KZN and EP in command in East London

KwaZulu-Natal dealt defending champions a knock-out punch while Central Gauteng held off a feisty Gauteng North team in the second round, while Eastern Province claimed two more scalps to strengthen their B-Section promotion bid in the 2015 South African Mid-Amateur Inter-Provincial at East London Golf Club on Tuesday.

A-SECTION

Ekurhuleni scored a solid victory against Gauteng North in round one, but the defending champions were defenceless in the face of a full KwaZulu-Natal assault.

Taking advantage of the high winds at the coastal layout in Buffalo City, KwaZulu-Natal surrendered just one game in the foursomes and pounded Ekurhuleni in the Singles to win 10.5 – 1.5.

Lyall McNeill beat Jan Delport 7 & 6 and David Brown defeated Brian Peterson 5 & 4, but the rest of the matches was as tight as could be.

Murray Gilson and Clive Lazarus won 2-up, Keith Forde, Corne van Deventer and Bradley Davison all claimed 1-up results and Dale Burraston halved against the opposition’s Tyron Auret.

Meanwhile Central Gauteng matched KwaZulu-Natal’s four points on the log by beating Gauteng North.

“We had a tidy lead after winning three games and halving another in the Foursomes,” said Central Gauteng’s windblown manager, Jaco du Plessis.

“We know Gauteng North as a gritty side and they just never give up, so we were prepared for the games to go the distance in the Singles.

“The wind started howling in the afternoon and conditions were really tough. We lost a couple of games early on, but Ryan Dreyer, Steve Williams and Kevin Sharp all won 4 & 3 to secure the win for the team.

Sean Quigley won 2 & 1 and David Muller and Neil Homann both halved their games to put us ahead 8 – 4. It was by no means easy, but with so many players who can play at number one and can handle the pressure when they come under the gun, we pulled it through.

“Even when the guys are struggling, they give everything they’ve got for the team. We still have North West to come on Wednesday and KwaZulu-Natal and Western Province waiting in the wings, so we are just taking things one match at a time.”

Western Province overturned their Monday Blues and got their campaign back on track with a decisive victory against North West.

The 2013 champions took 3.5 points in the Foursomes and Ludwig Schreuder, Riaan Lewis, Weyers Janse van Rensburg and Gerlou rallied to pick up four points in the Singles.

Meleko Patric Maichotlo halved with Stefan Blommaert to close out an 8 – 4 win.

B-SECTION

Eastern Province was two for two on Monday against Southern Cape and Limpopo and closed out two more resounding victories against Northern Cape and Border to boost their chances in the battle for promotion.

The EP Express was unstoppable as the eight-man side stretched a 3 – 1 lead over both teams in the Foursomes into impressive 10 – 2 victories against their opponents.

Attie Burger, Johan Louis Vorster, Mzuyanda Zingela, Michael Holden, David Konzani and Christian Pienaar all scored double points, while Johnny Ludick beat Northern Cape’s Gideon Kruis 3 & 2 and

Ryno Ferreira beat Jaco Marais from Border 1-up.

The local heroes fell short against their neighbours, but handed Northern Cape a 7.5 – 4.5 drubbing to keep their promotion bid alive.

Border collected 3.5 points in the Foursomes and Patrick Ludick, Udesh Pillay, Nico Joubert and John Kew delivered the winning blows in the Singles to secure the win.

Boland also boosted their tally by two points with a 7 – 5 victory over Limpopo, but had to settle for just one the point in their match against the Free State when the two sides halved 6-all.

Free State eked out a 6.5 – 5.5 win against Limpopo for two more vital points, while Southern Cape protected their third place standing in the log with an 8.5 – 3.5 result against Mpumalanga.

SECOND ROUND SCORES – A-SECTION
Gauteng North 4.0 vs Central Gauteng 8.0
KwaZulu-Natal 10.5 vs Ekurhuleni 1.5
Western Province 8.0 vs North West 4.0

A-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 KwaZulu-Natal (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 19.5)
2 Central Gauteng (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 15.5)
3 Western Province (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 12.5)
4 Ekurhuleni (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 8.5)
5 Gauteng North (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 9.0)
6 North West (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 7.0)

SECOND ROUND SCORES – B-SECTION
Eastern Province 10.0 vs Border 2.0
Eastern Province 10.0 vs Northern Cape 2.0
Northern Cape 4.5 vs Border 7.5
Boland 7.0 vs Limpopo 5.0
Boland 6.0 vs Free State 6.0
Limpopo 5.5 vs Free State 6.5
Mpumalanga 3.5 vs Southern Cape 8.5

B-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Eastern Province (4, 4, 0, 0, 8, 36.5)
2 Boland (4, 3, 1, 0, 7, 29.5)
3 Southern Cape (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 22.5)
4 Border (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 17.5)
5 Free State (3, 1, 1, 1, 3, 16.5)
6 Mpumalanga (3, 1, 0, 2, 2, 15.5)
7 Limpopo (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 16.0)
8 Northern Cape (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 14.0)

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

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