Lions soar to the summit in premier IPT’s

2023 SA Women’s Inter-Provincial Champions Central Gauteng; credit GolfRSA

11 October 2023 – What a fortnight for Central Gauteng, with the men’s team sweeping to an unchallenged victory in the SA Inter-Provincial Tournament at East London Golf Club in late September, and the women’s side following suit in the SA Women’s Inter-Provincial Tournament at Umhlali Country Club in early October.

Seven years after their last success at Umhlali Country Club, a return trip to the coast proved the catalyst for the women’s team to ascend again.

Charlotte Millard, Casey Twidale, Gia Raad and Cara Ford laid down a marker over the first two days, scoring 6 – 0 clean sweeps over Boland, Ekurhuleni and Southern Cape and staving off local favourites KwaZulu-Natal to draw the match. The Lions beat Western Province on day three and sealed victory with a resounding 4.5 – 1.5 win against defending champions Gauteng North on the final day.

North West was equally impressive, stacking up wins against Mpumalanga, Western Province B, Eastern Province, Limpopo and Free State to clinch the promotion battle.

2023 SA Inter-Provincial Champions Central Gauteng; credit GolfRSA

The Lions dominated the men’s national team’s tournament with 11 victories since 2000, but their last time at the summit was after successive wins at Bryanston Country Club in 2017 and Oubaai Golf Club in 2018.

Filip Sakota, Jaden Deltel, Gustav de Lange, Sean Paxton, Kayle Wykes, Grant Labuschagne, Rees Emanuel and Simon du Plooy routed North West, Free State, Eastern Province and Ekurhuleni over the first four days of the competition and headed into the final round as the clear favourites.

Saving their best for last, the Lions were simply superior and defeated two-time defending champions Western Province 8 – 4 to return to the winner’s circle in style.

Southern Cape – relegated at San Lameer in 2021 – bravely fought their way back into the A-Section with an undefeated performance in Buffalo City.

2023 SA Women’s Inter-Provincial B-Section Champions North West; credit GolfRSA

2023 SA Inter-Provincial B-Section Champions Southern Cape; credit GolfRSA

GolfRSA Sponsors