Free State, Northern Cape impress in Worcester
The Free State Express kept on rolling, Border bested Limpopo and Northern Cape made a very industrious debut in the promotion battle at the South African U-19 Inter-Provincial at a windswept Worcester Golf Club on Tuesday.
Having steamrolled Border and Mpumalanga to gain four points on Monday, Free State continued their winning march and handed North West an 8.5 – 3.5 drubbing to strengthen their position at the top of the B-Section standings.
Border gained two valuable points for defeating Limpopo 6.5 – 5.5, but the day belonged to newcomers Northern Cape.
The debutants thumped Border 7.5 – 4.5 and rallied to square their second match against Limpopo.
Border dominated the Foursomes to win 2.5 – 1.5, but Vuyu Klaas, Louis Fourie, NJ van der Walt, Martin van Jaarsveld and Joshua Edwards piled on points in the Singles to secure the win for Northern Cape.
The side drew 2-all against Limpopo in the Foursomes, but Van der Walt, Van Jaarsveld and Edwards secured three points in the Singles, while Arno Esterhuysen and Louis Fourie forced the 6-all result when they squared their respective matches.
“Free State’s manager Nicky Nel said this wind would be called Hurricane Katrina at home and I couldn’t agree more,” said delighted manager Rias Rabie.
“We are definitely not used to competing in conditions like this and there was a lot of nerves this morning. We didn’t have unrealistic expectations for our first appearance in this national championship, but we did set ourselves a goal of finishing in the top five.
“Our team is pretty young, with six players under 17, so this has already been fantastic experience for them. The boys were very hungry to get us the best possible start and, although, I was a little apprehensive to see how they would handle the 60 km per hour wind and the pressure, they stood up to be counted. All I can say is that I am incredibly proud of their opening performance.”
Free State, with four straight victories, lead the log with six points.
North West is second, while Northern Cape moved into third spot with three points. Border, Mpumalanga and Eastern Province all have two points.
B-SECTION ROUND 2 RESULTS
Free State 8.5 – North West 3.5
Border 6.5 – Limpopo 5.5
Northern Cape 7.5 – Border 4.5
Northern Cape 6 – Limpopo 6
B-DIVISION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Free State (3, 3, 0, 0, 6, 29.0)
2 North West (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 18.5)
3 Northern Cape (2, 1, 1, 0, 3, 13.5)
4 Border (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 13.5)
5 Mpumalanga (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 13.0)
6 Eastern Province (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 11.5)
7 Limpopo (4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 21.0)
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.