, 25)
3 Gauteng North (4, 2, 0, 2, 4, 24)
4 Central Gauteng (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 16)
5 Ekurhuleni (3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 11)
6 Eastern Province (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 9)
7 KwaZulu-Natal (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 6.5)

B-SECTION
Limpopo 6 – Southern Cape 6
Limpopo 9 – Border 3
Southern Cape 8 – Border 4
Boland 9 – Northern Cape 3

B-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Southern Cape (4, 2, 1, 1, 5, 27.5)
2 Boland (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 22)
3 North West (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 15.5)
4 Mpumalanga (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 14)
5 Limpopo (4, 1, 1, 2, 3, 24)
6 Northern Cape (3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 10)
7 Border (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 7)